iStarDB (The Astronomy Education Research Repository)
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Adoption Of ASL Classifiers As Delivered By Head-Mounted Displays In A Planetarium Show
No full textAccommodating the planetarium experience to members of the deaf or hard-of-hearing community has often created situations that are either disruptive to the rest of the audience or provide an insufficient accommodation. To address this issue, we examined the use of head-mounted displays to deliver an American Sign Language sound track to learners in the planetarium Here we present results from a feasibility study to see if an ASL sound track delivered through a head-mount display can be understood by deaf junior to senior high aged students who are fluent in ASL. We examined the adoption of ASL classifiers that were used as part of the sound track for a full dome planetarium show. We found that about 90% of all students in our sample adopted at least one classifier from the show. In addition, those who viewed the sound track in a head-mounted display did at least as well as those who saw the sound track projected directly on the dome. These results suggest that ASL transmitted through head-mounted displays is a promising method to help improve learning for those whose primary language is ASL and merits further investigation
Communicating astronomy to the public
No full textIncreased interest among education and public outreach specialists in coordinating the task of "Communicating Astronomy to the Public" led to a conference of that name in Washington DC, following an earlier conference in Tenerife the previous year. One outcome of the conference was the Washington Charter, which is to help foster such public education through statements of principles of action for funding agencies, professional astronomical societies, universities/laboratories/research-organizations, and individual researchers, respectively.
Another outcome was the fonnation of a Working Group on the subject within the Union-wide Activities Division of the International Astronomical Union. Information about
both outcomes can be found at
http://www.communicatingastronomy.org
Dark Skies Rangers - Fighting light pollution and simulating dark skies
No full textDark Skies Rangers is an awareness program aimed at students of all ages to stimulate them to make an audit of light pollution in their school/district. The young light pollution fighters evaluate the level of light pollution, how much energy is being wasted, and produce a
report to be delivered to the local authorities. They are also advised to promote a light pollution awareness campaign to the local community targeting not only the dark skies but also other implications such as effects in our health, to the flora and fauna, etc
School Workshops on Astronomy
No full textDo you want to know how to make students volunteer to stay all night long watching the stars with their telescopes freezing? Or how to inspire decent adults to prepare a ‘queuelist to Jupiter’, wait for their turn for hours, and control that no one approaches the telescope bypassing the line? Or how to attract people of all age to forget their laziness and duties, and to get up at 3 a.m. to watch the transit of Venus? If your answer is ‘yes’, then come and see what can be done at the School Workshops on Astronomy
Media and Light Pollution Education for the Public
No full textAs the problem of light pollution becomes more and more threatening, there is a need to educate the society about it. Methods of doing it differ in various parts of the world. There are shown examples of methods from developing European countries, in particular Poland
An exemplary developing astronomy movement in Nepal
No full textAstronomy and space science education had been given least importance by Nepalese government in the past. The modern astronomy movement is believed to have started when an official observation programme of Haley’s comet was organized by Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST) in 1986. Following the huge pressure from the scientific community, the Nepal government (Kingdom of Nepal at that time) established B.P. Koirala Memorial Planetarium, Observatory and Science Museum Development Board in 1992. Initiatives of the project started with observatory set up and the development of astrophysics syllabus for university students. Astrophysics is included as an elective paper in the Physics masters course. The lead astrophysicist of Nepal Dr. Binil Aryal is running a research group in Tribhuvan University since 2005 which has a significant number of international publications. The developing government initiatives and achievements will be discussed. In 2007, a group of astronomy enthusiastic students along with amateurs working independently in past established Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO), which surprisingly increased
the amateur activities and inspired other amateur groups to revive. During IYA 2009, more than 80 outreach and observation events were organized solely by NASO. NASO was able to collaborate with many international programmes and projects like GHOU/GTTP, EurAstro, AWB, UNAWE, SGAC, Star Peace, TWAN etc during and beyond IYA2009. Currently Nepal is recognized as the most eventful country of outreach and astronomy education among the amateur community. The success story of the astronomy movement and the local difficulties while
organizing the events will be explained
Astronomy For Development: Approaches In Asia
No full textAs task force members, we present the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) and its task forces. Each task force calls for proposals every year and reviews the submitted proposals. From the point of view of "Astronomy for a Better World", the vision of the OAD, our aim is to reach diverse people including those such as the visually impaired. Our efforts meet one of the goals of the OAD and some OAD-funded projects
Full STEAM Ahead with the NASA Opportunities in Visualization, Art, and Science (NOVAS) Program
No full textThere has been increasing interest in the use of art as a new tool in the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The concept has received major consideration by our federal government, design colleges, art institutes, and leading universities. Many have, in fact, fully embraced this concept, and it’s not unusual today to see “Art” added to STEM to get STEAM. On August 5, 2014, the NASA-funded NASA Opportunities in Visualization, Art, and Science (NOVAS) program team provided a professional development workshop at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s 2014 Annual Meeting. In this two-hour workshop, participants learned about the rise of STEAM and were shown valuable skills and techniques used by the NOVAS program for the application of STEAM in a variety of out-of-school time (OST) settings. The workshop highlighted how OST and other informal educators can use art and digital media to help teach about current, cutting-edge STEM investigations, and why scientists need artists to help visualize and communicate their research. Although NASA science and project outcomes from the NOVAS program were emphasized, participants also discussed how NOVAS’ methodologies could be applied to other STEM subjects and OST formats
Introducing “The MOOSE,” the Menu of Outreach Opportunities for Science Education
No full textThe Astronomical Society of the Pacific has been working with the American Astronomical Society to develop a new program of outreach training called “AAS Astronomy Ambassadors.” We describe a key on-line resource from this project, which is now freely available for everyone doing astronomy education and outreach at http://aas.org/outreach/moose
A Resource Guide to Exploring Eclipses in General and the August 21, 2017 Total Eclipse of the Sun
No full textOn August 21, 2017, there will be a total eclipse of the Sun, for which the path of totality goes through only one country, the U.S. We present the beginnings of a resource guide to eclipses and to that upcoming “Great American Eclipse.” Suggestions and additions to this guide are most welcome