Outreach Education Modules on Space Sciences in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, I.-Te; Tiger Liu, Jann-Yeng; Chen, Chao-Yen

2013-04-01

The Ionospheric Radio Science Laboratory (IRSL) at Institute of Space Science, National Central University in Taiwan has been conducting a program for public outreach educations on space science by giving lectures, organizing camps, touring exhibits, and experiencing hand-on experiments to elementary school, high school, and college students as well as general public since 1991. The program began with a topic of traveling/living in space, and was followed by space environment, space mission, and space weather monitoring, etc. and a series of course module and experiment (i.e. experiencing activity) module was carried out. For past decadal, the course modules have been developed to cover the space environment of the Sun, interplanetary space, and geospace, as well as the space technology of the rocket, satellite, space shuttle (plane), space station, living in space, observing the Earth from space, and weather observation. Each course module highlights the current status and latest new finding as well as discusses 1-3 key/core issues/concepts and equip with 2-3 activity/experiment modules to make students more easily to understand the topics/issues. Meanwhile, scientific camps are given to lead students a better understanding and interesting on space science. Currently, a visualized image projecting system, Dagik Earth, is developed to demonstrate the scientific results on a sphere together with the course modules. This system will dramatically improve the educational skill and increase interests of participators.

Improving Early Career Science Teachers' Ability to Teach Space Science

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, G. R.; Slater, T. F.; Wierman, T.; Erickson, J. G.; Mendez, B. J.

2012-12-01

The GEMS Space Science Sequence is a high quality, hands-on curriculum for elementary and middle schools, created by a national team of astronomers and science educators with NASA funding and support. The standards-aligned curriculum includes 24 class sessions for upper elementary grades targeting the scale and nature of Earth's, shape, motion and gravity, and 36 class sessions for middle school grades focusing on the interactions between our Sun and Earth and the nature of the solar system and beyond. These materials feature extensive teacher support materials which results in pre-test to post-test content gains for students averaging 22%. Despite the materials being highly successful, there has been a less than desired uptake by teachers in using these materials, largely due to a lack of professional development training. Responding to the need to improve the quantity and quality of space science education, a collaborative of space scientists and science educators - from the University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) and Center for Science Education at the Space Sciences Laboratory (CSE@SSL), the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), the University of Wyoming, and the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education - experimented with a unique professional development model focused on helping master teachers work closely with pre-service teachers during their student teaching internship field experience. Research on the exodus of young teachers from the teaching profession clearly demonstrates that early career teachers often leave teaching because of a lack of mentoring support and classroom ready curriculum materials. The Advancing Mentor and Novice Teachers in Space Science (AMANTISS) team first identified master teachers who supervise novice, student teachers in middle school, and trained these master teachers to use the GEMS Space Science Sequence for Grades 6-8. Then, these master teachers were mentored in how to coach their

Space Sciences Education and Outreach Project of Moscow State University

Science.gov (United States)

Krasotkin, S.

2006-11-01

sergekras@mail.ru The space sciences education and outreach project was initiated at Moscow State University in order to incorporate modern space research into the curriculum popularize the basics of space physics, and enhance public interest in space exploration. On 20 January 2005 the first Russian University Satellite “Universitetskiy-Tatyana” was launched into circular polar orbit (inclination 83 deg., altitude 940-980 km). The onboard scientific complex “Tatyana“, as well as the mission control and information receiving centre, was designed and developed at Moscow State University. The scientific programme of the mission includes measurements of space radiation in different energy channels and Earth UV luminosity and lightning. The current education programme consists of basic multimedia lectures “Life of the Earth in the Solar Atmosphere” and computerized practice exercises “Space Practice” (based on the quasi-real-time data obtained from “Universitetskiy-Tatyana” satellite and other Internet resources). A multimedia lectures LIFE OF EARTH IN THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE containing the basic information and demonstrations of heliophysics (including Sun structure and solar activity, heliosphere and geophysics, solar-terrestrial connections and solar influence on the Earth’s life) was created for upper high-school and junior university students. For the upper-university students there a dozen special computerized hands-on exercises were created based on the experimental quasi-real-time data obtained from our satellites. Students specializing in space physics from a few Russian universities are involved in scientific work. Educational materials focus on upper high school, middle university and special level for space physics students. Moscow State University is now extending its space science education programme by creating multimedia lectures on remote sensing, space factors and materials study, satellite design and development, etc. The space

The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program: Accomplishments Since 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Rask, Jon; Gibbs, Kristina; Ray, Hami; Bridges, Desireemoi; Bailey, Brad; Smith, Jeff; Sato, Kevin; Taylor, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

The NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) provides undergraduate students entering their junior or senior years with professional experience in space life science disciplines. This challenging ten-week summer program is held at NASA Ames Research Center. The primary goal of the program is to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, enabling NASA to meet future research and development challenges in the space life sciences. Students work closely with NASA scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research and technology development. In addition to conducting hands-on research and presenting their findings, SLSTP students attend technical lectures given by experts on a wide range of topics, tour NASA research facilities, participate in leadership and team building exercises, and complete a group project. For this presentation, we will highlight program processes, accomplishments, goals, and feedback from alumni and mentors since 2013. To date, 49 students from 41 different academic institutions, 9 staffers, and 21 mentors have participated in the program. The SLSTP is funded by Space Biology, which is part of the Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Application division of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The SLSTP is managed by the Space Biology Project within the Science Directorate at Ames Research Center.

Bringing Art, Music, Theater and Dance Students into Earth and Space Science Research Labs: A New Art Prize Science and Engineering Artists-in-Residence Program

Science.gov (United States)

Moldwin, M.; Mexicotte, D.

2017-12-01

A new Arts/Lab Student Residence program was developed at the University of Michigan that brings artists into a research lab. Science and Engineering undergraduate and graduate students working in the lab describe their research and allow the artists to shadow them to learn more about the work. The Arts/Lab Student Residencies are designed to be unique and fun, while encouraging interdisciplinary learning and creative production by exposing students to life and work in an alternate discipline's maker space - i.e. the artist in the engineering lab, the engineer in the artist's studio or performance space. Each residency comes with a cash prize and the expectation that a work of some kind will be produced as a response to experience. The Moldwin Prize is designed for an undergraduate student currently enrolled in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, the Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning or the School of Music, Theatre and Dance who is interested in exchange and collaboration with students engaged in research practice in an engineering lab. No previous science or engineering experience is required, although curiosity and a willingness to explore are essential! Students receiving the residency spend 20 hours over 8 weeks (February-April) participating with the undergraduate research team in the lab of Professor Mark Moldwin, which is currently doing work in the areas of space weather (how the Sun influences the space environment of Earth and society) and magnetic sensor development. The resident student artist will gain a greater understanding of research methodologies in the space and climate fields, data visualization and communication techniques, and how the collision of disciplinary knowledge in the arts, engineering and sciences deepens the creative practice and production of each discipline. The student is expected to produce a final work of some kind within their discipline that reflects, builds on, explores, integrates or traces their

Learning space preferences of higher education students

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beckers, R.; van der Voordt, Theo; Dewulf, G

2016-01-01

This paper aims to address higher education students' learning space preferences. The study is based on a survey that involved 697 business management students of a Dutch University of Applied Sciences. The research focuses on preferred learning spaces for individual study activities, which

Evaluation of an international doctoral educational program in space life sciences: The Helmholtz Space Life Sciences Research School (SpaceLife) in Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Hellweg, C. E.; Spitta, L. F.; Kopp, K.; Schmitz, C.; Reitz, G.; Gerzer, R.

2016-01-01

Training young researchers in the field of space life sciences is essential to vitalize the future of spaceflight. In 2009, the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine established the Helmholtz Space Life Sciences Research School (SpaceLife) in cooperation with several universities, starting with 22 doctoral candidates. SpaceLife offered an intensive three-year training program for early-stage researchers from different fields (biology, biomedicine, biomedical engineering, physics, sports, nutrition, plant and space sciences). The candidates passed a multistep selection procedure with a written application, a self-presentation to a selection committee, and an interview with the prospective supervisors. The selected candidates from Germany as well as from abroad attended a curriculum taught in English. An overview of space life sciences was given in a workshop with introductory lectures on space radiation biology and dosimetry, space physiology, gravitational biology and astrobiology. The yearly Doctoral Students' Workshops were also interdisciplinary. During the first Doctoral Students' Workshop, every candidate presented his/her research topic including hypothesis and methods to be applied. The progress report was due after ∼1.5 years and a final report after ∼3 years. The candidates specialized in their subfield in advanced lectures, Journal Clubs, practical trainings, lab exchanges and elective courses. The students attended at least one transferable skills course per year, starting with a Research Skills Development course in the first year, a presentation and writing skills course in the second year, and a career and leadership course in the third year. The whole program encompassed 303 h and was complemented by active conference participation. In this paper, the six years' experience with this program is summarized in order to guide other institutions in establishment of structured Ph.D. programs in this field. The curriculum including elective courses is

South Dakota Space Grant Consortium: Balancing Indigenous Earth System and Space Science with Western/Contemporary Science

Science.gov (United States)

Bolman, J.; Nall, J.

2005-05-01

The South Dakota Space Grant Consortium (SDSGC) was established March 1, 1991 by a NASA Capability Enhancement Grant. Since that time SDSGC has worked to provide earth system and space science education, outreach and services to all students across South Dakota. South Dakota has nine tribes and five Tribal Colleges. This has presented a tremendous opportunity to develop sustainable equitable partnerships and collaborations. SDSGC believes strongly in developing programs and activities that highlight and reinforce the balance of Indigenous science and ways of knowing with current findings in Western/Contemporary Science. This blending of science and culture creates a learning community where individuals especially students, can gain confidence and pride in their unique skills and abilities. Universities are also witnessing the accomplishments and achievements of students who are able to experience a tribal environment and then carry that experience to a college/university/workplace and significantly increase the learning achievement of all. The presentation will highlight current Tribal College and Tribal Community partnerships with the Rosebud Sioux Reservation (Sinte Gleska University), Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (Oglala Lakota College), Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (Sitting Bull College) and Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation (Si Tanka) amongst others. Programs and activities to be explained during the presentation include but not limited to: NASA Workforce Native Connections, Scientific Knowledge for Indian Learning and Leadership (SKILL), NSF "Bridges to Success" Summer Research Program, NSF "Fire Ecology" Summer Research Experience, as well as geospatial and space science programs for students and general community members. The presentation will also cover the current initiatives underway through NASA Workforce Development. These include: partnering with the Annual He Sapa Wacipi (Black Hills Pow Wow - attendance of 14,000 Natives) to host Native Space

The Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Barstow, Daniel; Geary, Ed; Yazijian, Harvey

2002-01-01

Explains the changing nature of earth and space science education such as using inquiry-based teaching, how technology allows students to use satellite images in inquiry-based investigations, the consideration of earth and space as a whole system rather than a sequence of topics, and increased student participation in learning opportunities. (YDS)

Education and Outreach on Space Sciences and Technologies in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Tiger Liu, Jann-Yeng; Chen, hao-Yen; Lee, I.-Te

2014-05-01

The Ionospheric Radio Science Laboratory (IRSL) at Institute of Space Science, National Central University in Taiwan has been conducting a program for public outreach educations on space science by giving lectures, organizing camps, touring exhibits, and experiencing hand-on experiments to elementary school, high school, and college students as well as general public since 1991. The program began with a topic of traveling/living in space, and was followed by space environment, space mission, and space weather monitoring, etc. and a series of course module and experiment (i.e. experiencing activity) module was carried out. For past decadal, the course modules have been developed to cover the space environment of the Sun, interplanetary space, and geospace, as well as the space technology of the rocket, satellite, space shuttle (plane), space station, living in space, observing the Earth from space, and weather observation. Each course module highlights the current status and latest new finding as well as discusses 1-3 key/core issues/concepts and equip with 2-3 activity/experiment modules to make students more easily to understand the topics/issues. Regarding the space technologies, we focus on remote sensing of Earth's surface by FORMOSAT-2 and occultation sounding by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC of Taiwan space mission. Moreover, scientific camps are given to lead students a better understanding and interesting on space sciences/ technologies. Currently, a visualized image projecting system, Dagik Earth, is developed to demonstrate the scientific results on a sphere together with the course modules. This system will dramatically improve the educational skill and increase interests of participators.

Growing and Supporting the Student and Early Career Pipeline in Earth and Space Sciences - A Spotlight on New AGU Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Hankin, E. R.; Williams, B. M.; Asher, P. M.; Furukawa, H.; Holm Adamec, B.; Lee, M.; Cooper, P.

2015-12-01

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is home to more than 60,000 scientists from 139 countries. Included in this membership are approximately 20,000 (34%) student and early career members. Many well-established programs within AGU provide a dynamic forum for Earth and Space scientists to advance research, collaborate across disciplines, and communicate the importance and impact of science to society regardless of career stage—programs such as AGU publications, scientific meetings and conferences, honors and recognition, and other educational and scientific forums. Additionally, many AGU program initiatives focusing specifically on supporting student and early career scientists and the global talent pool pipeline ones are actively underway. These include both new and long-standing programs. This presentation will describe (1) the overall demographics and needs in Earth and Space sciences, and (2) AGU's coordinated series of programs designed to help attract, retain and support student and early career scientists—with an emphasis on new programmatic activities and initiatives targeting improved diversity. Included in this presentation are a description of the AGU BrightSTaRS Program, the AGU Berkner Program for international students, a newly established AGU Student & Early Career Conference, the AGU Virtual Poster Showcase initiative, the AGU Meeting Mentor program, and GeoLEAD—an umbrella program being jointly built by a coalition of societies to help address Earth and space sciences talent pool needs.

Educational Outreach: The Space Science Road Show

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, N. L. J.

2002-01-01

The poster presented will give an overview of a study towards a "Space Road Show". The topic of this show is space science. The target group is adolescents, aged 12 to 15, at Dutch high schools. The show and its accompanying experiments would be supported with suitable educational material. Science teachers at schools can decide for themselves if they want to use this material in advance, afterwards or not at all. The aims of this outreach effort are: to motivate students for space science and engineering, to help them understand the importance of (space) research, to give them a positive feeling about the possibilities offered by space and in the process give them useful knowledge on space basics. The show revolves around three main themes: applications, science and society. First the students will get some historical background on the importance of space/astronomy to civilization. Secondly they will learn more about novel uses of space. On the one hand they will learn of "Views on Earth" involving technologies like Remote Sensing (or Spying), Communication, Broadcasting, GPS and Telemedicine. On the other hand they will experience "Views on Space" illustrated by past, present and future space research missions, like the space exploration missions (Cassini/Huygens, Mars Express and Rosetta) and the astronomy missions (Soho and XMM). Meanwhile, the students will learn more about the technology of launchers and satellites needed to accomplish these space missions. Throughout the show and especially towards the end attention will be paid to the third theme "Why go to space"? Other reasons for people to get into space will be explored. An important question in this is the commercial (manned) exploration of space. Thus, the questions of benefit of space to society are integrated in the entire show. It raises some fundamental questions about the effects of space travel on our environment, poverty and other moral issues. The show attempts to connect scientific with

Improving the critical thinking skills of junior high school students on Earth and Space Science (ESS) materials

Science.gov (United States)

Marlina, L.; Liliasari; Tjasyono, B.; Hendayana, S.

2018-05-01

Critical thinking skills need to be developed in students. With critical thinking skills, students will be able to understand the concept with more depth easily, be sensitive with problems that occur, understand and solve problems that occur in their surroundings, and apply the concepts in different situations. Earth and Space Science (ESS) material is part of the science subjects given from elementary school to college. This research is a test of research program with quantitative method. This study aims to investigate the improvement of critical thinking skills of students through training of science teachers in junior high school in designing learning media for teaching ESS. With samples of 24 science teachers and 32 students of grade 7th in junior high school which are chosen by purposive sampling in a school in Ogan Ilir District, South Sumatra, obtained average pre-test and post-test scores of students’ critical thinking skills are 52.26 and 67.06 with an average N-gain of 0.31. A survey and critical thinking skills based-test were conducted to get the data. The results show positive impact and an increase in students’ critical thinking skills on the ESS material.

Science Students' Classroom Discourse: Tasha's Umwelt

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Jenny

2012-04-01

Over the past twenty-five years researchers have been concerned with understanding the science student. The need for such research is still grounded in contemporary issues including providing opportunities for all students to develop scientific literacy and the failure of school science to connect with student's lives, interests and personal identities. The research reported here is unusual in its use of discourse analysis in social psychology to contribute to an understanding of the way students make meaning in secondary school science. Data constructed for the study was drawn from videotapes of nine consecutive lessons in a year-seven science classroom in Melbourne, post-lesson video-stimulated interviews with students and the teacher, classroom observation and the students' written work. The classroom videotapes were recorded using four cameras and seven audio tracks by the International Centre for Classroom Research at the University of Melbourne. Student talk within and about their science lessons was analysed from a discursive perspective. Classroom episodes in which students expressed their sense of personal identity and agency, knowledge, attitude or emotion in relation to science were identified for detailed analysis of the function of the discourse used by students, and in particular the way students were positioned by others or positioned themselves. This article presents the discursive Umwelt or life-space of one middle years science student, Tasha. Her case is used here to highlight the complex social process of meaning making in science classrooms and the need to attend to local moral orders of rights and duties in research on student language use, identity and learning in science.

Training the next generation of Space and Earth Science Engineers and Scientists through student design and development of an Earth Observation Nanosatellite, AlbertaSat-1

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, B. A.; Bottoms, J.

2011-12-01

This presentation addresses the design and developmental process of a Nanosatellite by an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Alberta. The Satellite, AlbertaSat-1, is the University of Alberta's entry in the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CDSC); an initiative to entice Canadian students to contribute to space and earth observation technologies and research. The province of Alberta, while home to a few companies, is very limited in its space industry capacity. The University of Alberta reflects this fact, where one of the major unifying foci of the University is oil, the provinces greatest resource. For students at the U of A, this lack of focus on astronautical, aerospace and space/earth observational research limits their education in these industries/disciplines. A fully student operated project such as AlbertaSat-1 provides this integral experience to almost every discipline. The AlbertaSat-1 team is comprised of students from engineering, physics, chemistry, earth and atmospheric science, business, and computer science. While diverse in discipline, the team is also diverse in experience, spanning all levels from 1st year undergraduate to experienced PhD. Many skill sets are required and the diverse group sees that this is covered and all opinions voiced. Through immersion in the project, students learn quickly and efficiently. The necessity for a flawless product ensures that only the highest quality of work is presented. Students participating must research and understand their own subsystem as well as all others. This overall system view provides the best educational tool, as students are able to see the real impacts of their work on other subsystems. As the project is completely student organized, the participants gain not only technical engineering, space and earth observational education, but experience in operations and financial management. The direct exposure to all aspects of the space and earth

Implementation of small group discussion as a teaching method in earth and space science subject

Science.gov (United States)

Aryani, N. P.; Supriyadi

2018-03-01

In Physics Department Universitas Negeri Semarang, Earth and Space Science subject is included in the curriculum of the third year of physics education students. There are various models of teaching earth and space science subject such as textbook method, lecturer, demonstrations, study tours, problem-solving method, etc. Lectures method is the most commonly used of teaching earth and space science subject. The disadvantage of this method is the lack of two ways interaction between lecturers and students. This research used small group discussion as a teaching method in Earth and Space science. The purpose of this study is to identify the conditions under which an efficient discussion may be initiated and maintained while students are investigating properties of earth and space science subjects. The results of this research show that there is an increase in student’s understanding of earth and space science subject proven through the evaluation results. In addition, during the learning process, student’s activeness also increase.

Van Allen Probes Mission Space Academy: Educating middle school students about Earth's mysterious radiation belts

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, L.; Turney, D.; Matiella Novak, A.; Smith, D.; Simon, M.

2013-12-01

How's the weather in space? Why on Earth did NASA send two satellites above Earth to study radiation belts and space weather? To learn the answer to questions about NASA's Van Allen Probes mission, 450 students and their teachers from Maryland middle schools attended Space Academy events highlighting the Van Allen Probes mission. Sponsored by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and Discovery Education, the events are held at the APL campus in Laurel, MD. Space Academies take students and teachers on behind-the-scenes exploration of how spacecraft are built, what they are designed to study, and introduces them to the many professionals that work together to create some of NASA's most exciting projects. Moderated by a public relations representative in the format of an official NASA press conference, the daylong event includes a student press conference with students as reporters and mission experts as panelists. Lunch with mission team members gives students a chance to ask more questions. After lunch, students don souvenir clean room suits, enjoy interactive science demonstrations, and tour APL facilities where the Van Allen Probes were built and tested before launch. Students may even have an opportunity to peek inside a clean room to view spacecraft being assembled. Prior to the event, teachers are provided with classroom activities, lesson plans, and videos developed by APL and Discovery Education to help prepare students for the featured mission. The activities are aligned to National Science Education Standards and appropriate for use in the classroom. Following their visit, student journalists are encouraged to write a short article about their field trip; selections are posted on the Space Academy web site. Designed to engage, inspire, and influence attitudes about space science and STEM careers, Space Academies provide an opportunity to attract underserved populations and emphasize that space science is for everyone. Exposing students to a diverse group of

Learning space preferences of higher education students

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beckers, Ronald; van der Voordt, Theo; Dewulf, Geert P.M.R.

2016-01-01

This paper aims to address higher education students’ learning space preferences. The study is based on a survey that involved 697 business management students of a Dutch University of Applied Sciences. The research focuses on preferred learning spaces for individual study activities, which require

Young Engineers and Sciences (YES) - Mentoring High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Boice, Daniel C.; Asbell, E.; Reiff, P. H.

2008-09-01

Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) is a community partnership between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and local high schools in San Antonio, Texas (USA) during the past 16 years. The YES program provides talented high school juniors and seniors a bridge between classroom instruction and real world, research experiences in physical sciences (including space science) and engineering. YES consists of two parts: 1) an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI where students experience the research environment first-hand; develop skills and acquire tools for solving scientific problems, attend mini-courses and seminars on electronics, computers and the Internet, careers, science ethics, and other topics; and select individual research projects to be completed during the academic year; and 2) a collegial mentorship where students complete individual research projects under the guidance of their mentors during the academic year and earn honors credit. At the end of the school year, students publicly present and display their work, acknowledging their accomplishments and spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. During these years, YES has developed a website for topics in space science from the perspective of high school students, including NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) (http://yesserver.space.swri.edu). High school science teachers participate in the workshop and develop space-related lessons for classroom presentation in the academic year. Student evaluations indicate the effectiveness of YES on their academic preparation and choice of college majors. Over the past 16 years, all YES graduates have entered college, several have worked for SwRI, one business has started, and three scientific publications have resulted. Acknowledgements. We acknowledge funding and support from the NASA MMS Mission, Texas Space Grant Consortium, Northside Independent School District, SwRI, and several local charitable foundations.

Astronomy and Space Science On The School - An Outreach Project for Elementary and High School Students of Brasilia

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Jose Leonardo

2016-07-01

This project aims to develop interdisciplinary actions, articulated and convergence in the field of education, dissemination and popularization of science and technology in Brasilia-DF, the Federal District of Brazil. These actions are also been carried out at DF surroundings areas. Since 2015 linked convergent actions are focused on the development of space science and astronomy teaching with hands on experimental activities. Workshops, short basic astronomy courses, expositions and planetarium show are been carried out by a team of professors, graduate and under graduate students from University of Brasilia- UnB. At the same time upgrade actions are been done in order to modernize The Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory located at the far campus of UnB, named Fazenda Água Limpa. It is now a Center for research and space science dissemination and popularization not only for students but also for the whole community of Brasilia. Working toghether with the Physics Institute of UnB we have the recently created Museum of Science and Technology of Brasilia, also located at the UnB campus. The Museum is responsible for contac with schools and Brasilia community and for the organization of the activities of the Science on the School Project. Science on the School is an educational, scientific and cultural proposal approved and financed by the brazillian national research council (CNPq) and by the Science and Technology Reseach Foundation of Brasilia. Besides science dissemination for the brazillian society the project is also developing theoretical and experimental research in the area of Space Science and Astronomy. The project also aim to transform the Museum in a strong Science Education Center for the Brazil central region population, It is going to be a cultural environment and leisure for the Federal District and surrounding areas of Brasilia. In this work we will describe the coordinate actions of The Luiz Cruls Astronomical Observatory the Physics Institute of

Edible Earth and Space Science Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Lubowich, D.; Shupla, C.

2014-07-01

In this workshop we describe using Earth and Space Science demonstrations with edible ingredients to increase student interest. We show how to use chocolate, candy, cookies, popcorn, bagels, pastries, Pringles, marshmallows, whipped cream, and Starburst candy for activities such as: plate tectonics, the interior structure of the Earth and Mars, radioactivity/radioactive dating of rocks and stars, formation of the planets, lunar phases, convection, comets, black holes, curvature of space, dark energy, and the expansion of the Universe. In addition to creating an experience that will help students remember specific concepts, edible activities can be used as a formative assessment, providing students with the opportunity to create something that demonstrates their understanding of the model. The students often eat the demonstrations. These demonstrations are an effective teaching tool for all ages, and can be adapted for cultural, culinary, and ethnic differences among the students.

Early Opportunities Research Partnership Between Howard University, University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA Goddard for Engaging Underrepresented STEM Students in Earth and Space Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Misra, P.; Venable, D. D.; Hoban, S.; Demoz, B.; Bleacher, L.; Meeson, B. W.; Farrell, W. M.

2017-12-01

Howard University, University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) are collaborating to engage underrepresented STEM students and expose them to an early career pathway in NASA-related Earth & Space Science research. The major goal is to instill interest in Earth and Space Science to STEM majors early in their academic careers, so that they become engaged in ongoing NASA-related research, motivated to pursue STEM careers, and perhaps become part of the future NASA workforce. The collaboration builds on a program established by NASA's Dynamic Response of the Environments of Asteroids, the Moon and the moons of Mars (DREAM2) team to engage underrepresented students from Howard in summer internships. Howard leveraged this program to expand via NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) funding. The project pairs Howard students with GSFC mentors and engages them in cutting-edge Earth and Space Science research throughout their undergraduate tenure. The project takes a multi-faceted approach, with each year of the program specifically tailored to each student's strengths and addressing their weaknesses, so that they experience a wide array of enriching research and professional development activities that help them grow both academically and professionally. During the academic year, the students are at Howard taking a full load of courses towards satisfying their degree requirements and engaging in research with their GSFC mentors via regular telecons, e-mail exchanges, video chats & on an average one visit per semester to GSFC for an in-person meeting with their research mentor. The students extend their research with full-time summer internships at GSFC, culminating in a Capstone Project and Senior Thesis. As a result, these Early Opportunities Program students, who have undergone rigorous training in the Earth and Space Sciences, are expected to be well-prepared for graduate school and the NASA workforce.

Meaningful experiences in science education: Engaging the space researcher in a cultural transformation to greater science literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, Cherilynn A.

1993-01-01

The visceral appeal of space science and exploration is a very powerful emotional connection to a very large and diverse collection of people, most of whom have little or no perspective about what it means to do science and engineering. Therein lies the potential of space for a substantially enhanced positive impact on culture through education. This essay suggests that through engaging more of the space research and development community in enabling unique and 'meaningful educational experiences' for educators and students at the pre-collegiate levels, space science and exploration can amplify its positive feedback on society and act as an important medium for cultural transformation to greater science literacy. I discuss the impact of space achievements on people and define what is meant by a 'meaningful educational experience,' all of which points to the need for educators and students to be closer to the practice of real science. I offer descriptions of two nascent science education programs associated with NASA which have the needed characteristics for providing meaningful experiences that can cultivate greater science literacy. Expansion of these efforts and others like it will be needed to have the desired impact on culture, but I suggest that the potential for the needed resources is there in the scientific research communities. A society in which more people appreciate and understand science and science methods would be especially conducive to human progress in space and on Earth.

The Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment: A successful student-run scientific spacecraft mission

Science.gov (United States)

Schiller, Q.; Li, X.; Palo, S. E.; Blum, L. W.; Gerhardt, D.

2015-12-01

The Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment is a spacecraft mission developed and operated by students at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The 3U CubeSat was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2012. The massively successful mission far outlived its 4 month estimated lifetime and stopped transmitting data after over two years in orbit in December 2014. CSSWE has contributed to 15 scientific or engineering peer-reviewed journal publications. During the course of the project, over 65 undergraduate and graduate students from CU's Computer Science, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering Departments, as well as the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department participated. The students were responsible for the design, development, build, integration, testing, and operations from component- to system-level. The variety of backgrounds on this unique project gave the students valuable experience in their own focus area, but also cross-discipline and system-level involvement. However, though the perseverance of the students brought the mission to fruition, it was only possible through the mentoring and support of professionals in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department and CU's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

High Altitude Balloons as a Platform for Space Radiation Belt Science

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzino, L.; Buttenschoen, A.; Farr, Q.; Hodgson, C.; Johnson, W.; Mann, I. R.; Rae, J.; University of Alberta High Altitude Balloons (UA-HAB)

2011-12-01

The goals of the University of Alberta High Altitude Balloons Program (UA-HAB) are to i) use low cost balloons to address space radiation science, and ii) to utilise the excitement of "space mission" involvement to promote and facilitate the recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students in physics, engineering, and atmospheric sciences to pursue careers in space science and engineering. The University of Alberta High Altitude Balloons (UA-HAB) is a unique opportunity for University of Alberta students (undergraduate and graduate) to engage in the hands-on design, development, build, test and flight of a payload to operate on a high altitude balloon at around 30km altitude. The program development, including formal design and acceptance tests, reports and reviews, mirror those required in the development of an orbital satellite mission. This enables the students to gain a unique insight into how space missions are flown. UA-HAB is a one and half year program that offers a gateway into a high-altitude balloon mission through hands on experience, and builds skills for students who may be attracted to participate in future space missions in their careers. This early education will provide students with the experience necessary to better assess opportunities for pursuing a career in space science. Balloons offer a low-cost alternative to other suborbital platforms which can be used to address radiation belt science goals. In particular, the participants of this program have written grant proposal to secure funds for this project, have launched several 'weather balloon missions', and have designed, built, tested, and launched their particle detector called "Maple Leaf Particle Detector". This detector was focussed on monitoring cosmic rays and space radiation using shielded Geiger tubes, and was flown as one of the payloads from the institutions participating in the High Altitude Student Platform (HASP), organized by the Louisiana State University and the Louisiana

Mars mission program for primary students: Building student and teacher skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Mathers, Naomi; Pakakis, Michael; Christie, Ian

2011-09-01

The Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) scenario-based programs, including the Mission to Mars and Mission to the Orbiting Space Laboratory, utilize methodologies such as hands-on applications, immersive learning, integrated technologies, critical thinking and mentoring. The use of a scenario provides a real-life context and purpose to what students might otherwise consider disjointed information. These programs engage students in the areas of maths and science, and highlight potential career paths in science and engineering. The introduction of a scenario-based program for primary students engages students in maths and science at a younger age, addressing the issues of basic numeracy and science literacy, thus laying the foundation for stronger senior science initiatives. Primary students absorb more information within the context of the scenario, and presenting information they can see, hear, touch and smell creates a memorable learning and sensory experience. The mission also supports development of teacher skills in the delivery of hands-on science and helps build their confidence to teach science. The Primary Mission to the Mars Base gives primary school students access to an environment and equipment not available in schools. Students wear flight suits for the duration of the program to immerse them in the experience of being an astronaut. Astronauts work in the VSSEC Space Laboratory, which is transformed into a Mars base for the primary program, to conduct experiments in areas such as robotics, human physiology, microbiology, nanotechnology and environmental science. Specialist mission control software has been developed by La Trobe University Centre for Games Technology to provide age appropriate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based problem solving and support the concept of a mission. Students in Mission Control observe the astronauts working in the space laboratory and talk to them via the AV system. This interactive

Engaging Students in Space Research: Young Engineers and Scientists 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Boice, D. C.; Asbell, H. E.; Reiff, P. H.

2008-12-01

Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) is a community partnership between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and local high schools in San Antonio, Texas (USA) during the past 16 years. The YES program provides talented high school juniors and seniors a bridge between classroom instruction and real world, research experiences in physical sciences (including space science) and engineering. YES consists of an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI and a collegial mentorship where students complete individual research projects under the guidance of their professional mentors during the academic year. During the summer workshop, students experience the research environment first-hand; develop skills and acquire tools for solving scientific problems, attend mini-courses and seminars on electronics, computers and the Internet, careers, science ethics, and other topics; and select individual research projects to be completed during the academic year. At the end of the school year, students publicly present and display their work, acknowledging their accomplishments and spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. YES has developed a website for topics in space science from the perspective of high school students, including NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) (http://yesserver.space.swri.edu). Student evaluations indicate the effectiveness of YES on their academic preparation and choice of college majors. Over the past 16 years, all YES graduates have entered college, several have worked for SwRI, one business has started, and three scientific publications have resulted. Acknowledgements. We acknowledge funding and support from the NASA MMS Mission, Texas Space Grant Consortium, Northside Independent School District, SwRI, and several local charitable foundations.

A Model for Undergraduate and High School Student Research in Earth and Space Sciences: The New York City Research Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Scalzo, F.; Johnson, L.; Marchese, P.

2006-05-01

The New York City Research Initiative (NYCRI) is a research and academic program that involves high school students, undergraduate and graduate students, and high school teachers in research teams that are led by college/university principal investigators of NASA funded projects and/or NASA scientists. The principal investigators are at 12 colleges/universities within a 50-mile radius of New York City (NYC and surrounding counties, Southern Connecticut and Northern New Jersey), as well as the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS). This program has a summer research institute component in Earth Science and Space Science, and an academic year component that includes the formulation and implementation NASA research based learning units in existing STEM courses by high school and college faculty. NYCRI is a revision and expansion of the Institute on Climate and Planets at GISS and is funded by NASA MURED and the Goddard Space Flight Center's Education Office.

A new chapter in doctoral candidate training: The Helmholtz Space Life Sciences Research School (SpaceLife)

Science.gov (United States)

Hellweg, C. E.; Gerzer, R.; Reitz, G.

2011-05-01

In the field of space life sciences, the demand of an interdisciplinary and specific training of young researchers is high due to the complex interaction of medical, biological, physical, technical and other questions. The Helmholtz Space Life Sciences Research School (SpaceLife) offers an excellent interdisciplinary training for doctoral students from different fields (biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, physics, psychology, nutrition or sports sciences and related fields) and any country. SpaceLife is coordinated by the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne. The German Universities in Kiel, Bonn, Aachen, Regensburg, Magdeburg and Berlin, and the German Sports University (DSHS) in Cologne are members of SpaceLife. The Universities of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Hohenheim, and the Beihang University in Beijing are associated partners. In each generation, up to 25 students can participate in the three-year program. Students learn to develop integrated concepts to solve health issues in human spaceflight and in related disease patterns on Earth, and to further explore the requirements for life in extreme environments, enabling a better understanding of the ecosystem Earth and the search for life on other planets in unmanned and manned missions. The doctoral candidates are coached by two specialist supervisors from DLR and the partner university, and a mentor. All students attend lectures in different subfields of space life sciences to attain an overview of the field: radiation and gravitational biology, astrobiology and space physiology, including psychological aspects of short and long term space missions. Seminars, advanced lectures, laboratory courses and stays at labs at the partner institutions or abroad are offered as elective course and will provide in-depth knowledge of the chosen subfield or allow to appropriate innovative methods. In Journal Clubs of the participating working groups, doctoral students learn

Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) 2009 - Engaging Students and Teachers in Space Research

Science.gov (United States)

Boice, D. C.; Reiff, P. H.

2009-12-01

During the past 17 years, Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) has been a community partnership between local high schools in San Antonio, Texas (USA), and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The goals of YES are to increase the number of high school students, especially those from underrepresented groups, seeking careers in science and engineering, to enhance their success in entering the college and major of their choice, and to promote teacher development in STEM fields. This is accomplished by allowing students and teachers to interact on a continuing basis with role models at SwRI in real-world research experiences in physical sciences (including space science), information sciences, and a variety of engineering fields. A total of 218 students have completed YES or are currently enrolled. Of these students, 37% are females and 56% are ethnic minorities, reflecting the local ethnic diversity, and 67% represent underserved groups. Presently, there are 20 students and 3 teachers enrolled in the YES 2009/2010 Program. YES consists of an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI where students and teachers experience the research environment and a collegial mentorship where they complete individual research projects under the guidance of SwRI mentors during the academic year. At the end of the school year, students publicly present and display their work, spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. Teachers participate in an in-service workshop to share classroom materials and spread awareness of space-related research. YES students develop a website (yesserver.space.swri.edu) for topics in space science (this year was NASA's MMS Mission) and high school science teachers develop space-related lessons for classroom presentation. Partnerships between research institutes, local high schools, and community foundations, like the YES Program, can positively affect students’ preparation for STEM careers via real-world research experiences with

Nurturing Soft Skills Among High School Students Through Space Weather Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Mardina; Abd Majid, Rosadah; Bais, Badariah; Syaidah Bahri, Nor

2016-07-01

Soft skills fulfill an important role in shaping an individual's personality. It is of high importance for every student to acquire adequate skills beyond academic or technical knowledge. The objective of this project was to foster students' enthusiasm in space science and develop their soft skills such as; interpersonal communication, critical thinking and problem-solving, team work, lifelong learning and information management, and leadership skills. This is a qualitative study and the data was collected via group interviews. Soft skills development among high school students were nurtured through space weather competition in solar flare detection. High school students (16 to 17 years old) were guided by mentors consisting of science teachers to carry out this project based on a module developed by UKM's researchers. Students had to acquire knowledge on antenna development and construct the antenna with recyclable materials. They had to capture graphs and identify peaks that indicate solar flare. Their findings were compared to satellite data for verification. They also presented their work and their findings to the panel of judges. After observation, it can be seen that students' soft skills and interest in learning space science had become more positive after being involved in this project.

Project LAUNCH: Bringing Space into Math and Science Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Fauerbach, M.; Henry, D. P.; Schmidt, D. L.

2005-01-01

Project LAUNCH is a K-12 teacher professional development program, which has been created in collaboration between the Whitaker Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), and the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI). Utilizing Space as the overarching theme it is designed to improve mathematics and science teaching, using inquiry based, hands-on teaching practices, which are aligned with Florida s Sunshine State Standards. Many students are excited about space exploration and it provides a great venue to get them involved in science and mathematics. The scope of Project LAUNCH however goes beyond just providing competency in the subject area, as pedagogy is also an intricate part of the project. Participants were introduced to the Conceptual Change Model (CCM) [1] as a framework to model good teaching practices. As the CCM closely follows what scientists call the scientific process, this teaching method is also useful to actively engage institute participants ,as well as their students, in real science. Project LAUNCH specifically targets teachers in low performing, high socioeconomic schools, where the need for skilled teachers is most critical.

Atmospheric and Space Sciences: Ionospheres and Plasma Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Yiǧit, Erdal

2018-01-01

The SpringerBriefs on Atmospheric and Space Sciences in two volumes presents a concise and interdisciplinary introduction to the basic theory, observation & modeling of atmospheric and ionospheric coupling processes on Earth. The goal is to contribute toward bridging the gap between meteorology, aeronomy, and planetary science. In addition recent progress in several related research topics, such atmospheric wave coupling and variability, is discussed. Volume 1 will focus on the atmosphere, while Volume 2 will present the ionospheres and the plasma environments. Volume 2 is aimed primarily at (research) students and young researchers that would like to gain quick insight into the basics of space sciences and current research. In combination with the first volume, it also is a useful tool for professors who would like to develop a course in atmospheric and space physics.

A Case of Fragmented High School Earth and Space Science Education in the Great Plains: Tracing Teacher Certification Policy to Students' Access

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Elizabeth; Lu, Jia

2017-01-01

Although U.S. high school students' access to Earth and space science (ESS) varies widely from state to state, nationally, ESS content is the most neglected area of science education and scientific literacy. States have been considering whether they will formally adopt, or less formally adapt, the new national science education standards, the Next…

Space Science in Project SMART: A UNH High School Outreach Program

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C. W.; Broad, L.; Goelzer, S.; Lessard, M.; Levergood, R.; Lugaz, N.; Moebius, E.; Schwadron, N.; Torbert, R. B.; Zhang, J.; Bloser, P. F.

2016-12-01

Every summer for the past 25 years the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has run a month-long, residential outreach program for high school students considering careers in mathematics, science, or engineering. Space science is one of the modules. Students work directly with UNH faculty performing original work with real spacecraft data and hardware and present the results of that effort at the end of the program. Recent research topics have included interplanetary waves and turbulence as recorded by the ACE and Voyager spacecraft, electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves seen by the RBSP spacecraft, interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) acceleration and interstellar pickup ions as seen by the STEREO spacecraft, and prototyping CubeSat hardware. Student research efforts can provide useful results for future research efforts by the faculty while the students gain unique exposure to space physics and a science career. In addition, the students complete a team project. Since 2006, that project has been the construction and flight of a high-altitude balloon payload and instruments. The students typically build the instruments they fly. In the process, students learn circuit design and construction, microcontroller programming, and core atmospheric and space science. Our payload design has evolved significantly since the first flight of a simple rectangular box and now involves a stable descent vehicle that does not require a parachute, an on-board flight control computer, in-flight autonomous control and data acquisition of multiple student-built instruments, and real-time camera images sent to ground. This is a program that can be used as a model for other schools to follow and that high schools can initiate. More information can be found at .

The Space Weather Monitor Project: Bringing Hands-on Science to Students of the Developing World for the IHY2007

Science.gov (United States)

Scherrer, D. K.; Rabello-Soares, M. C.; Morrow, C.

2006-08-01

Stanford's Solar Center, Electrical Engineering Department, and local educators have developed inexpensive Space Weather Monitors that students around the world can use to track solar-induced changes to the Earth's ionosphere. Through the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI) and the IHY Education and Public Outreach Program, our Monitors are being deployed to 191 countries for the International Heliophysical Year, 2007. In partnership with Chabot Space and Science Center, we are designing and developing classroom and educator support materials to accompany the distribution. Materials will be culturally sensitive and will be translated into the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). Monitors will be provided free of charge to developing nations and can be set up anywhere there is access to power.

Science Literacy and Prior Knowledge of Astronomy MOOC Students

Science.gov (United States)

Impey, Chris David; Buxner, Sanlyn; Wenger, Matthew; Formanek, Martin

2018-01-01

Many of science classes offered on Coursera fall into fall into the category of general education or general interest classes for lifelong learners, including our own, Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space. Very little is known about the backgrounds and prior knowledge of these students. In this talk we present the results of a survey of our Astronomy MOOC students. We also compare these results to our previous work on undergraduate students in introductory astronomy courses. Survey questions examined student demographics and motivations as well as their science and information literacy (including basic science knowledge, interest, attitudes and beliefs, and where they get their information about science). We found that our MOOC students are different than the undergraduate students in more ways than demographics. Many MOOC students demonstrated high levels of science and information literacy. With a more comprehensive understanding of our students’ motivations and prior knowledge about science and how they get their information about science, we will be able to develop more tailored learning experiences for these lifelong learners.

Astronauts in Outer Space Teaching Students Science: Comparing Chinese and American Implementations of Space-to-Earth Virtual Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

An, Song A.; Zhang, Meilan; Tillman, Daniel A.; Robertson, William; Siemssen, Annette; Paez, Carlos R.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between science lessons taught by Chinese astronauts in a space shuttle and those taught by American astronauts in a space shuttle, both of whom conducted experiments and demonstrations of science activities in a microgravity space environment. The study examined the instructional structure…

Examination of the Transfer of Astronomy and Space Sciences Knowledge to Daily Life

Science.gov (United States)

Emrahoglu, Nuri

2017-01-01

In this study, it was aimed to determine the levels of the ability of science teaching fourth grade students to transfer their knowledge of astronomy and space sciences to daily life within the scope of the Astronomy and Space Sciences lesson. For this purpose, the research method was designed as the mixed method including both the quantitative…

Astronomy and space sciences studies - use of a remotely controlled robotic observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Priskitch, Ray

Trinity College in Perth, Western Australia, has designed a self-paced online astronomy and space science course in response to the Earth & Beyond strand of the State's Curriculum Framework learning environment. The course also provides senior physics students the opportunity to undertake research that contributes towards their school-based assessment. Special features of the course include use of the first remotely controlled robotic telescope in a secondary school within Australia, and direct real time links to NASA's Johnson Space Centre. The quantum leap in telescope design and control technology introduces users, especially school students, to a means of data collection and processing that hitherto was in the realm of the professional astronomer. No longer must students be, both in time and space, located at the telescope when an event is taking place. Convenience of use and the high quality of data allows students to undertake scientific investigations that were impractical or of dubious quality beforehand. The Astronomy and Space Sciences course at Trinity offers students the opportunity to explore the solar system and the universe beyond whilst also incorporating a wide range of subjects other than science per se such as mathematics, computing, geography, multimedia, religious education and art. Skills developed in this course are of practical value, such as image processing, and the context of the studies serve to illuminate and stimulate student awareness of our unique environment and its finiteness.

Advancing participation of blind students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Science.gov (United States)

Beck-Winchatz, Bernhard; Riccobono, Mark A.

2008-12-01

Like their sighted peers, many blind students in elementary, middle, and high school are naturally interested in space. This interest can motivate them to learn fundamental scientific, quantitative, and critical thinking skills, and sometimes even lead to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. However, these students are often at a disadvantage in science because of the ubiquity of important graphical information that is generally not available in accessible formats, the unfamiliarity of teachers with non-visual teaching methods, lack of access to blind role models, and the low expectations of their teachers and parents. We discuss joint efforts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Federation of the Blind’s (NFB) National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS) to develop and implement strategies to promote opportunities for blind youth in science. These include the development of tactile space science books and curriculum materials, science academies for blind middle school and high school students, and college-level internship and mentoring programs. The partnership with the NFB exemplifies the effectiveness of collaborations between NASA and consumer-directed organizations to improve opportunities for underserved and underrepresented individuals.

The JOVE initiative - A NASA/university Joint Venture in space science

Science.gov (United States)

Six, F.; Chappell, R.

1990-01-01

The JOVE (NASA/university Joint Venture in space science) initiative is a point program between NASA and institutions of higher education whose aim is to bring about an extensive merger between these two communities. The project is discussed with emphasis on suggested contributions of partnership members, JOVE process timeline, and project schedules and costs. It is suggested that NASA provide a summer resident research associateship (one ten week stipend); scientific on-line data from space missions; an electronic network and work station, providing a link to the data base and to other scientists; matching student support, both undergraduate and graduate; matching summer salary for up to three faculty participants; and travel funds. The universities will be asked to provide research time for faculty participants, matching student support, matching summer salary for faculty participants, an instructional unit in space science, and an outreach program to pre-college students.

The New York City Research Initiative: A Model for Undergraduate and High School Student Research in Earth and Space Sciences and Space Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Scalzo, F.; Frost, J.; Carlson, B. E.; Marchese, P.; Rosenzweig, C.; Austin, S. A.; Peteet, D. M.; Druyan, L.; Fulakeza, M.; Gaffin, S.; Baruh, H.; Decker, S.; Thangam, S.; Miles, J.; Moshary, F.; Rossow, W.; Greenbaum, S.; Cheung, T. K.; Johnson, L. P.

2010-12-01

1 Frank Scalzo, 1 Barbara Carlson, 2 Leon Johnson, 3 Paul Marchese, 1 Cynthia Rosenzweig, 2 Shermane Austin, 1 Dorothy Peteet, 1 Len Druyan, 1 Matthew Fulakeza, 1 Stuart Gaffin, 4 Haim Baruh, 4 Steven Decker, 5 Siva Thangam, 5 Joe Miles, 6 James Frost, 7 Fred Moshary, 7 William Rossow, 7 Samir Ahmed, 8 Steven Greenbaum and 3 Tak Cheung 1 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, USA 2 Physical, Environmental and Computer Sciences, Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, USA 3 Physics, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Queens, NY, USA 4 Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA 5 Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA 6 Physics, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, Queens, NY, USA 7 Electrical Engineering, City College of New York, CUNY, USA 8 Physics, Hunter College, CUNY, USA The New York City Research Initiative (NYCRI) is a research and academic program that involves high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and high school teachers in research teams under the mentorship of college/university principal investigator of NASA funded projects and/or NASA scientists. The principal investigators are at 7 colleges/universities within a 20-mile radius of New York City (NYC and Northern New Jersey), as well as the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies. The program supports research in Earth Science, Space Science, and Space Technology. Research investigations include: Sea Surface Temperature and Precipitation in the West African Monsoon, Urban Heat Island: Sun and Rain Effects, Decadal Changes in Aerosol and Asthma, Variations in Salinity and River Discharge in the Hudson River Estuary, Environmental Change in the Hudson Estuary Wetlands, Verification of Winter Storm Scale Developed for Nor’easters, Solar Weather and Tropical Cyclone Activity, Tropospheric and Stratospheric Ozone Investigation in Metropolitan NYC, Aerosol Optical Depth through use of a MFRSR, Detection of Concentration in the Atmosphere Using a Quantum Cascade Laser System

Managing the space sciences

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In April 1994 the National Research Council received a request from NASA that the NRC's Space Studies Board provide guidance on questions relating to the management of NASA's programs in the space sciences. The issues raised in the request closely reflect questions posed in the agency's fiscal year 1994 Senate appropriations report. These questions included the following: Should all the NASA space science programs be gathered into a 'National Institute for Space Science'? What other organizational changes might be made to improve the coordination and oversight of NASA space science programs? What processes should be used for establishing interdisciplinary science priorities based on scientific merit and other criteria, while ensuring opportunities for newer fields and disciplines to emerge? And what steps could be taken to improve utilization of advanced technologies in future space scienc missions? This report details the findings of the Committee on the Future of Space Science (FOSS) and its three task groups: the Task Group on Alternative Organizations, Task Group on Research Prioritization, and the Task Group on Technology.

The Structure-Agency Dialectic in Contested Science Spaces: "Do Earthworms Eat Apples?"

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Justine M.

2015-01-01

Focusing on a group of African American third graders who attend a high-poverty urban school, I explore the structure-agency dialectic within contested spaces situated in a dialogically oriented science classroom. Contested spaces entail the moments in which the students challenge each other's and their teacher's science ideas and, in the process,…

Science is Cool with NASA's "Space School Musical"

Science.gov (United States)

Asplund, S.

2011-12-01

To help young learners understand basic solar system science concepts and retain what they learn, NASA's Discovery Program collaborated with KidTribe to create "Space School Musical," an innovative approach to teaching about the solar system that combines science content with music, fun lyrics, and choreography. It's an educational "hip-hopera" that moves and grooves its way into the minds and memories of students and educators alike. Kids can watch the videos, learn the songs, do the cross-curricular activities, and perform the show themselves. "Space School Musical" captures students attention as it brings the solar system to life, introducing the planets, moons, asteroids and more. The musical uses many different learning styles, helping to assure retention. Offering students an engaging, creative, and interdisciplinary learning opportunity helps them remember the content and may lead them to wonder about the universe around them and even inspire children to want to learn more, to dare to consider they can be the scientists, technologists, engineers or mathematicians of tomorrow. The unique Activity Guide created that accompanies "Space School Musical" includes 36 academic, fitness, art, and life skills lessons, all based on the content in the songs. The activities are designed to be highly engaging while helping students interact with the information. Whether students absorb information best with their eyes, ears, or body, each lesson allows for their learning preferences and encourages them to interact with both the content and each other. A guide on How to Perform the Play helps instructors lead students in performing their own version of the musical. The guide has suggestions to help with casting, auditions, rehearsing, creating the set and costumes, and performing. The musical is totally flexible - the entire play can be performed or just a few selected numbers; students can sing to the karaoke versions or lip-sync to the original cast. After learning about

Space Science Cloud: a Virtual Space Science Research Platform Based on Cloud Model

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaoyan; Tong, Jizhou; Zou, Ziming

Through independent and co-operational science missions, Strategic Pioneer Program (SPP) on Space Science, the new initiative of space science program in China which was approved by CAS and implemented by National Space Science Center (NSSC), dedicates to seek new discoveries and new breakthroughs in space science, thus deepen the understanding of universe and planet earth. In the framework of this program, in order to support the operations of space science missions and satisfy the demand of related research activities for e-Science, NSSC is developing a virtual space science research platform based on cloud model, namely the Space Science Cloud (SSC). In order to support mission demonstration, SSC integrates interactive satellite orbit design tool, satellite structure and payloads layout design tool, payload observation coverage analysis tool, etc., to help scientists analyze and verify space science mission designs. Another important function of SSC is supporting the mission operations, which runs through the space satellite data pipelines. Mission operators can acquire and process observation data, then distribute the data products to other systems or issue the data and archives with the services of SSC. In addition, SSC provides useful data, tools and models for space researchers. Several databases in the field of space science are integrated and an efficient retrieve system is developing. Common tools for data visualization, deep processing (e.g., smoothing and filtering tools), analysis (e.g., FFT analysis tool and minimum variance analysis tool) and mining (e.g., proton event correlation analysis tool) are also integrated to help the researchers to better utilize the data. The space weather models on SSC include magnetic storm forecast model, multi-station middle and upper atmospheric climate model, solar energetic particle propagation model and so on. All the services above-mentioned are based on the e-Science infrastructures of CAS e.g. cloud storage and

The efficacy of student-centered instruction in supporting science learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Granger, E M; Bevis, T H; Saka, Y; Southerland, S A; Sampson, V; Tate, R L

2012-10-05

Transforming science learning through student-centered instruction that engages students in a variety of scientific practices is central to national science-teaching reform efforts. Our study employed a large-scale, randomized-cluster experimental design to compare the effects of student-centered and teacher-centered approaches on elementary school students' understanding of space-science concepts. Data included measures of student characteristics and learning and teacher characteristics and fidelity to the instructional approach. Results reveal that learning outcomes were higher for students enrolled in classrooms engaging in scientific practices through a student-centered approach; two moderators were identified. A statistical search for potential causal mechanisms for the observed outcomes uncovered two potential mediators: students' understanding of models and evidence and the self-efficacy of teachers.

NASA IDEAS to Improve Instruction in Astronomy and Space Science

Science.gov (United States)

Malphrus, B.; Kidwell, K.

1999-12-01

The IDEAS to Improve Instructional Competencies in Astronomy and Space Science project is intended to develop and/or enhance teacher competencies in astronomy and space sciences of teacher participants (Grades 5-12) in Kentucky. The project is being implemented through a two-week summer workshop, a series of five follow-up meetings, and an academic year research project. The resources of Kentucky's only Radio Astronomy Observatory- the Morehead Radio Telescope (MRT), Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) (via remote observing using the Internet), and the Kentucky Department of Education regional service centers are combined to provide a unique educational experience. The project is designed to improve science teacher's instructional methodologies by providing pedagogical assistance, content training, involving the teachers and their students in research in radio astronomy, providing access to the facilities of the Morehead Astrophysical Observatory, and by working closely with a NASA-JOVE research astronomer. Participating teachers will ultimately produce curriculum units and research projects, the results of which will be published on the WWW. A major goal of this project is to share with teachers and ultimately students the excitement and importance of scientific research. The project represents a partnership of five agencies, each matching the commitment both financially and/or personnel. This project is funded by the NASA IDEAS initiative administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute and the National Air and Space Administration (NASA).

Expanding Earth and Space Science through the Initiating New Science Partnerships In Rural Education (INSPIRE)

Science.gov (United States)

Radencic, S.; McNeal, K. S.; Pierce, D.; Hare, D.

2010-12-01

The INSPIRE program at Mississippi State University (MSU), funded by the NSF Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK12) program, focuses on Earth and Space science education and has partnered ten graduate students from MSU with five teachers from local, rural school districts. For the next five years the project will serve to increase inquiry and technology experiences in science and math while enhancing graduate student’s communication skills. Graduate students, from the disciplines of Geosciences, Physics, and Engineering are partnered with Chemistry, Physical Science, Physics, Geometry and Middle school science classrooms and will create engaging inquiry activities that incorporate elements of their research, and integrate various forms of technology. The generated lesson plans that are implemented in the classroom are published on the INSPIRE home page (www.gk12.msstate.edu) so that other classroom instructors can utilize this free resource. Local 7th -12th grade students will attend GIS day later this fall at MSU to increase their understanding and interest in Earth and Space sciences. Selected graduate students and teachers will visit one of four international university partners located in Poland, Australia, England, or The Bahamas to engage research abroad. Upon return they will incorporate their global experiences into their local classrooms. Planning for the project included many factors important to the success of the partnerships. The need for the program was evident in Mississippi K-12 schools based on low performance on high stakes assessments and lack of curriculum in the Earth and Space sciences. Meeting with administrators to determine what needs they would like addressed by the project and recognizing the individual differences among the schools were integral components to tailoring project goals and to meet the unique needs of each school partner. Time for training and team building of INSPIRE teachers and graduate students before the

Making space more interesting to elementary students

Science.gov (United States)

Edlund, J.

When in life do we take the big decision of deciding which path in our career we are going to take? Is this decision made from our experiences in school or is it taken before? Do our family or our friends hopes and dreams for us have any impact on our decision? These are questions that are useful for understanding why some people choose to work with science and why other has chosen another career. In my work to help the university to recruit new student to their master of science in space engineering programme, I have been visiting an elementary school and talked about different topics in space science. The pupils were very interested but when I did a survey of their dream jobs and future career I saw that most of them have hopes of a career that are based on their present talent and not on what education they are going to have. 11 out of 17 students that did this survey wanted to be some kind of artist or soccer professional. Only 4 of them had chosen a career that there are educations for. I do not think this is the situation only for this school, I think this situation is common for children I this age. Since the chance of being a pro in any sport is a really hard thing, probably the most of them have to give up their dream and chose a more realistic approach to their future career. This leaves us with a majority of the students that have not yet had their path chosen and hopefully with help of teachers and special lectures we can make science more attractive to them. This sound like an easy problem, since most of the students finds space really interesting. But there are some problems. The teachers do not have the kind of education, especially in elementary school that is needed for the kids to get proper answer to their questions. The solution is not easy. Should the teachers take more courses in physics and chemistry or should it be their responsibility to search for facts when these kinds of questions appear? I found that in some cases the student have

Pushing the boundaries of cultural congruence pedagogy in science education towards a third space

Science.gov (United States)

Quigley, Cassie

2011-09-01

This review explores Meyers and Crawford's "Teaching science as a cultural way of knowing: Merging authentic inquiry, nature of science, and multicultural strategies" by examining how they combine the use of inquiry-based science instruction with multicultural strategies. In this conversation, I point to the need of specific discourse strategies to help teachers and students create hybrid spaces to push the boundaries of cultural congruence as described in this article. These strategies include a reflective component to the explicit instruction that encourages an integration of home and science discourses. My response to this work expands on their use of multicultural strategies to push toward a congruent Third space that asks not only what happens to the students who do not participate in science, but also what happens to science when a diverse group of people does not participate?

Science Olympiad students' nature of science understandings

Science.gov (United States)

Philpot, Cindy J.

2007-12-01

Recent reform efforts in science education focus on scientific literacy for all citizens. In order to be scientifically literate, an individual must have informed understandings of nature of science (NOS), scientific inquiry, and science content matter. This study specifically focused on Science Olympiad students' understanding of NOS as one piece of scientific literacy. Research consistently shows that science students do not have informed understandings of NOS (Abd-El-Khalick, 2002; Bell, Blair, Crawford, and Lederman, 2002; Kilcrease and Lucy, 2002; Schwartz, Lederman, and Thompson, 2001). However, McGhee-Brown, Martin, Monsaas and Stombler (2003) found that Science Olympiad students had in-depth understandings of science concepts, principles, processes, and techniques. Science Olympiad teams compete nationally and are found in rural, urban, and suburban schools. In an effort to learn from students who are generally considered high achieving students and who enjoy science, as opposed to the typical science student, the purpose of this study was to investigate Science Olympiad students' understandings of NOS and the experiences that formed their understandings. An interpretive, qualitative, case study method was used to address the research questions. The participants were purposefully and conveniently selected from the Science Olympiad team at a suburban high school. Data collection consisted of the Views of Nature of Science -- High School Questionnaire (VNOS-HS) (Schwartz, Lederman, & Thompson, 2001), semi-structured individual interviews, and a focus group. The main findings of this study were similar to much of the previous research in that the participants had informed understandings of the tentative nature of science and the role of inferences in science, but they did not have informed understandings of the role of human imagination and creativity, the empirical nature of science, or theories and laws. High level science classes and participation in

Hands across the divide: Finding spaces for student-centered pedagogy in the undergraduate science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Spier-Dance, Lesley

This study explored college science students' and instructors' experiences with student-generated and performed analogies. The objectives of the study were to determine whether the use of student-generated analogies could provide students with opportunities to develop robust understanding of difficult science concepts, and to examine students' and instructors' perspectives on the utilization of these analogies. To address my objectives, I carried out a case study at a university-college in British Columbia. I examined the use of analogies in undergraduate biology and chemistry courses. Working with three instructors, I explored the use of student-generated analogies in five courses. I carried out in-depth analyses for one biology case and one chemistry case. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, researcher journal logs and students' responses to assessment questions. My findings suggest that involvement in the analogy exercise was associated with gains in students' conceptual understanding. Lower-achieving students who participated in the analogy activity exhibited significant gains in understanding of the science concept, but were unable to transfer their knowledge to novel situations. Higher-achieving students who participated in the activity were better able to transfer their knowledge of the analogy-related science topic to novel situations. This research revealed that students exhibited improved understanding when their analogies clearly represented important features of the target science concept. Students actively involved in the analogy activity exhibited gains in conceptual understanding. They perceived that embodied performative aspects of the activity promoted engagement, which motivated their learning. Participation in the analogy activity led to enhanced social interaction and a heightened sense of community within the classroom. The combination of social and performative elements provided motivational learning

Space Sciences Focus Area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reeves, Geoffrey D. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-08-10

To advance our understanding of the space environment (from the Sun to the Earth and beyond) and to advance our ability to operate systems in space that protect life and society. Space Science is distinct from other field, such as astrophysics or cosmology, in that Space Science utilizes in-situ measurements from high altitude rockets, balloons and spacecraft or ground-based measurements of objects and conditions in space.

The ASSURE Summer REU Program: Introducing research to first-generation and underserved undergraduates through space sciences and engineering projects

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, Darcy; Peticolas, Laura; Multiverse Team at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab

2018-01-01

The Advancing Space Science through Undergraduate Research Experience (ASSURE) summer REU program is an NSF-funded REU site at the Space Sciences Lab at UC Berkeley that first started in summer 2014. The program recruits students from all STEM majors, targeting underserved students including community college students and first-generation college students. The students have little or no research experience and a wide variety of academic backgrounds, but have a shared passion for space sciences and astronomy. We will describe our program's structure and the components we have found successful in preparing and supporting both the students and their research advisors for their summer research projects. This includes an intensive first week of introductory lectures and tutorials at the start of the program, preparing students for working in an academic research environment. The program also employs a multi-tiered mentoring system, with layers of support for the undergraduate student cohort, as well as graduate student and postdoctoral research advisors.

Space Culture: Innovative Cultural Approaches To Public Engagement With Astronomy, Space Science And Astronautics

Science.gov (United States)

Malina, Roger F.

2012-01-01

In recent years a number of cultural organizations have established ongoing programs of public engagement with astronomy, space science and astronautics. Many involve elements of citizen science initiatives, artists’ residencies in scientific laboratories and agencies, art and science festivals, and social network projects as well as more traditional exhibition venues. Recognizing these programs several agencies and organizations have established mechanisms for facilitating public engagement with astronomy and space science through cultural activities. The International Astronautics Federation has established an Technical Activities Committee for the Cultural Utilization of Space. Over the past year the NSF and NEA have organized disciplinary workshops to develop recommendations relating to art-science interaction and community building efforts. Rationales for encouraging public engagement via cultural projects range from theory of creativity, innovation and invention to cultural appropriation in the context of `socially robust science’ as advocated by Helga Nowotny of the European Research Council. Public engagement with science, as opposed to science education and outreach initiatives, require different approaches. Just as organizations have employed education professionals to lead education activities, so they must employ cultural professionals if they wish to develop public engagement projects via arts and culture. One outcome of the NSF and NEA workshops has been development of a rationale for converting STEM to STEAM by including the arts in STEM methodologies, particularly for K-12 where students can access science via arts and cultural contexts. Often these require new kinds of informal education approaches that exploit locative media, gaming platforms, artists projects and citizen science. Incorporating astronomy and space science content in art and cultural projects requires new skills in `cultural translation’ and `trans-mediation’ and new kinds

Improving Student Achievement in Math and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Nancy G.; Hamsa, Irene Schulz; Heath, Panagiota; Perry, Robert; White, Stacy J.

1998-01-01

As the new millennium approaches, a long anticipated reckoning for the education system of the United States is forthcoming, Years of school reform initiatives have not yielded the anticipated results. A particularly perplexing problem involves the lack of significant improvement of student achievement in math and science. Three "Partnership" projects represent collaborative efforts between Xavier University (XU) of Louisiana, Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO), Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Stennis Space Center (SSC), to enhance student achievement in math and science. These "Partnerships" are focused on students and teachers in federally designated rural and urban empowerment zones and enterprise communities. The major goals of the "Partnerships" include: (1) The identification and dissemination of key indices of success that account for high performance in math and science; (2) The education of pre-service and in-service secondary teachers in knowledge, skills, and competencies that enhance the instruction of high school math and science; (3) The development of faculty to enhance the quality of math and science courses in institutions of higher education; and (4) The incorporation of technology-based instruction in institutions of higher education. These goals will be achieved by the accomplishment of the following objectives: (1) Delineate significant ?best practices? that are responsible for enhancing student outcomes in math and science; (2) Recruit and retain pre-service teachers with undergraduate degrees in Biology, Math, Chemistry, or Physics in a graduate program, culminating with a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction; (3) Provide faculty workshops and opportunities for travel to professional meetings for dissemination of NASA resources information; (4) Implement methodologies and assessment procedures utilizing performance-based applications of higher order

Twenty-first Century Space Science in The Urban High School Setting: The NASA/John Dewey High School Educational Outreach Partnership

Science.gov (United States)

Fried, B.; Levy, M.; Reyes, C.; Austin, S.

2003-05-01

A unique and innovative partnership has recently developed between NASA and John Dewey High School, infusing Space Science into the curriculum. This partnership builds on an existing relationship with MUSPIN/NASA and their regional center at the City University of New York based at Medgar Evers College. As an outgrowth of the success and popularity of our Remote Sensing Research Program, sponsored by the New York State Committee for the Advancement of Technology Education (NYSCATE), and the National Science Foundation and stimulated by MUSPIN-based faculty development workshops, our science department has branched out in a new direction - the establishment of a Space Science Academy. John Dewey High School, located in Brooklyn, New York, is an innovative inner city public school with students of a diverse multi-ethnic population and a variety of economic backgrounds. Students were recruited from this broad spectrum, which covers the range of learning styles and academic achievement. This collaboration includes students of high, average, and below average academic levels, emphasizing participation of students with learning disabilities. In this classroom without walls, students apply the strategies and methodologies of problem-based learning in solving complicated tasks. The cooperative learning approach simulates the NASA method of problem solving, as students work in teams, share research and results. Students learn to recognize the complexity of certain tasks as they apply Earth Science, Mathematics, Physics, Technology and Engineering to design solutions. Their path very much follows the NASA model as they design and build various devices. Our Space Science curriculum presently consists of a one-year sequence of elective classes taken in conjunction with Regents-level science classes. This sequence consists of Remote Sensing, Planetology, Mission to Mars (NASA sponsored research program), and Microbiology, where future projects will be astronomy related. This

Fostering Science Club: Creating a Welcoming Extra-Curricular Science Inquiry Space for ALL Learners that Seeks to Close the Science Experience Gap in a Predominantly Minority Urban Community

Science.gov (United States)

Mayfield, K. K.

2017-12-01

BackgroundTo minority adolescents in urban centers science inquiry seems like an engagement completed by others with specialized skills (Alkon & Agyeman, 2012). When scientists teach science classes those spaces and pedagogy are underwritten by the science teachers' beliefs about how science happens (Southerland, Gess-Newsome & Johnston, 2002). Further, scientific inquiry is often presented as the realm of upperclass whiteness (Alkon & Agyeman, 2012; Mayfield, 2014). When science educators talk about the achievement gaps between raced and classed learners, accompanying that gap is also a gap in science experience. My high school students in a postindustrial school district: attend a school under state takeover (the lowest 5/5 rating (MA Executive Office of Education, 2017)); have a student body that is 70% Latinx; and 96% of whom receive Free and Reduced Lunch (a Federal marker of a family below the poverty line). Annual Yearly Progress is a goal set by state and federal governments for school populations by race, ability, and language. In 2016, the site has failed to make its goals for special education, black, hispanic, white, and English as a Second Language populations. As a high poverty district there is a paucity of extracurricular science experiences. This lack of science extensions make closing standardized test gaps difficult. Geoscience Skills & FindingsThis after school program does not replicate deficit narratives that keep certain bodies of students away from science inquiry (Mayfield, 2015; Ogbu, 1987). Instead, Science Club uses an array of student-centered science (physics, math, arts, chemistry, biology) projects to help students see themselves as citizen scientists who lead explorations of their world. We meet 1.5 hours a week in a 30 week school year. Science club helps students feel like powerful and capable science inquirers with 80% girls in attendance, and uses science experiments to cultivate essential inquiry skills like: Observation

Strategy for implementing research in hydrology to promote space science among school children in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Alabi, Omowumi O.

2015-04-01

This paper describes a proposed activity to introduce school children in Nigeria to research in hydrology through the public outreach coordinated by the United Nations affiliated African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E). Over the years, ARCSSTE-E has established a vibrant relationship with Nigerian schools through periodic zonal and national space educational workshops organized for students and teachers. The enthusiasm displayed by the students, coupled with the brilliant performance in the evaluation tests, indicated that this method of informal education is suitable for stimulating the interest of Nigerian pre-collegiate youths in space science and technology, and also to inspire the young learners and develop their interest in the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Because only few representatives from each school can participate in these public outreach programs, it became expedient for the Centre to inaugurate space clubs in schools as a forum for students and teachers to meet regularly to discuss space related issues. Since the first space club was officially launched in 2007, the Centre has inaugurated over 300 space clubs in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, strategically distributed over the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The presentation highlights a space club activity designed to introduce the students to precipitation data collection, with locally fabricated rain gauges. The paper also documents the proposed post-data collection activities in which ARCSSTE-E, acting as the coordinating Centre will collaborate with other national and international organizations to standardize and utilize the rainfall data collected by the students for ground validation of satellite data from the Global Precipitation Measurement. Key words: Public Outreach, Space Club, Human Capacity Development, Hydrologic Research, Global Precipitation Measurement.

Outreach to Science Faculty and Students through Research Exhibitions

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Tina; Hebblethwaite, Chris

2014-01-01

Penfield Library at the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) has a gallery exhibit space near the front entrance that is used to showcase student-faculty research and art class projects. This article features the library's outreach efforts to science faculty and students through research exhibitions. The library held an exhibition…

Space life sciences: A status report

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

The scientific research and supporting technology development conducted in the Space Life Sciences Program is described. Accomplishments of the past year are highlighted. Plans for future activities are outlined. Some specific areas of study include the following: Crew health and safety; What happens to humans in space; Gravity, life, and space; Sustenance in space; Life and planet Earth; Life in the Universe; Promoting good science and good will; Building a future for the space life sciences; and Benefits of space life sciences research.

Opportunities for Space Science Education Using Current and Future Solar System Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Matiella Novak, M.; Beisser, K.; Butler, L.; Turney, D.

2010-12-01

The Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) office in The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Space Department strives to excite and inspire the next generation of explorers by creating interactive education experiences. Since 1959, APL engineers and scientists have designed, built, and launched 61 spacecraft and over 150 instruments involved in space science. With the vast array of current and future Solar System exploration missions available, endless opportunities exist for education programs to incorporate the real-world science of these missions. APL currently has numerous education and outreach programs tailored for K-12 formal and informal education, higher education, and general outreach communities. Current programs focus on Solar System exploration missions such as the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) Moon explorer, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), New Horizons mission to Pluto, and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) Satellite, to name a few. Education and outreach programs focusing on K-12 formal education include visits to classrooms, summer programs for middle school students, and teacher workshops. APL hosts a Girl Power event and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Day each year. Education and outreach specialists hold teacher workshops throughout the year to train educators in using NASA spacecraft science in their lesson plans. High school students from around the U.S. are able to engage in NASA spacecraft science directly by participating in the Mars Exploration Student Data Teams (MESDT) and the Student Principal Investigator Programs. An effort is also made to generate excitement for future missions by focusing on what mysteries will be solved. Higher education programs are used to recruit and train the next generation of scientists and engineers. The NASA/APL Summer Internship Program offers a

The experience to use space data as educational resources for secondary school students

Science.gov (United States)

Zaitzev, A.; Boyarchuk, K.

The space science data available free from Internet and include all kind of data: solar images from SOHO and GOES-12 satellites, WIND and ACE interplanetary data, ground-based and satellite aurora images and magnetic field variations in real time, ionospheric data etc. Beside that we have the direct transmissions of meteorological images from NOAA satellites in the APT and HRPT modes. All such sources of data can be used for educational programs for secondary school students. During last 10 years we conduct special classes in local school, where we use such space data. After introduction course each student might choose the topic which he can study in details. Each year the students prepare the original papers and participate in the special conferences, which one is in The Space Day, April 12. As curriculum materials we also use Russian language magazine "Novosti Kosmonavtiki", original data bases with space data available on CD-ROMs and publications in English. Such approach stimulate students to lean English also. After finish the classes K-12 students motivated well to continue education into space science and IZMIRAN will plan to support that students. In past two years we pay attention to use microsatellites for education. Last one is Russian-Australian KOLIBRI-2000 microsatellite, which was launched March 2002. KOLIBRI-2000 conduct simple measurements as magnetic field and particles. The experience in the usage of microsatellites data in classes are analyzed. The prospects and recommendations are discussed.

Engaging a middle school teacher and students in formal-informal science education: Contexts of science standards-based curriculum and an urban science center

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Shamarion Gladys

This is a three-article five chapter doctoral dissertation. The overall purpose of this three-pronged study is to engage a middle school science teacher and students in formal-informal science education within the context of a science standards-based curriculum and Urban Science Center. The goals of the study were: (1) to characterize the conversations of formal and informal science educators as they attempted to implement a standards-based curriculum augmented with science center exhibits; (2) to study the classroom discourse between the teacher and students that foster the development of common knowledge in science and student understanding of the concept of energy before observing science center exhibits on energy; (3) to investigate whether or not a standards-driven, project-based Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology (IQWST) curriculum unit on forms and transformation of energy augmented with science center exhibits had a significant effect on urban African-American seventh grade students' achievement and learning. Overall, the study consisted of a mixed-method approach. Article one consists of a case study featuring semi-structured interviews and field notes. Article two consists of documenting and interpreting teacher-students' classroom discourse. Article three consists of qualitative methods (classroom discussion, focus group interviews, student video creation) and quantitative methods (multiple choice and open-ended questions). Oral discourses in all three studies were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. In article one, the community of educators' conversations were critically analyzed to discern the challenges educators encountered when they attempted to connect school curriculum to energy exhibits at the Urban Science Center. The five challenges that characterize the emergence of a third space were as follows: (a) science terminology for lesson focus, (b) "dumb-down" of science exhibits, (c) exploration distracts

Space science--a fountain of exploration and discovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Yidong

2014-01-01

Space science is a major part of space activities, as well as one of the most active areas in scientific exploration today. This paper gives a brief introduction regarding the main achievements in space science involving solar physics and space physics, space astronomy, moon and planetary science, space geo- science, space life science, and micro- gravity science. At the very frontier of basic research, space science should be developed to spearhead breakthroughs in China's fundamental sciences. (author)

Progressing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in North Dakota with near-space ballooning

Science.gov (United States)

Saad, Marissa Elizabeth

The United States must provide quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in order to maintain a leading role in the global economy. Numerous initiatives have been established across the United States that promote and encourage STEM education within the middle school curriculum. Integrating active learning pedagogy into instructors' lesson plans will prepare the students to think critically - a necessary skill for the twenty first century. This study integrated a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into six eighth grade Earth Science classes from Valley Middle School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was hypothesized that after the students designed, constructed, launched, and analyzed their payload experiments, they would have an increased affinity for high school science and math classes. A pre- and post-survey was distributed to the students (n=124), before and after the project to analyze how effective this engineering and space mission was regarding high school STEM interests. The surveys were statistically analyzed, comparing means by the Student's t-Test, specifically the Welch-Satterthwaite test. Female students displayed a 57.1% increase in math and a 63.6% increase in science; male students displayed a 46.6% increase in science and 0% increase in math. Most Likert-scale survey questions experienced no statistically significant change, supporting the null hypothesis. The only survey question that supported the hypothesis was, "I Think Engineers Work Alone," which experienced a 0.24% decrease in student understanding. The results suggest that integrating a three-week long Near Space Balloon project into middle school curricula will not directly influence the students' excitement to pursue STEM subjects and careers. An extensive, yearlong ballooning mission is recommended so that it can be integrated with multiple core subjects. Using such an innovative pedagogy method as with this balloon launch will help students master the

Teaching Planetary Sciences at the Universidad del País Vasco in Spain: The Aula Espazio Gela and its Master in Space Science and Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Hueso, R.; Sanchez-Lavega, A.; Pérez-Hoyos, S.

2011-12-01

Planetary science is a highly multidisciplinary field traditionally associated to Astronomy, Physics or Earth Sciences Departments. Spanish universities do not generally offer planetary sciences courses but some departments give courses associated to studies on Astronomy or Geology. We show a different perspective obtained at the Engeneering School at the Universidad del País Vasco in Bilbao, Spain, which offers a Master in Space Science and Technology to graduates in Engineering or Physics. Here we detail the experience acquired in two years of this master which offers several planetary science courses: Solar System Physics, Astronomy, Planetary Atmospheres & Space Weather together with more technical courses. The university also owns an urban observatory in the Engineering School which is used for practical exercises and student projects. The planetary science courses have also resulted in motivating part of the students to do their master thesis in scientific subjects in planetary sciences. Since the students have very different backgrounds their master theses have been quite different: From writing open software tools to detect bolides in video observations of Jupiter atmosphere to the photometric calibration and scientific use or their own Jupiter and Saturn images or the study of atmospheric motions of the Venus' South Polar Vortex using data from the Venus Express spacecraft. As a result of this interaction with the students some of them have been engaged to initiate Ph.D.s in planetary sciences enlarging a relative small field in Spain. Acknowledgements: The Master in Space Science and Technology is offered by the Aula Espazio Gela at the Universidad del País Vasco Engineer School in Bilbao, Spain and is funded by Diputación Foral de Bizkaia.

National Space Science Data Center Master Catalog

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The National Space Science Data Center serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. 'Space science' means astronomy and astrophysics, solar...

Interactive Auroral Science for Hearing-Impaired Students

Science.gov (United States)

Samara, M.; Michell, R. G.; Jahn, J.; Pfeifer, M.; Ibarra, S.; Hampton, D. L.; Powell, D.

2012-12-01

Under a NASA E/PO grant, we have partnered with San Antonio's Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children to develop a science class experience where students directly interact with scientists and participate in a research-grade space science measurement campaign. The unique aspect of partnering with Sunshine Cottage lies in Sunshine's approach of auditory-verbal communication. Aided by technology (hearing aids, cochlear implants), a diverse student body with students of all levels of hearing loss (moderate through profound) is taught in an entirely auditory-verbal environment at Sunshine Cottage. Bringing these students into early contact with research work can lay the foundation for future careers in the STEM field that normally they might not consider as indicated by the first year of this collaboration where the student response was distinctly positive. Here we report on the first year of those activities, as they related to a ground based imaging approach to exploring the northern lights and from the point of view of the scientists that participated. The major components of that activity included a site visit to SwRI by the students and their teachers, a semester long lab at school utilizing current research tools and a real-time campaign night. The students used a number of diagnostics to first predict and then verify auroral activity. One of the tools used was the MOOSE observatory which is a community resource state of the art observatory comprised of 5 EMCCD imagers in Alaska, established through an NSF MRI grant. We will discuss the approach and lessons learned during the first year of the project and the directions that we will likely take in the second year. Lessons learned from teaching these students space science related topic can be flowed right back into mainstream classroom settings. One other significant and unexpected aspect of this first year was that we were able to connect two groups of students through skype (in the 4th to 5th grades) that

Space Science Education Resource Directory

Science.gov (United States)

Christian, C. A.; Scollick, K.

The Office of Space Science (OSS) of NASA supports educational programs as a by-product of the research it funds through missions and investigative programs. A rich suite of resources for public use is available including multimedia materials, online resources, hardcopies and other items. The OSS supported creation of a resource catalog through a group lead by individuals at STScI that ultimately will provide an easy-to-use and user-friendly search capability to access products. This paper describes the underlying architecture of that catalog, including the challenge to develop a system for characterizing education products through appropriate metadata. The system must also be meaningful to a large clientele including educators, scientists, students, and informal science educators. An additional goal was to seamlessly exchange data with existing federally supported educational systems as well as local systems. The goals, requirements, and standards for the catalog will be presented to illuminate the rationale for the implementation ultimately adopted.

New FINESSE Faculty Institutes for NASA Earth and Space Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Timothy F.; Slater, Stephanie; Marshall, Sunette Sophia; Stork, Debra; Pomeroy, J. Richard R

2014-06-01

In a systematic effort to improve the preparation of future science teachers, scholars coordinated by the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research are providing a series of high-quality, 2-day professional development workshops, with year-round follow-up support, for college and university professors who prepare future science teachers to work with highly diverse student populations. These workshops focus on reforming and revitalizing undergraduate science teaching methods courses and Earth and Space science content courses that future teachers most often take to reflect contemporary pedagogies and data-rich problem-based learning approaches steeped in authentic scientific inquiry, which consistently demonstrate effectiveness with diverse students. Participants themselves conduct science data-rich research projects during the institutes using highly regarded approaches to inquiry using proven models. In addition, the Institute allocates significant time to illustrating best practices for working with diverse students. Moreover, participants leave with a well-formulated action plan to reform their courses targeting future teachers to include more data-rich scientific inquiry lessons and to be better focused on improving science education for a wide diversity of students. Through these workshops faculty use a backwards faded scaffolding mechanism for working inquiry into a deeper understanding of science by using existing on-line data to develop and research astronomy, progressing from creating a valid and easily testable question, to simple data analysis, arriving at a conclusion, and finally presenting and supporting that conclusion in the classroom. An updated schedule is available at FINESSEProgram.org

Student Motivation in Science Subjects in Tanzania, Including Students' Voices

Science.gov (United States)

Mkimbili, Selina Thomas; Ødegaard, Marianne

2017-12-01

Fostering and maintaining students' interest in science is an important aspect of improving science learning. The focus of this paper is to listen to and reflect on students' voices regarding the sources of motivation for science subjects among students in community secondary schools with contextual challenges in Tanzania. We conducted a group-interview study of 46 Form 3 and Form 4 Tanzanian secondary school students. The study findings reveal that the major contextual challenges to student motivation for science in the studied schools are limited resources and students' insufficient competence in the language of instruction. Our results also reveal ways to enhance student motivation for science in schools with contextual challenges; these techniques include the use of questioning techniques and discourse, students' investigations and practical work using locally available materials, study tours, more integration of classroom science into students' daily lives and the use of real-life examples in science teaching. Also we noted that students' contemporary life, culture and familiar language can be utilised as a useful resource in facilitating meaningful learning in science in the school. Students suggested that, to make science interesting to a majority of students in a Tanzanian context, science education needs to be inclusive of students' experiences, culture and contemporary daily lives. Also, science teaching and learning in the classroom need to involve learners' voices.

Space life sciences strategic plan

Science.gov (United States)

Nicogossian, Arnauld E.

1992-01-01

Over the last three decades the Life Sciences Program has significantly contributed to NASA's manned and unmanned exploration of space, while acquiring new knowledge in the fields of space biology and medicine. The national and international events which have led to the development and revision of NASA strategy will significantly affect the future of life sciences programs both in scope and pace. This document serves as the basis for synthesizing the options to be pursued during the next decade, based on the decisions, evolution, and guiding principles of the National Space Policy. The strategies detailed in this document are fully supportive of the Life Sciences Advisory Subcommittee's 'A Rationale for the Life Sciences,' and the recent Aerospace Medicine Advisory Committee report entitled 'Strategic Considerations for Support of Humans in Space and Moon/Mars Exploration Missions.' Information contained within this document is intended for internal NASA planning and is subject to policy decisions and direction, and to budgets allocated to NASA's Life Sciences Program.

Space science public outreach at Louisiana State University

Science.gov (United States)

Guzik, T.; Babin, E.; Cooney, W.; Giammanco, J.; Hartman, D.; McNeil, R.; Slovak, M.; Stacy, J.

Over the last seven years the Astronomy / Astrophysics group in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Louisiana State University has developed an exten- sive Space Science education and public outreach program. This program includes the local park district (the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, BREC), the local amateur astronomer group (the Baton Rouge As- tronomical Society, BRAS), the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum (LASM), and Southern University (SU, part of the largest HBCU system in the nation). Our effort has directly led to the development of the Highland Road Park Observatory (HRPO, http://www.bro.lsu.edu/hrpo) that supports student astronomy training at LSU and SU, amateur observations and a public program for adults and children, establishment of a series of teacher professional development workshops in astronomy and physics, and the "Robots for Internet Experiences (ROBIE)" project (http://www.bro.lsu.edu/) where we have several instruments (e.g. HAM radio, radio telescope, optical tele- scopes) that can be controlled over the internet by students and teachers in the class- room along with associated lessons developed by a teacher group. In addition, this year the LASM, will be opening a new planetarium / space theater in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We are currently working to bring live views of the heavens from the HRPO telescope to audiences attending planetarium shows and will be working closely with planetarium staff to develop shows that highlight LSU astronomy / space science research. During the presentation we will provide some details about our in- dividual projects, the overall structure of our program, establishing community links and some of the lessons we learned along the way. Finally, we would like to acknowl- edge NASA, Louisiana State University, the Louisiana Systemic Initiatives Program and the Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund for their support.

The Blueprint for Change: A National Strategy to Enhance Access to Earth and Space Science Education Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Geary, E. E.; Barstow, D.

2001-12-01

Enhancing access to high quality science education resources for teachers, students, and the general public is a high priority for the earth and space science education communities. However, to significantly increase access to these resources and promote their effective use will require a coordinated effort between content developers, publishers, professional developers, policy makers, and users in both formal and informal education settings. Federal agencies, academic institutions, professional societies, informal science centers, the Digital Library for Earth System Education, and other National SMETE Digital Library Projects are anticipated to play key roles in this effort. As a first step to developing a coordinated, national strategy for developing and delivering high quality earth and space science education resources to students, teachers, and the general public, 65 science educators, scientists, teachers, administrators, policy makers, and business leaders met this June in Snowmass, Colorado to create "Earth and Space Science Education 2010: A Blueprint for Change". The Blueprint is a strategy document that will be used to guide Earth and space science education reform efforts in grades K-12 during the next decade. The Blueprint contains specific goals, recommendations, and strategies for coordinating action in the areas of: Teacher Preparation and Professional Development, Curriculum and Materials, Equity and Diversity, Assessment and Evaluation, Public Policy and Systemic Reform, Public and Informal Education, Partnerships and Collaborations, and Technology. If you develop, disseminate, or use exemplary earth and space science education resources, we invite you to review the Blueprint for Change, share it with your colleagues and local science educators, and join as we work to revolutionize earth and space science education in grades K-12.

Multiverse: Increasing Diversity in Earth and Space Science Through Multicultural Education

Science.gov (United States)

Peticolas, L. M.; Raftery, C. L.; Mendez, B.; Paglierani, R.; Ali, N. A.; Zevin, D.; Frappier, R.; Hauck, K.; Shackelford, R. L., III; Yan, D.; Thrall, L.

2015-12-01

Multiverse at the University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides earth and space science educational opportunities and resources for a variety of audiences, especially for those who are underrepresented in the sciences. By way of carefully crafted space and earth science educational opportunities and resources, we seek to connect with people's sense of wonder and facilitate making personal ties to science and the learning process in order to, ultimately, bring the richness of diversity to science and make science discovery accessible for all. Our audiences include teachers, students, education and outreach professionals, and the public. We partner with NASA, the National Science Foundation, scientists, teachers, science center and museum educators, park interpreters, and others with expertise in reaching particular audiences. With these partners, we develop resources and communities of practice, offer educator workshops, and run events for the public. We will will present on our pedagogical techniques, our metrics for success, and our evaluation findings of our education and outreach projects that help us towards reaching our vision: We envision a world filled with science literate societies capable of thriving with today's technology, while maintaining a sustainable balance with the natural world; a world where people develop and sustain the ability to think critically using observation and evidence and participate authentically in scientific endeavors; a world where people see themselves and their culture within the scientific enterprise, and understand science within the context that we are all under one sky and on one Earth. Photo Caption: Multiverse Team Members at our Space Sciences Laboratory from left to right: Leitha Thrall, Daniel Zevin, Bryan Mendez, Nancy Ali, Igor Ruderman, Laura Peticolas, Ruth Paglierani, Renee Frappier, Rikki Shackelford, Claire Raftery, Karin Hauck, and Darlene Yan.

Towards science educational spaces as dynamic and coauthored communities of practice

Science.gov (United States)

Dhingra, Koshi

2008-04-01

In this essay review, four studies around the themes of identity and globalization are summarized and analyzed. The researchers' perspectives are generally grounded in Brown and Campione's ideas on situated knowledge ( Classroom lessons: Integrating cognitive theory and classroom practice (pp. 229-270). Cambridge: The MIT Press/Bradford Books, 1994) and Lave and Wenger's definition of learning as an activity fostered through participation in communities of practice ( Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1991). Questions about the goals of science education spaces, the nature of globalization in relation to practices in schools, the role of identities-in-practice in relation to participation in communities of practice such as classrooms are explored. Recommendations for key design features in effective science educational spaces, based upon the findings presented in the collection of four studies, are offered. School, it is suggested here, functions best as a clearing house for the myriad science-related stories student participants generate in their various communities of practice (e.g., within popular culture, family, community, informal educational sites). In this way, school has the potential to construct bridges between multiple student experiences and identities-in-practice.

Beautiful Earth: Inspiring Native American students in Earth Science through Music, Art and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Casasanto, V.; Rock, J.; Hallowell, R.; Williams, K.; Angell, D.; Beautiful Earth

2011-12-01

The Beautiful Earth program, awarded by NASA's Competitive Opportunities in Education and Public Outreach for Earth and Space Science (EPOESS), is a live multi-media performance at partner science centers linked with hands-on workshops featuring Earth scientists and Native American experts. It aims to inspire, engage and educate diverse students in Earth science through an experience of viewing the Earth from space as one interconnected whole, as seen through the eyes of astronauts. The informal education program is an outgrowth of Kenji Williams' BELLA GAIA Living Atlas Experience (www.bellagaia.com) performed across the globe since 2008 and following the successful Earth Day education events in 2009 and 2010 with NASA's DLN (Digital Learning Network) http://tinyurl.com/2ckg2rh. Beautiful Earth takes a new approach to teaching, by combining live music and data visualizations, Earth Science with indigenous perspectives of the Earth, and hands-on interactive workshops. The program will utilize the emotionally inspiring multi-media show as a springboard to inspire participants to learn more about Earth systems and science. Native Earth Ways (NEW) will be the first module in a series of three "Beautiful Earth" experiences, that will launch the national tour at a presentation in October 2011 at the MOST science museum in collaboration with the Onandaga Nation School in Syracuse, New York. The NEW Module will include Native American experts to explain how they study and conserve the Earth in their own unique ways along with hands-on activities to convey the science which was seen in the show. In this first pilot run of the module, 110 K-12 students with faculty and family members of the Onandaga Nations School will take part. The goal of the program is to introduce Native American students to Earth Sciences and STEM careers, and encourage them to study these sciences and become responsible stewards of the Earth. The second workshop presented to participants will be the

Teacher-student interaction in contemporary science classrooms: is participation still a question of gender?†

Science.gov (United States)

Eliasson, Nina; Sørensen, Helene; Göran Karlsson, Karl

2016-07-01

We show that boys still have a greater access to the space for interaction in science classrooms, which is unexpected since in Sweden today girls perform better in these subjects than boys. Results from video-recorded verbal communication, referred to here as interaction, show that the distribution of teacher-student interaction in the final year of lower secondary school follows the same patterns as in the 1980s. The interaction space for all kinds of talk continues to be distributed according to the two-thirds rule for communication in science classrooms as described by previous research. We also show that the overall interaction space in science classrooms has increased for both boys and girls when talk about science alone is considered. Another finding which follows old patterns is that male teachers still address boys more often than girls. This holds true both for general talk and for talk about science. If a more even distribution of teacher-student interaction is desirable, these results once again need to be considered. More research needs to be undertaken before the association between girls' attitudes and interest in science in terms of future career choice and the opportunity to participate in teacher-student interaction is more clearly understood. Research conducted at Mid Sweden University, Department of Science Education and Mathematics.

Reading, Writing & Rings: Science Literacy for K-4 Students

Science.gov (United States)

McConnell, S.; Spilker, L.; Zimmerman-Brachman, R.

2007-12-01

Scientific discovery is the impetus for the K-4 Education program, "Reading, Writing & Rings." This program is unique because its focus is to engage elementary students in reading and writing to strengthen these basic academic skills through scientific content. As science has been increasingly overtaken by the language arts in elementary classrooms, the Cassini Education Program has taken advantage of a new cross-disciplinary approach to use language arts as a vehicle for increasing scientific content in the classroom. By utilizing the planet Saturn and the Cassini-Huygens mission as a model in both primary reading and writing students in these grade levels, young students can explore science material while at the same time learning these basic academic skills. Content includes reading, thinking, and hands-on activities. Developed in partnership with the Cassini-Huygens Education and Public Outreach Program, the Bay Area Writing Project/California Writing Project, Foundations in Reading Through Science & Technology (FIRST), and the Caltech Pre-College Science Initiative (CAPSI), and classroom educators, "Reading, Writing & Rings" blends the excitement of space exploration with reading and writing. All materials are teacher developed, aligned with national science and language education standards, and are available from the Cassini-Huygens website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/edu-k4.cfm Materials are divided into two grade level units. One unit is designed for students in grades 1 and 2 while the other unit focuses on students in grades 3 and 4. Each includes a series of lessons that take students on a path of exploration of Saturn using reading and writing prompts.

Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program

Science.gov (United States)

Coats, Alfred C.

2001-01-01

Since 1969, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), a private, nonprofit corporation, has worked closely with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to advance space science and technology and to promote education in those areas. USRA's Division of Space Life Sciences (DSLS) has been NASA's life sciences research partner for the past 18 years. For the last six years, our Cooperative Agreement NCC9-41 for the 'Space Life Sciences Research and Education Program' has stimulated and assisted life sciences research and education at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) - both at the Center and in collaboration with outside academic institutions. To accomplish our objectives, the DSLS has facilitated extramural research, developed and managed educational programs, recruited and employed visiting and staff scientists, and managed scientific meetings.

The Astronomy and Space Science Concept Inventory: Assessment Instruments Aligned with the K-12 National Science Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Philip M.

2011-01-01

We report on the development of an item test bank and associated instruments based on those K-12 national standards which involve astronomy and space science. Utilizing hundreds of studies in the science education research literature on student misconceptions, we have constructed 211 unique items that measure the degree to which students abandon such ideas for accepted scientific views. Piloted nationally with 7599 students and their 88 teachers spanning grades 5-12, the items reveal a range of interesting results, particularly student difficulties in mastering the NRC Standards and AAAS Benchmarks. Teachers generally perform well on items covering the standards of the grade level at which they teach, exhibiting few misconceptions of their own. Teachers dramatically overestimate their students’ performance, perhaps because they are unaware of their students’ misconceptions. Examples are given showing how the developed instruments can be used to assess the effectiveness of instruction and to evaluate the impact of professional development activities for teachers.

How does a Next Generation Science Standard Aligned, Inquiry Based, Science Unit Impact Student Achievement of Science Practices and Student Science Efficacy in an Elementary Classroom?

Science.gov (United States)

Whittington, Kayla Lee

This study examined the impact of an inquiry based Next Generation Science Standard aligned science unit on elementary students' understanding and application of the eight Science and Engineering Practices and their relation in building student problem solving skills. The study involved 44 second grade students and three participating classroom teachers. The treatment consisted of a school district developed Second Grade Earth Science unit: What is happening to our playground? that was taught at the beginning of the school year. Quantitative results from a Likert type scale pre and post survey and from student content knowledge assessments showed growth in student belief of their own abilities in the science classroom. Qualitative data gathered from student observations and interviews performed at the conclusion of the Earth Science unit further show gains in student understanding and attitudes. This study adds to the existing literature on the importance of standard aligned, inquiry based science curriculum that provides time for students to engage in science practices.

Our school's Earth and Space Sciences Club: 12 years promoting interdisciplinary explorations

Science.gov (United States)

Margarida Maria, Ana; Pereira, Hélder

2017-04-01

During the past 12 years, we have been engaging secondary level science students (15 to 18 years old) in the extracurricular activities of our school's Earth and Space Sciences Club, providing them with some of the skills needed to excel in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Our approach includes the use of authentic scientific data, project based learning, and inquiry-centred activities that go beyond the models and theories present in secondary level textbooks. Moreover, the activities and projects carried out, being eminently practical, also function as an extension of the curriculum and frequently enable the demonstration of the applicability of several concepts taught in the classroom in real life situations. The tasks carried out during these activities and research projects often require the combination of two or more subjects, promoting an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Outside of the traditional classroom settings, through interdisciplinary explorations, students also gain hands-on experience doing real science. Thereby, during this time, we have been able to promote meaningful and lasting experiences and spark students' interest in a wide diversity of topics.

Sustaining Student Engagement in Learning Science

Science.gov (United States)

Ateh, Comfort M.; Charpentier, Alicia

2014-01-01

Many students perceive science to be a difficult subject and are minimally engaged in learning it. This article describes a lesson that embedded an activity to engage students in learning science. It also identifies features of a science lesson that are likely to enhance students' engagement and learning of science and possibly reverse students'…

Fun and Games: using Games and Immersive Exploration to Teach Earth and Space Science

Science.gov (United States)

Reiff, P. H.; Sumners, C.

2011-12-01

We have been using games to teach Earth and Space Science for over 15 years. Our software "TicTacToe" has been used continuously at the Houston Museum of Natural Science since 2002. It is the single piece of educational software in the "Earth Forum" suite that holds the attention of visitors the longest - averaging over 10 minutes compared to 1-2 minutes for the other software kiosks. We now have question sets covering solar system, space weather, and Earth science. In 2010 we introduced a new game technology - that of immersive interactive explorations. In our "Tikal Explorer", visitors use a game pad to navigate a three-dimensional environment of the Classic Maya city of Tikal. Teams of students climb pyramids, look for artifacts, identify plants and animals, and site astronomical alignments that predict the annual return of the rains. We also have a new 3D exploration of the International Space Station, where students can fly around and inside the ISS. These interactive explorations are very natural to the video-game generation, and promise to bring educational objectives to experiences that had previously been used strictly for gaming. If space permits, we will set up our portable Discovery Dome in the poster session for a full immersive demonstration of these game environments.

Fostering research aptitude among high school students through space weather competition

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, M.; Majid, R. A.; Bais, B.; Bahri, N. S.; Asillam, M. F.

2018-01-01

Cultivating research culture at an early stage is important for capacity building in a community. The high school level is the appropriate stage for research to be introduced because of students' competitive nature. Participation in the space weather competition is one of the ways in which research aptitude can be fostered in high school students in Malaysia. Accordingly, this paper presents how research elements were introduced to the students at the high school level through their participation in the space weather competition. The competition required the students to build a system to detect the presence of solar flares by utilizing VLF signals reflected from the ionosphere. The space weather competition started off with proposal writing for the space weather related project where the students were required to execute extensive literature review on the given topic. Additionally, the students were also required to conduct the experiments and analyse the data. Results obtained from data analysis were then validated by the students through various other observations that they had to carry out. At the end of the competition, students were expected to write a comprehensive technical report. Through this competition, the students learnt how to conduct research in accordance to the guidelines provided through the step by step approach exposed to them. Ultimately, this project revealed that the students were able to conduct research on their own with minimal guidance and that participation in the competition not only generated enjoyment in learning but also their interest in science and research.

Fostering Diversity in the Earth and Space Sciences: The Role of AGU

Science.gov (United States)

Snow, J. T.; Johnson, R. M.; Hall, F. R.

2002-12-01

In May 2002, AGU's Committee on Education and Human Resources (CEHR) approved a new Diversity Plan, developed in collaboration with the CEHR Subcommittee on Diversity. Efforts to develop a diversity plan for AGU were motivated by the recognition that the present Earth and space science community poorly represents the true diversity of our society. Failure to recruit a diverse scientific workforce in an era of rapidly shifting demographics could have severe impact on the health of our profession. The traditional base of Earth and space scientists in the US (white males) has been shrinking during the past two decades, but women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are not compensating for this loss. The potential ramifications of this situation - for investigators seeking to fill classes and recruit graduate students, for institutions looking to replace faculty and researchers, and for the larger community seeking continued public support of research funding - could be crippling. AGU's new Diversity Plan proposes a long-term strategy for addressing the lack of diversity in the Earth and space sciences with the ultimate vision of reflecting diversity in all of AGU's activities and programs. Four key goals have been identified: 1) Educate and involve the AGU membership in diversity issues; 2) Enhance and foster the participation of Earth and space scientists, educators and students from underrepresented groups in AGU activities; 3) Increase the visibility of the Earth and space sciences and foster awareness of career opportunities in these fields for underrepresented populations; and 4) Promote changes in the academic culture that both remove barriers and disincentives for increasing diversity in the student and faculty populations and reward member faculty wishing to pursue these goals. A detailed implementation plan that utilizes all of AGU's resources is currently under development in CEHR. Supportive participation by AGU members and

Aspects of science engagement, student background, and school characteristics: Impacts on science achievement of U.S. students

Science.gov (United States)

Grabau, Larry J.

Science achievement of U.S. students has lagged significantly behind other nations; educational reformers have suggested science engagement may enhance this critical measure. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was science-focused and measured science achievement along with nine aspects of science engagement: science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities. I used multilevel modeling techniques to address both aspects of science engagement and science achievement as outcome variables in the context of student background and school characteristics. Treating aspects of science engagement as outcome variables provided tests for approaches for their enhancement; meanwhile, treating science achievement as the outcome variable provided tests for the influence of the aspects of science engagement on science achievement under appropriate controls. When aspects of science engagement were treated as outcome variables, gender and father's SES had frequent (significant) influences, as did science teaching strategies which focused on applications or models and hands-on activities over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. When science achievement was treated as the outcome variable, each aspect of science engagement was significant, and eight had medium or large effect sizes (future-oriented science motivation was the exception). The science teaching strategy which involved hands-on activities frequently enhanced science achievement over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. Policy recommendations for U.S. science educators included enhancing eight aspects of science engagement and implementing two specific science teaching strategies (focus on applications or models

Transfer adjustment experiences of underrepresented students of color in the sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, June C.

Two-year colleges have long served as the starting point for many students in higher education and particularly those of underrepresented backgrounds. In recent years, these institutions have been called upon to help address the high attrition rates facing the science and mathematics disciplines by promoting interest development and transfer of underrepresented students in these fields. This study examined the adjustment experiences of underrepresented students of color after transferring from community colleges to a four-year university in the sciences. By employing qualitative interviews with students of African, Latino, Pacific Island, and Southeast Asian descent, students' perceptions of the sciences at the two- and four-year campus, adjustment process, and benefits and detriments of taking the transfer route were the focus of this research. The findings show that transfer students experience a very different science culture at each institutional type in terms of pedagogy and curriculum and interactions with classmates and faculty. While students witnessed a collaborative science culture at the community college, they faced a highly competitive and individualistic environment at the university. The greater the difference encountered, the more difficult were students' adjustment. Adjustment was aided in two primary ways: socialization experiences before transferring and the development of common identity groups with other students who shared similar backgrounds, goals, and struggles. These groups formed organically at the two-year college but were more difficult to forge at the university. When present, however, they served as niches, sites of validation, and counter spaces within the larger university setting. It appears that starting at the community college benefited most participants by providing a nurturing environment that fostered their commitment to science. Some students felt that they would have been dissuaded from pursuing their majors had they only

Studying Students' Science Literacy: Non-Scientific Beliefs and Science Literacy Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Impey, C.; Buxner, S.

2015-11-01

We have been conducting a study of university students' science literacy for the past 24 years. Based on the work of the National Science Board's ongoing national survey of the US public, we have administered the same survey to undergraduate science students at the University of Arizona almost every year since 1989. Results have shown relatively little change in students' overall science literacy, descriptions of science, and knowledge of basic science topics for almost a quarter of a century despite an increase in education interventions, the rise of the internet, and increased access to knowledge. Several trends do exist in students' science literacy and descriptions of science. Students who exhibit beliefs in non-scientific phenomenon (e.g., lucky numbers, creationism) consistently have lower science literacy scores and less correct descriptions of scientific phenomenon. Although not surprising, our results support ongoing efforts to help students generate evidence based thinking.

The self-concept of chiropractic students as science students

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, Robert F.

2005-01-01

Abstract Purpose To determine the self-concepts of chiropractic students as science students and if any personal variable affect their self-concepts. Participants Students in their first trimester and eighth trimester at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic during the 1993 academic year (n=158). Methods Peterson-Yaakobi Q-Sort, National Assessment of Educational Progress, two-tailed T-test, one way analysis of variance and Spearman-rho correlation. Results The majority of students have positive self- concepts as science students and although there was a difference between the 2 trimesters, it was not significant. As a group they generally had less exposure to science compared to undergraduates from a selected science program. Variables of socio-economic status, undergraduate major, and highest completed level of education did not statistically affect their self-concept. Conclusion Chiropractic students had the self-concept that enables them to subscribe to the philosophical foundations of science and better engage in basic sciences and, later, science-based clinical research. Knowledge of this self- concept can be used in the development of a more rigorous basic science curricula and clinical research programs at chiropractic colleges with the ultimate goal of providing a more firm scientifically based foundation for the profession. PMID:19674649

Center of Excellence in Space Data and Information Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Yesha, Yelena

1999-01-01

This report summarizes the range of computer science-related activities undertaken by CESDIS for NASA in the twelve months from July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. These activities address issues related to accessing, processing, and analyzing data from space observing systems through collaborative efforts with university, industry, and NASA space and Earth scientists. The sections of this report which follow, detail the activities undertaken by the members of each of the CESDIS branches. This includes contributions from university faculty members and graduate students as well as CESDIS employees. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses appear in Appendix F (CESDIS Personnel and Associates) to facilitate interactions and new collaborations.

Use of social media and online tools for participative space education and citizen science in India: Perspectives of future space leaders

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Aafaque; Sridhar, Apoorva

2012-07-01

The previous decade saw the emergence of internet in the new avatar popularly known as Web 2.0. After its inception, Internet (also known as Web 1.0) remained centralized and propriety controlled; the information was displayed in form of static pages and users could only browse through these pages connected via URLs (Unique Resource Locator), links and search engines. Web 2.0, on the other hand, has features and tools that allow users to engage in dialogue, interact and contribute to the content on the World Wide Web. As a Result, Social Media has become the most widely accepted medium of interactive and participative dialogue around the world. Social Media is not just limited to Social Networking; it extends from podcasts, webcasts, blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, forums to crowd sourcing, cloud storage, cloud computing and Voice over Internet Protocol. World over, there is a rising trend of using Social Media for Space Education and Outreach. Governments, Space Agencies, Universities, Industry and Organizations have realized the power of Social Media to communicate advancement of space science and technology, updates on space missions and their findings to the common man as well as to the researchers, scientists and experts around the world. In this paper, the authors intend to discuss, the perspectives, of young students and professionals in the space industry on various present and future possibilities of using Social Media in space outreach and citizen science, especially in India and other developing countries. The authors share a vision for developing Social Media platforms to communicate space science and technology, along innovative ideas on participative citizen science projects for various space based applications such as earth observation and space science. Opinions of various young students and professionals in the space industry from different parts of the world are collected and reflected through a comprehensive survey. Besides, a detailed study and

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Space Science's Past, Present, and Future on the International Space Station (ISS)

Science.gov (United States)

Spivey, Reggie A.; Spearing, Scott F.; Jordan, Lee P.; McDaniel S. Greg

2012-01-01

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a double rack facility designed for microgravity investigation handling aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The unique design of the facility allows it to accommodate science and technology investigations in a "workbench" type environment. MSG facility provides an enclosed working area for investigation manipulation and observation in the ISS. Provides two levels of containment via physical barrier, negative pressure, and air filtration. The MSG team and facilities provide quick access to space for exploratory and National Lab type investigations to gain an understanding of the role of gravity in the physics associated research areas. The MSG is a very versatile and capable research facility on the ISS. The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the International Space Station (ISS) has been used for a large body or research in material science, heat transfer, crystal growth, life sciences, smoke detection, combustion, plant growth, human health, and technology demonstration. MSG is an ideal platform for gravity-dependent phenomena related research. Moreover, the MSG provides engineers and scientists a platform for research in an environment similar to the one that spacecraft and crew members will actually experience during space travel and exploration. The MSG facility is ideally suited to provide quick, relatively inexpensive access to space for National Lab type investigations.

NASA-HBCU Space Science and Engineering Research Forum Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanders, Y.D.; Freeman, Y.B.; George, M.C.

1989-01-01

The proceedings of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) forum are presented. A wide range of research topics from plant science to space science and related academic areas was covered. The sessions were divided into the following subject areas: Life science; Mathematical modeling, image processing, pattern recognition, and algorithms; Microgravity processing, space utilization and application; Physical science and chemistry; Research and training programs; Space science (astronomy, planetary science, asteroids, moon); Space technology (engineering, structures and systems for application in space); Space technology (physics of materials and systems for space applications); and Technology (materials, techniques, measurements)

International space science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mark, H.

1988-01-01

The author begins his paper by noting the range of international cooperation which has occured in science since its earliest days. The brightest minds were allowed to cross international frontiers even in the face of major wars, to work on their interests and to interact with like minded scientists in other countries. There has of course been a political side to this movement at times. The author makes the point that doing science on an international basis is extemely important but it is not a way of conducting foreign policy. Even though governments may work together on scientific efforts, it is no glue which will bind them to work together on larger political or economic issues. The reason for doing science on an international basis is that it will lead to better science, not better international relations. There are a limited number of great scientists in the world, and they must be allowed to develop their talents. He then discusses two internationl space programs which have has such collaboration, the Soviet-American Space Biology Program, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). He then touches on the NASA space exploration program, and the fact that its basic objectives were laid out in the 1940's and l950's. With this laid out he argues in favor of establishment of a lunar base, one of the key elements of NASA's plan, arguing for the value of this step based upon the infrared astronomical work which could be done from a stable lunar site, away from the earth's atmosphere

My Space- a collaboration between Arts & Science to create a suite of informal interactive public engagement initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Niamh, , Dr.; McSweeney, Clair; Smith, Niall, , Dr.; O'Neill, Stephanie; Foley, Cathy; Crawley, Joanna; Phelan, Ronan; Colley, Dan; Henderson, Clare; Conroy, Lorraine

2015-04-01

A suite of informal interactive public engagement initiatives, entitled 'MySpace' was created, to promote the importance of Earth science and Space exploration, to ignite curiosity and discover new and engaging platforms for science in the Arts & in STEM Education, and to increase awareness of careers in Ireland's Space and Earth Science industries. Site visits to research centres in Ireland & abroad, interviews with scientists, engineers, and former astronauts were conducted over a 6 month period. A suite of performance pieces emerged from this development phase, based on Dr. Shaw's personal documented journey and the dissemination of her research. These included: 1. 'To Space'- A live multimedia theatre performance aimed at the general public & young adult. Initially presented as a 'Work In Progress' event at The Festival of Curiosity, the full theatre show 'To Space' premiered at Science Gallery, Dublin as part of Tiger Dublin Fringe Arts Festival. Response to the piece was very strong, indicated by audience response, box office sales and theatre reviews in national press and online. A national and international tour is in place for 2015. To Space was performed a total of 10 times and was seen by 680 audiences. 2. An adapted piece for 13-17 year old students -'ToSpace for Secondary Schools'- to increase awareness of Ireland's involvement in Space Exploration & to encourage school leavers to dream big. This show toured nationally as part of World Space week and Science week events in conjunction with ESERO Ireland, CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, Armagh Planetarium & Dunsink Observatory. It was performed 12 times and was seen by 570 students. 3. 'My Place in Space', created for families from the very old (60 +) to the very young (3yrs +), this highly interactive workshop highlighted the appeal of science through the wonders of our planet and its place in Space. Presented at Festival of Curiosity, the Mallow Science Fair and at Science week 2014, this

Probing the Natural World, Level III, Student Guide: What's Up? Intermediate Science Curriculum Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonar, John R., Ed.; Hathway, James A., Ed.

This is the student's text of one unit of the Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) for level III students (grade 9). The chapters contain basic information about rockets, space, and principles of physics, as well as activities related to the subject and optional excursions. A section of introductory notes to the student discusses how the…

Earth and space science information systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zygielbaum, A. (ed.) (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 (United States))

1993-01-01

These proceedings represent papers presented at the Earth and Space Science Information Systems (ESSIS) Conference. The attendees included scientists and engineers across many disciplines. New trends in information organizations were reviewed. One hundred and twenty eight papers are included in this volume, out of these two have been abstracted for the Energy Science and Technology database. The topics covered in the papers range from Earth science and technology to astronomy and space, planetary science and education. (AIP)

eScience and archiving for space science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy E Eastman

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A confluence of technologies is leading towards revolutionary new interactions between robust data sets, state-of-the-art models and simulations, high-data-rate sensors, and high-performance computing. Data and data systems are central to these new developments in various forms of eScience or grid systems. Space science missions are developing multi-spacecraft, distributed, communications- and computation-intensive, adaptive mission architectures that will further add to the data avalanche. Fortunately, Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD tools are rapidly expanding to meet the need for more efficient information extraction and knowledge generation in this data-intensive environment. Concurrently, scientific data management is being augmented by content-based metadata and semantic services. Archiving, eScience and KDD all require a solid foundation in interoperability and systems architecture. These concepts are illustrated through examples of space science data preservation, archiving, and access, including application of the ISO-standard Open Archive Information System (OAIS architecture.

ART-SCIENCE OF THE SPACE AGE: towards a platform for art-science collaborations at ESTEC

Science.gov (United States)

Domnitch, E.; Gelfand, D.

2015-10-01

In 2013, in collaboration with ESTEC scientist Bernard Foing and the ArtScience Interfaculty (Royal Academy of the Arts, The Hague), Synergetica Lab (Amsterdam) developed a course, which was repeated in 2015, for bachelor's and master's students aimed at seeding interactions with ESA researchers. The participants created artworks investigating space travel, radio astronomy, microgravity, ecosynthesis as well as extraterrestrial physics and architecture [1] [2]. After their initial presentation at the Royal Academy, these artworks were shown at ESTEC, TodaysArt Festival (The Hague), and TEC ART (Rotterdam). These presentations prompted diverse future collaborations and outreach opportunities, including the European Planetary Science Congress 2014 (Cascais) and the AxS Festival (Los Angeles).

Global Patterns in Students' Views of Science and Interest in Science

Science.gov (United States)

van Griethuijsen, Ralf A. L. F.; van Eijck, Michiel W.; Haste, Helen; den Brok, Perry J.; Skinner, Nigel C.; Mansour, Nasser; Savran Gencer, Ayse; BouJaoude, Saouma

2015-08-01

International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union funded `Science Education for Diversity' project, a questionnaire probing potential reasons for this difference was completed by students in the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia. This questionnaire sought information about favourite courses, extracurricular activities and views on the nature of science. Over 9,000 students aged mainly between 10 and 14 years completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that students in countries outside Western Europe showed a greater interest in school science, in careers related to science and in extracurricular activities related to science than did Western European students. Non-European students were also more likely to hold an empiricist view of the nature of science and to believe that science can solve many problems faced by the world. Multilevel analysis revealed a strong correlation between interest in science and having such a view of the Nature of Science.

Mapping classroom experiences through the eyes of enlace students: The development of science literate identities

Science.gov (United States)

Oemig, Paulo Andreas

The culture of a science classroom favors a particular speech community, thus membership requires students becoming bilingual and bicultural at the same time. The complexity of learning science rests in that it not only possesses a unique lexicon and discourse, but it ultimately entails a way of knowing. My dissertation examined the academic engagement and perceptions of a group (N=30) of high school students regarding their science literate practices. These students were participating in an Engaging Latino Communities for Education (ENLACE) program whose purpose is to increase Latino high school graduation rates and assist them with college entrance requirements. At the time of the study, 19 students were enrolled in different science classes to fulfill the science requirements for graduation. The primary research question: What kind of science classroom learning environment supports science literate identities for Latino/a students? was addressed through a convergent parallel mixed research design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Over the course of an academic semester I interviewed all 30 students arranged in focus groups and observed in their science classes. ENLACE students expressed interest in science when it was taught through hands-on activities or experiments. Students also stressed the importance of having teachers who made an effort to get to know them as persons and not just as students. Students felt more engaged in science when they perceived their teachers respected them for their experiences and knowledge. Findings strongly suggest students will be more interested in science when they have opportunities to learn through contextualized practices. Science literate identities can be promoted when inquiry serves as a vehicle for students to engage in the language of the discipline in all its modalities. Inquiry-based activities, when carefully planned and implemented, can provide meaningful spaces for students to construct knowledge, evaluate claims

International Space Station External Contamination Environment for Space Science Utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Carlos E.; Mikatarian, Ronald R.; Steagall, Courtney A.; Huang, Alvin Y.; Koontz, Steven; Worthy, Erica

2014-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest and most complex on-orbit platform for space science utilization in low Earth orbit. Multiple sites for external payloads, with exposure to the associated natural and induced environments, are available to support a variety of space science utilization objectives. Contamination is one of the induced environments that can impact performance, mission success and science utilization on the vehicle. The ISS has been designed, built and integrated with strict contamination requirements to provide low levels of induced contamination on external payload assets. This paper addresses the ISS induced contamination environment at attached payload sites, both at the requirements level as well as measurements made on returned hardware, and contamination forecasting maps being generated to support external payload topology studies and science utilization.

Using NASA Data in the Classroom: Promoting STEM Learning in Formal Education using Real Space Science Data

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, B.; Hemenway, M. K.; Mendez, B.; Odenwald, S.

2013-04-01

Among NASA's major education goals is the training of students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. The use of real data, from some of the most sophisticated observatories in the world, provides formal educators the opportunity to teach their students real-world applications of the STEM subjects. Combining real space science data with lessons aimed at meeting state and national education standards provides a memorable educational experience that students can build upon throughout their academic careers. Many of our colleagues have adopted the use of real data in their education and public outreach (EPO) programs. There are challenges in creating resources using real data for classroom use that include, but are not limited to, accessibility to computers/Internet and proper instruction. Understanding and sharing these difficulties and best practices with the larger EPO community is critical to the development of future resources. In this session, we highlight three examples of how NASA data is being utilized in the classroom: the Galaxies and Cosmos Explorer Tool (GCET) that utilizes real Hubble Space Telescope data; the computer image-analysis resources utilized by the NASA WISE infrared mission; and the space science derived math applications from SpaceMath@NASA featuring the Chandra and Kepler space telescopes. Challenges and successes are highlighted for these projects. We also facilitate small-group discussions that focus on additional benefits and challenges of using real data in the formal education environment. The report-outs from those discussions are given here.

A Comparative Study of Hawaii Middle School Science Student Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Askew Cain, Peggy

The problem was middle-grade students with specific learning disabilities (SWDs) in reading comprehension perform less well than their peers on standardized assessments. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to examine the effect of electronic concept maps on reading comprehension of eighth grade students with SWD reading comprehension in a Hawaii middle school Grade 8 science class on the island of Oahu. The target population consisted of Grade 8 science students for school year 2015-2016. The sampling method was a purposeful sampling with a final sample size of 338 grade 8 science students. De-identified archival records of grade 8 Hawaii standardized science test scores were analyzed using a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS. The finding for hypothesis 1 indicated a significant difference in student achievement between SWDs and SWODs as measured by Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) in science scores (p reading comprehension. Recommendations for practice were for educational leadership and noted: (a) teachers should practice using concept maps with SWDs as a specific reading strategy to support reading comprehension in science classes, (b) involve a strong focus on vocabulary building and concept building during concept map construction because the construction of concept maps sometimes requires frontloading of vocabulary, and (c) model for teachers how concept maps are created and to explain their educational purpose as a tool for learning. Recommendations for future research were to conduct (a) a quantitative comparative study between groups for academic achievement of subtests mean scores of SWDs and SWODs in physical science, earth science, and space science, and (b) a quantitative correlation study to examine relationships and predictive values for academic achievement of SWDs and concept map integration on standardized science assessments.

Design course in space astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dean, A J; Perez-Fournon, I

2003-01-01

The aim of this course is to provide direct experience of collaboration with other European astronomy/space science students and to gain an insight into the establishment of ESA space science programmes. The first half of the course takes place in Southampton. The Southampton students work as a team to track a past ESA space science mission from initial conception through to final realization and operations. This is achieved through the study of the high quality documentation available in the form of ESA reports. Each student has well defined responsibilities within the team. The second half of the course takes place in Tenerife, at the University of La Laguna. Again the students are expected to complete a team study of a space science mission. This time, however, there are important differences: the study teams are now international, approximately half Southampton and half University of La Laguna students; and this time they are expected to design a completely new space astronomy mission with clearly specified scientific objectives and operational constraints

Student science enrichment training program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandhu, S.S.

1994-08-01

This is a report on the Student Science Enrichment Training Program, with special emphasis on chemical and computer science fields. The residential summer session was held at the campus of Claflin College, Orangeburg, SC, for six weeks during 1993 summer, to run concomitantly with the college`s summer school. Fifty participants selected for this program, included high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. The students came from rural South Carolina and adjoining states which, presently, have limited science and computer science facilities. The program focused on high ability minority students, with high potential for science engineering and mathematical careers. The major objective was to increase the pool of well qualified college entering minority students who would elect to go into science, engineering and mathematical careers. The Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and engineering at Claflin College received major benefits from this program as it helped them to expand the Departments of Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science as a result of additional enrollment. It also established an expanded pool of well qualified minority science and mathematics graduates, which were recruited by the federal agencies and private corporations, visiting Claflin College Campus. Department of Energy`s relationship with Claflin College increased the public awareness of energy related job opportunities in the public and private sectors.

Understanding space science under the northern lights

Science.gov (United States)

Koskinen, H.

What is space science? The answers to this question can be very variable indeed. In fact, space research is a field where science, technology, and applications are so closely tied together that it is often difficult to recognize the central role of science. However, as paradoxical as it may sound, it appears that the less-educated public often appreciates the value of space science better than highly educated policy makers and bureaucrats who tend to evaluate the importance of space activities in terms of economic and societal benefits only. In a country like Finland located below the zone, where auroras are visible during the long dark winter nights, the space is perhaps closer to the public than in countries where the visible objects are the Moon, planets and stars somewhere far away. This positive fact has been very useful, for example, in popularization of such an abstract concept as space weather. In Finland it is possible to see space weather and this rises the curiosity about the processes behind this magnificent phenomenon. Of course, also in Finland the beautiful SOHO images of the Sun and the Hubble Space Telescope pictures of the remote universe attract the attention of the large public. We also have an excellent vehicle in increasing the public understanding in the society of Finnish amateur astronomers Ursa. It is an organization for anyone interested in practically everything from visual phenomena in the air to the remote galaxies and the Big Bang. Ursa publishes a high-quality monthly magazine in Finnish and runs local amateur clubs. Last year its 80th birthday exhibition was one of the best-visited public events in Helsinki. It clearly gave a strong evidence of wide public interest in space in general and in space science in particular. Only curious people can grasp the beauty and importance of the underlying science. Thus, we should focus our public space science education and outreach primarily on waking up the curiosity of the public instead of

Laptop Use, Interactive Science Software, and Science Learning Among At-Risk Students

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Binbin; Warschauer, Mark; Hwang, Jin Kyoung; Collins, Penelope

2014-08-01

This year-long, quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of the use of netbook computers and interactive science software on fifth-grade students' science learning processes, academic achievement, and interest in further science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) study within a linguistically diverse school district in California. Analysis of students' state standardized science test scores indicated that the program helped close gaps in scientific achievement between at-risk learners (i.e., English learners, Hispanics, and free/reduced-lunch recipients) and their counterparts. Teacher and student interviews and classroom observations suggested that computer-supported visual representations and interactions supported diverse learners' scientific understanding and inquiry and enabled more individualized and differentiated instruction. Finally, interviews revealed that the program had a positive impact on students' motivation in science and on their interest in pursuing science-related careers. This study suggests that technology-facilitated science instruction is beneficial for improving at-risk students' science achievement, scaffolding students' scientific understanding, and strengthening students' motivation to pursue STEM-related careers.

Perceived Barriers and Strategies to Effective Online Earth and Space Science Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Pottinger, James E.

2012-01-01

With the continual growth and demand of online courses, higher education institutions are attempting to meet the needs of today's learners by modifying and developing new student centered services and programs. As a result, faculty members are being forced into teaching online, including Earth and Space science faculty. Online Earth and Space…

Students' awareness of science teachers' leadership, attitudes toward science, and positive thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ying-Yan; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Hong, Zuway-R.; Yore, Larry D.

2016-09-01

There appears to be a complex network of cognitive and affective factors that influence students' decisions to study science and motivate their choices to engage in science-oriented careers. This study explored 330 Taiwanese senior high school students' awareness of their science teacher's learning leadership and how it relates to the students' attitudes toward science and positive thinking. Initial results revealed that the optimism of positive thinking is highly and positively correlated with the future participation in science and learning science in school attitudes toward science and self-concept in science. Moreover, structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the subscale of teachers' leadership with idealised influence was the most predictive of students' attitudes toward science (β = .37), and the leadership with laissez-faire was predictive of students' positive thinking (β = .21). In addition, the interview results were consistent with the quantitative findings. The correlation and SEM results indicate some of the associations and potential relationships amongst the motivational and affective factors studied and students' attitudes toward and intentions to study science, which will increase their likelihood of future involvement in science careers.

Space: the final frontier in the learning of science?

Science.gov (United States)

Milne, Catherine

2014-03-01

In Space, relations, and the learning of science, Wolff-Michael Roth and Pei-Ling Hsu use ethnomethodology to explore high school interns learning shopwork and shoptalk in a research lab that is located in a world class facility for water quality analysis. Using interaction analysis they identify how spaces, like a research laboratory, can be structured as smart spaces to create a workflow (learning flow) so that shoptalk and shopwork can projectively organize the actions of interns even in new and unfamiliar settings. Using these findings they explore implications for the design of curriculum and learning spaces more broadly. The Forum papers of Erica Blatt and Cassie Quigley complement this analysis. Blatt expands the discussion on space as an active component of learning with an examination of teaching settings, beyond laboratory spaces, as active participants of education. Quigley examines smart spaces as authentic learning spaces while acknowledging how internship experiences all empirical elements of authentic learning including open-ended inquiry and empowerment. In this paper I synthesize these ideas and propose that a narrative structure might better support workflow, student agency and democratic decision making.

Materials science experiments in space

Science.gov (United States)

Gelles, S. H.; Giessen, B. C.; Glicksman, M. E.; Margrave, J. L.; Markovitz, H.; Nowick, A. S.; Verhoeven, J. D.; Witt, A. F.

1978-01-01

The criteria for the selection of the experimental areas and individual experiments were that the experiment or area must make a meaningful contribution to the field of material science and that the space environment was either an absolute requirement for the successful execution of the experiment or that the experiment can be more economically or more conveniently performed in space. A number of experimental areas and individual experiments were recommended for further consideration as space experiments. Areas not considered to be fruitful and others needing additional analysis in order to determine their suitability for conduct in space are also listed. Recommendations were made concerning the manner in which these materials science experiments are carried out and the related studies that should be pursued.

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, C. S. (Editor); Donnelly, K. L. (Editor)

1980-01-01

Research in exobiology, life sciences technology, space biology, and space medicine and physiology, primarily using data gathered on the Salyut 6 orbital space station, is reported. Methods for predicting, diagnosing, and preventing the effects of weightlessness are discussed. Psychological factors are discussed. The effects of space flight on plants and animals are reported. Bioinstrumentation advances are noted.

Science and Community Engagement: Connecting Science Students with the Community

Science.gov (United States)

Lancor, Rachael; Schiebel, Amy

2018-01-01

In this article we describe a course on science outreach that was developed as part of our college's goal that all students participate in a meaningful community engagement experience. The Science & Community Engagement course provides a way for students with science or science-related majors to learn how to effectively communicate scientific…

Scientists as role models in space science outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, D.

The direct participation of scientists significantly enhances the impact of any E/PO effort. This is particularly true when the scientists come from minority or traditionally under-represented groups and, consequently, become role models for a large number of students while presenting positive counter-examples to the usual stereotypes. In this paper I will discuss the impact of scientists as role models through the successful implementation of a set of space physics games and activities, called Solar Week. Targetted at middle-school girls, the key feature of Solar Week is the "Ask a Scientist" section enabling direct interaction between participating students and volunteer scientists. All of the contributing scientists are women, serving as experts in their field and providing role models to whom the students can relate. Solar Week has completed four sessions with a total of some 140 edcuators and 12,000+ students in over 28 states and 9 countries. A major success of the Solar Week program has been the ability of the students to learn more about the scientists as people, through online biographies, and to discuss a variety of topics ranging from science, to careers and common hobbies.

Accommodating life sciences on the Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Arno, Roger D.

1987-01-01

The NASA Ames Research Center Biological Research Project (BRP) is responsible for identifying and accommodating high priority life science activities, utilizing nonhuman specimens, on the Space Station and is charged to bridge the gap between the science community and the Space Station Program. This paper discusses the approaches taken by the BRP in accomodating these research objectives to constraints imposed by the Space Station System, while maintaining a user-friendly environment. Consideration is given to the particular research disciplines which are given priority, the science objectives in each of these disciplines, the functions and activities required by these objectives, the research equipment, and the equipment suits. Life sciences programs planned by the Space Station participating partners (USA, Europe, Japan, and Canada) are compared.

An urban area minority outreach program for K-6 children in space science

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, P.; Garza, O.; Lindstrom, M.; Allen, J.; Wooten, J.; Sumners, C.; Obot, V.

The Houston area has minority populations with significant school dropout rates. This is similar to other major cities in the United States and elsewhere in the world where there are significant minority populations from rural areas. The student dropout rates are associated in many instances with the absence of educational support opportuni- ties either from the school and/or from the family. This is exacerbated if the student has poor English language skills. To address this issue, a NASA minority university initiative enabled us to develop a broad-based outreach program that includes younger children and their parents at a primarily Hispanic inner city charter school. The pro- gram at the charter school was initiated by teaching computer skills to the older chil- dren, who in turn taught parents. The older children were subsequently asked to help teach a computer literacy class for mothers with 4-5 year old children. The computers initially intimidated the mothers as most had limited educational backgrounds and En- glish language skills. To practice their newly acquired computer skills and learn about space science, the mothers and their children were asked to pick a space project and investigate it using their computer skills. The mothers and their children decided to learn about black holes. The project included designing space suits for their children so that they could travel through space and observe black holes from a closer proxim- ity. The children and their mothers learned about computers and how to use them for educational purposes. In addition, they learned about black holes and the importance of space suits in protecting astronauts as they investigated space. The parents are proud of their children and their achievements. By including the parents in the program, they have a greater understanding of the importance of their children staying in school and the opportunities for careers in space science and technology. For more information on our overall

Foundations in Science and Mathematics Program for Middle School and High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Desai, Karna Mahadev; Yang, Jing; Hemann, Jason

2016-01-01

The Foundations in Science and Mathematics (FSM) is a graduate student led summer program designed to help middle school and high school students strengthen their knowledge and skills in mathematics and science. FSM provides two-week-long courses over a broad spectrum of disciplines including astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer programming, geology, mathematics, and physics. Students can chose two types of courses: (1) courses that help students learn the fundamental concepts in basic sciences and mathematics (e.g., "Precalculus"); and (2) knowledge courses that might be excluded from formal schooling (e.g., "Introduction to Universe"). FSM has served over 500 students in the Bloomington, IN, community over six years by acquiring funding from Indiana University and the Indiana Space Grant Consortium. FSM offers graduate students the opportunity to obtain first hand experience through independent teaching and curriculum design as well as leadership experience.We present the design of the program, review the achievements, and explore the challenges we face. We are open to collaboration with similar educational outreach programs. For more information, please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~fsm/ .

The 2004 Transit of Venus as a Space Science Education Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Odenwald, S.; Mayo, L.; Vondrak, R.; Thieman, J.; Hawkins, I.; Schultz, G.

2003-12-01

We will present some of the programs and activities that NASA and its missions are preparing in order to support public and K12 education in space science and astronomy using the 2004 transit of Venus as a focal event. The upcoming transit of Venus on June 8 offers a unique opportunity to educate students and the general public about the scale of the solar system and the universe, as well as basic issues in comparative planetology. NASA's Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum is offering a number of programs to take advantage of this rare event. Among these are a live web cast from Spain of the entire transit, a series of radio and TV programs directed at students and the general public, a web cast describing extra-solar planet searches using the transit geometry, and archived observations produced by public observatories and student-operated solar viewers. The NASA/OSS Education Forums will also partner with science museums, planetaria and teachers across the country to bring the transit of Venus 'down to Earth'. In addition to offering enrichment activities in mathematics and space science, we also describe collaborations that have yielded unique historical resources including online archives of newspaper articles from the 1874 and 1882 transits. In addition, in collaboration with the Library of Congress Music Division, we have supported a modern re-orchestration of John Philip Sousa's Transit of Venus March which has not been performed since 1883. We anticipate that the transit of Venus will be a significant event of considerable public interest and curiosity, if the newspaper headlines from the transit seen in 1882 are any indication.

The Impact of Science Fiction Films on Student Interest in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Laprise, Shari; Winrich, Chuck

2010-01-01

Science fiction films were used in required and elective nonmajor science courses as a pedagogical tool to motivate student interest in science and to reinforce critical thinking about scientific concepts. Students watched various films and critiqued them for scientific accuracy in written assignments. Students' perception of this activity was…

The Impact of Science Fiction Film on Student Understanding of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Michael; Wagner, Heather; Gatling, Anne; Anderson, Janice; Houle, Meredith; Kafka, Alan

2006-04-01

Researchers who have investigated the public understanding of science have argued that fictional cinema and television has proven to be particularly effective at blurring the distinction between fact and fiction. The rationale for this study lies in the notion that to teach science effectively, educators need to understand how popular culture influences their students' perception and understanding of science. Using naturalistic research methods in a diverse middle school we found that students who watched a popular science fiction film, The Core, had a number of misunderstandings of earth science concepts when compared to students who did not watch the movie. We found that a single viewing of a science fiction film can negatively impact student ideas regarding scientific phenomena. Specifically, we found that the film leveraged the scientific authority of the main character, coupled with scientifically correct explanations of some basic earth science, to create a series of plausible, albeit unscientific, ideas that made sense to students.

Evaluating Middle School Students' Spatial-scientific Performance in Earth-space Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wilhelm, Jennifer; Jackson, C.; Toland, M. D.; Cole, M.; Wilhelm, R. J.

2013-06-01

Many astronomical concepts cannot be understood without a developed understanding of four spatial-mathematics domains defined as follows: a) Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) - Visualizing the geometric features of a system as it appears above, below, and within the system’s plane; b) Spatial Projection (SP) - Projecting to a different location and visualizing from that global perspective; c) Cardinal Directions (CD) - Distinguishing directions (N, S, E, W) in order to document an object’s vector position in space; and d) Periodic Patterns - (PP) Recognizing occurrences at regular intervals of time and/or space. For this study, differences were examined between groups of sixth grade students’ spatial-scientific development pre/post implementation of an Earth/Space unit. Treatment teachers employed a NASA-based curriculum (Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning), while control teachers implemented their regular Earth/Space units. A 2-level hierarchical linear model was used to evaluate student performance on the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) and four spatial-mathematics domains, while controlling for two variables (gender and ethnicity) at the student level and one variable (teaching experience) at the teacher level. Overall LPCI results show pre-test scores predicted post-test scores, boys performed better than girls, and Whites performed better than non-Whites. We also compared experimental and control groups’ by spatial-mathematics domain outcomes. For GSV, it was found that boys, in general, tended to have higher GSV post-scores. For domains CD and SP, no statistically significant differences were observed. PP results show Whites performed better than non-Whites. Also for PP, a significant cross-level interaction term (gender-treatment) was observed, which means differences in control and experimental groups are dependent on students’ gender. These findings can be interpreted as: (a) the experimental girls scored higher than the

Science Careers and Disabled Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Jagoda, Sue; Cremer, Bob

1981-01-01

Summarizes proceedings and student experiences at the 1980 Science Career Workshop for Physically Disabled Students at the Lawrence Hall of Science (University of California). Includes a description of the key-note speaker's topics, and other workshop activities. (DS)

Science on a space elevator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laubscher, B. E. (Bryan E.); Jorgensen, A. M. (Anders M.)

2004-01-01

The Space Elevator (SE) represents a major paradigm shift in space access. If the SE's promise of low cost access can be realized, everything becomes economically more feasible to accomplish in space. In this paper we describe in-situ science stations mounted on a science-dedicated space elevator tether. The concept presented here involves a carbon nanotube ribbon that is constructed by an existing space elevator and then science sensors are stationed along the ribbon at differing altitudes. The finished ribbon can be moved across the earth to the position at which its scientific measurements are to be taken. The ability to station scientific, in-situ instrumentation at different altitudes for round-the-clock observations is a unique capability of the SE. The environments that the science packages sense range from the troposphere out beyond the magnetopause of the magnetosphere on the solar side of the earth. Therefore, the very end of the SE can sense the solar wind. The measurements at various points along its length include temperature, pressure, density, sampling, chemical analyses, wind speed, turbulence, free oxygen, electromagnetic radiation, cosmic rays, energetic particles and plasmas in the earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. There exist some altitudes that are difficult to access with aircraft or balloons or rockets and so remain relatively unexplored. The space elevator solves these problems and opens these regions up to in-situ measurements. Without the need for propulsion, the SE provides a more benign and pristine environment for atmospheric measurements than available with powered aircraft. Moreover, replacing and upgrading instrumentation is expected to be very cost effective with the SE. Moving and stationing the science SE affords the opportunity to sense multiple regions of the atmosphere. The SE's geosynchronous, orbital motion through the magnetosphere, albeit nominally with Earth's magnetic field, will trace a plane

Motivating Students with Authentic Science Experiences: Changes in Motivation for School Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hellgren, Jenny M.; Lindberg, Stina

2017-01-01

Background: Students' motivation for science declines over the early teenage years, and students often find school science difficult and irrelevant to their everyday lives. This paper asks whether creating opportunities to connect school science to authentic science can have positive effects on student motivation. Purpose: To understand how…

Differentiated Instructional Strategies on Space Education for Sustained Capacity Building of Underprivileged School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Sumit

2016-07-01

portraits of important personalities who have contributed in this field are displayed. No astronomy session can be complete without night sky observations. To provide real time observational environment, an Alt-Azimuth mounted Reflecting astronomical Telescope with variety of eyepieces, Barlow lens, filters; a high powered Astro-Binoculars with tripod; spectrometer; sky atlas with charts; CCD camera; other observing aids etc ., were purchased with the generous contributions from the AGM foundation. When a membership drive to this club was initiated, it is needless to say, a tumultuous response was received from students and teachers as well as the local community members showing enthusiasm to join the club. Till date we have carried out night sky programs as well as important celestial events observations for all the stake holders. Not only we have been successful in enhancing the knowledge and skills of the deprived students but also elicited the general public on the various misconceptions and superstitious beliefs that are still prevalent with certain celestial occurrences in the country. Our endeavor has rekindled the student's interest for science; particularly space sciences so much so that, they have volunteered to take up space science based courses for their future higher education programs.

Earth & Space Science in the Next Generation Science Standards: Promise, Challenge, and Future Actions. (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Pyle, E. J.

2013-12-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a step forward in ensuring that future generations of students become scientifically literate. The NGSS document builds from the National Science Education Standards (1996) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science framework of 2005. Design teams for the Curriculum Framework for K-12 Science Education were to outline the essential content necessary for students' science literacy, considering the foundational knowledge and the structure of each discipline in the context of learning progressions. Once draft standards were developed, two issues emerged from their review: (a) the continual need to prune 'cherished ideas' within the content, such that only essential ideas were represented, and (b) the potential for prior conceptions of Science & Engineering Practices (SEP) and cross-cutting concepts (CCC) to limit overly constrain performance expectations. With the release of the NGSS, several challenges are emerging for geoscience education. First, the traditional emphasis of Earth science in middle school has been augmented by new standards for high school that require major syntheses of concepts. Second, the integration of SEPs into performance expectations places an increased burden on teachers and curriculum developers to organize instruction around the nature of inquiry in the geosciences. Third, work is needed to define CCCs in Earth contexts, such that the unique structure of the geosciences is best represented. To ensure that the Earth & Space Science standards are implemented through grade 12, two supporting structures must be developed. In the past, many curricular materials claimed that they adhered to the NSES, but in some cases this match was a simple word match or checklist that bore only superficial resemblance to the standards. The structure of the performance expectations is of sufficient sophistication to ensure that adherence to the standards more than a casual exercise. Claims

Solar Fireworks - Integrating an Exhibit on Solar Physics and Space Science into the Science and Astronomy Curriculum of High-School and College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Denker, C.; Wang, H.; Conod, K. D.; Wintemberg, T.; Calderon, I.

2005-05-01

Astronomers at The Newark Museum's Alice and Leonard Dreyfuss Planetarium teamed up with the New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR) and the Big Bear Solar Observatory in presenting Solar Fireworks. The exhibit opened on May 15, 2004 and features two exhibition kiosks with interactive touch screen displays, where students and other visitors can take "virtual tours" in the fields of solar physics, solar activity, Sun-Earth connection, and geo-sciences. Planetarium and museum visits are an integral part of the introductory physics and astronomy classes at NJIT and the exhibition has been integrated in the astronomy curriculum. For example, NJIT students of the Astronomy Club and regular astronomy courses were closely involved in the design and development of the exhibit. The exhibit is the latest addition to the long-running natural science exhibit "Dynamic Earth: Revealing Nature's Secrets" at the museum. More than 30,000 people per year attend various programs offered by the planetarium including public shows, more than a dozen programs for school groups, after school activities, portable planetarium outreach, outdoor sky watches, solar observing and other family events. More than 1,000 high school students visited the planetarium in 2004. The exhibit is accompanied by a yearly teacher workshop (the first one was held on October 18-20, 2004) to enhance the learning experience of classes visiting the Newark Museum. The planetarium and museum staff has been working with teachers of Newark high schools and has presented many workshops for educators on a wide range of topics from astronomy to zoology. At the conclusion of the exhibit in December 2005, the exhibit will go "on the road" and will be made available to schools or other museums. Finally, the exhibit will find its permanent home at the new office complex of CSTR at NJIT. Acknowledgements: Solar Fireworks was organized by The Newark Museum and the New Jersey

UAF Space Systems Engineering Program: Engaging Students through an Apprenticeship Model

Science.gov (United States)

Thorsen, D.

2017-12-01

Learning by doing has been the mantra of engineering education for decades, however, the constraints of semester length courses limits the types and size of experiences that can be offered to students. The Space Systems Engineering Program (SSEP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks provides interdisciplinary engineering and science students with hands-on experience in all aspects of space systems engineering through a design, build, launch paradigm applied to balloon and rocket payloads and small satellites. The program is structured using an apprenticeship model such that students, freshmen through graduate, can participate in multi-year projects thereby gaining experiences appropriate to their level in college. Students enter the lab in a trainee position and receive training on lab processes and design software. Depending on the student's interests they learn how to use specific lab equipment and software design tools. Trainees provide support engineering under guidance of an upper classman. As the students' progress in their degree program and gain more expertise, they typically become part of a specific subsystem team, where they receive additional training in developing design documents and in writing requirements and test documents, and direct their efforts to meeting specific objectives. By the time the student reaches their senior year, they have acquired the leadership role for a specific subsystem and/or a general leadership role in the lab. If students stay to pursue graduate degrees, they assume the responsibility of training and mentoring other undergraduates in their areas of expertise. Throughout the program upper class students mentor the newer students. The Space Systems Engineering Program strives to reinforce a student's degree program through these large scale projects that place engineering in context.

Space Science at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Karl

2017-09-01

The Space Science and Applications group (ISR-1) in the Intelligence and Space Research (ISR) division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory lead a number of space science missions for civilian and defense-related programs. In support of these missions the group develops sensors capable of detecting nuclear emissions and measuring radiations in space including γ-ray, X-ray, charged-particle, and neutron detection. The group is involved in a number of stages of the lifetime of these sensors including mission concept and design, simulation and modeling, calibration, and data analysis. These missions support monitoring of the atmosphere and near-Earth space environment for nuclear detonations as well as monitoring of the local space environment including space-weather type events. Expertise in this area has been established over a long history of involvement with cutting-edge projects continuing back to the first space based monitoring mission Project Vela. The group's interests cut across a large range of topics including non-proliferation, space situational awareness, nuclear physics, material science, space physics, astrophysics, and planetary physics.

Life sciences space biology project planning

Science.gov (United States)

Primeaux, G.; Newkirk, K.; Miller, L.; Lewis, G.; Michaud, R.

1988-01-01

The Life Sciences Space Biology (LSSB) research will explore the effect of microgravity on humans, including the physiological, clinical, and sociological implications of space flight and the readaptations upon return to earth. Physiological anomalies from past U.S. space flights will be used in planning the LSSB project.The planning effort integrates science and engineering. Other goals of the LSSB project include the provision of macroscopic view of the earth's biosphere, and the development of spinoff technology for application on earth.

USRA's NCSEFSE: a new National Center for Space, Earth, and Flight Sciences Education

Science.gov (United States)

Livengood, T. A.; Goldstein, J.; Vanhala, H.; Hamel, J.; Miller, E. A.; Pulkkinen, K.; Richards, S.

2005-08-01

A new National Center for Space, Earth, and Flight Sciences Education (NCSEFSE) has been created in the Washington, DC metropolitan area under the auspices of the Universities Space Research Association. The NCSEFSE provides education and public outreach services in the areas of NASA's research foci in programs of both national and local scope. Present NCSEFSE programs include: Journey through the Universe, which unites formal and informal education within communities and connects a nationally-distributed network of communities from Hilo, HI to Washington, DC with volunteer Visiting Researchers and thematic education modules; the Voyage Scale Model Solar System exhibition on the National Mall, a showcase for planetary science placed directly outside the National Air and Space Museum; educational module development and distribution for the MESSENGER mission to Mercury through a national cadre of MESSENGER Educator Fellows; Teachable Moments in the News, which capitalizes on current events in space, Earth, and flight sciences to teach the science that underlies students' natural interests; the Voyages Across the Universe Speakers' Bureau; and Family Science Night at the National Air and Space Museum, which reaches audiences of 2000--3000 each year, drawn from the Washington metropolitan area. Staff scientists of NCSEFSE maintain active research programs, presently in the areas of planetary atmospheric composition, structure, and dynamics, and in solar system formation. NCSEFSE scientists thus are able to act as authentic representatives of frontier scientific research, and ensure accuracy, relevance, and significance in educational products. NCSEFSE instructional designers and educators ensure pedagogic clarity and effectiveness, through a commitment to quantitative assessment.

NASA Space Science Resource Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Teays, T.

2000-05-01

The NASA Office of Space Science Resource Catalog provides a convenient online interface for finding space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums, and many other venues. Goals in developing this catalog are: (1) create a cataloging system for all NASA OSS education products, (2) develop a system for characterizing education products which is meaningful to a large clientele, (3) develop a mechanism for evaluating products, (4) provide a user-friendly interface to search and access the data, and (5) provide standardized metadata and interfaces to other cataloging and library systems. The first version of the catalog is being tested at the spring 2000 conventions of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and will be released in summer 2000. The catalog may be viewed at the Origins Education Forum booth.

General Education Earth, Astronomy and Space Science College Courses Serve as a Vehicle for Improving Science Literacy in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Prather, E.

2011-10-01

Every year approximately 500,000 undergraduate college students take a general education Earth, Astronomy and Space Science (EASS) course in the Unites States. For the majority of these students this will be their last physical science course in life. This population of students is incredibly important to the science literacy of the United States citizenry and to the success of the STEM career pipeline. These students represent future scientists, technologists, business leaders, politicians, journalists, historians, artists, and most importantly, policy makers, parents, voters, and teachers. A significant portion of these students are taught at minority serving institutions and community colleges and often are from underserved and underrepresented groups, such as women and minorities. Members of the Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) at the University of Arizona have been developing and conducting research on the effectiveness of instructional strategies and materials that are explicitly designed to challenge students' naïve ideas and intellectually engage their thinking at a deep level in the traditional lecture classroom. The results of this work show that dramatic improvement in student understanding can be made from increased use of interactive learning strategies. These improvements are shown to be independent of institution type or class size, but appear to be strongly influenced by the quality of the instructor's implementation. In addition, we find that the positive effects of interactive learning strategies apply equally to men and women, across ethnicities, for students with all levels of prior mathematical preparation and physical science course experience, independent of GPA, and regardless of primary language. These results powerfully illustrate that all students can benefit from the effective implementation of interactive learning strategies.

Students' Psychosocial Perception of Science Laboratory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Data was obtained with the Science Laboratory Environment Questionnaire, administered on 338 third year science students. Four factors were found to influence students' perception of their science laboratory environment. Two distinct material environments emerged, which have not been reported in the literature.

Understanding adolescent student perceptions of science education

Science.gov (United States)

Ebert, Ellen Kress

This study used the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey (Sjoberg & Schreiner, 2004) to examine topics of interest and perspectives of secondary science students in a large school district in the southwestern U.S. A situated learning perspective was used to frame the project. The research questions of this study focused on (a) perceptions students have about themselves and their science classroom and how these beliefs may influence their participation in the community of practice of science; (b) consideration of how a future science classroom where the curriculum is framed by the Next Generation Science Standards might foster students' beliefs and perceptions about science education and their legitimate peripheral participation in the community of practice of science; and (c) reflecting on their school science interests and perspectives, what can be inferred about students' identities as future scientists or STEM field professionals? Data were collected from 515 second year science students during a 4-week period in May of 2012 using a Web-based survey. Data were disaggregated by gender and ethnicity and analyzed descriptively and by statistical comparison between groups. Findings for Research Question 1 indicated that boys and girls showed statistically significant differences in scientific topics of interest. There were no statistical differences between ethnic groups although. For Research Question 2, it was determined that participants reported an increase in their interest when they deemed the context of the content to be personally relevant. Results for Research Question 3 showed that participants do not see themselves as youthful scientists or as becoming scientists. While participants value the importance of science in their lives and think all students should take science, they do not aspire to careers in science. Based on this study, a need for potential future work has been identified in three areas: (a) exploration of the perspectives and

Deep Space Gateway Science Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Quincy, C. D.; Charles, J. B.; Hamill, Doris; Sidney, S. C.

2018-01-01

The NASA Life Sciences Research Capabilities Team (LSRCT) has been discussing deep space research needs for the last two years. NASA's programs conducting life sciences studies - the Human Research Program, Space Biology, Astrobiology, and Planetary Protection - see the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) as affording enormous opportunities to investigate biological organisms in a unique environment that cannot be replicated in Earth-based laboratories or on Low Earth Orbit science platforms. These investigations may provide in many cases the definitive answers to risks associated with exploration and living outside Earth's protective magnetic field. Unlike Low Earth Orbit or terrestrial locations, the Gateway location will be subjected to the true deep space spectrum and influence of both galactic cosmic and solar particle radiation and thus presents an opportunity to investigate their long-term exposure effects. The question of how a community of biological organisms change over time within the harsh environment of space flight outside of the magnetic field protection can be investigated. The biological response to the absence of Earth's geomagnetic field can be studied for the first time. Will organisms change in new and unique ways under these new conditions? This may be specifically true on investigations of microbial communities. The Gateway provides a platform for microbiology experiments both inside, to improve understanding of interactions between microbes and human habitats, and outside, to improve understanding of microbe-hardware interactions exposed to the space environment.

Remote sensing from the desktop up, a students's personal stairway to space (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Church, W.

2013-12-01

Doing science with real-time quantitative experiments is becoming more and more affordable and accessible. Because lab equipment is more affordable and accessible, many universities are using lab class models wherein students conduct their experiments in informal settings such as the dorm, outside, or other places throughout the campus. Students are doing real-time measurements homework outside of class. By liberating experiments from facilities, the hope is to give students more experimental science opportunities. The challenge is support. In lab settings, instructors and peers can help students if they have trouble with the steps of assembling their experimental set-up, configuring the data acquisition software, conducting the real-time measurement and doing the analysis. Students working on their own in a dorm do not benefit from this support. Furthermore, when students are given the open ended experimental task of designing their own measurement system, they may need more guidance. In this poster presentation, I will articulate a triangle model to support students through the task of finding the necessary resources to design and build a mission to space. In the triangle model, students have access to base layer concept and skill resources to help them build their experiment. They then have access to middle layer mini-experiments to help them configure and test their experimental set-up. Finally, they have a motivating real-time experiment. As an example of this type of resource used in practice, I will have a balloon science remote sensing project as a stand-in for a balloon mission to 100,000 feet. I will use an Arduino based DAQ system and XBee modules for wireless data transmission to a LabVIEW front-panel. I will attach the DAQ to a tethered balloon to conduct a real-time microclimate experiment in the Moscone Center. Expanded microclimate studies can be the capstone project or can be a stepping-stone to space wherein students prepare a sensor package for a

Moral Perceptions of College Science Students

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, Eric

This thesis argues that college-level science education is in need of explicit moral focuses centered on society's use of scientific knowledge. Many benefits come with scientific advancements but unfortunately the misuse of scientific knowledge has led to planetary crises that should be a concern for all who inhabit the Earth (e.g., climate change). The teaching of the misuses of science is often left out of college science classrooms and the purpose of this thesis is to see what effect college science students' education has had on their moral perception of these pressing issues. To evaluate how college science students morally perceive these global issues within their educational experiences, two focus group interviews were conducted and analyzed. Students converged on three themes when thinking of society's misuse of science: 1) there is something wrong with the way science is communicated between science and non-science groups; 2) misusing science for private benefit is not right, and 3) it is important for people to comprehend sustainability along different scales of understanding and action. This thesis concludes that although to some extent students were familiar with moral features that stem from society's misuse of science, they did not attribute their learning of those features from any of their required coursework within their programs of study.

Comprehensive report of aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, and space science applications of the Lewis Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

1988-01-01

The research activities of the Lewis Research Center for 1988 are summarized. The projects included are within basic and applied technical disciplines essential to aeropropulsion, space propulsion, space power, and space science/applications. These disciplines are materials science and technology, structural mechanics, life prediction, internal computational fluid mechanics, heat transfer, instruments and controls, and space electronics.

NASA Space Life Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Judith

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the requirements that NASA has for the medical service of a crew returning to earth after long duration space flight. The scenarios predicate a water landing. Two scenarios are reviewed that outline the ship-board medical operations team and the ship board science reseach team. A schedule for the each crew upon landing is posited for each of scenarios. The requirement for a heliport on board the ship is reviewed and is on the requirement for a helicopter to return the Astronauts to the Baseline Data Collection Facility (BDCF). The ideal is to integrate the medical and science requirements, to minimize the risks and Inconveniences to the returning astronauts. The medical support that is required for all astronauts returning from long duration space flight (30 days or more) is reviewed. The personnel required to support the team is outlined. The recommendations for medical operations and science research for crew support are stated.

Midwest Science Festival: Exploring Students' and Parents' Participation in and Attitudes Toward Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Dippel, Elizabeth A; Mechels, Keegan B; Griese, Emily R; Laufmann, Rachel N; Weimer, Jill M

2016-08-01

Compared to national numbers, South Dakota has a higher proportion of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Interest in science can be influenced by exposure to science through formal and informal learning. Informal science activities (including exposures and participation) have been found to elicit higher levels of interest in science, likely impacting one's attitude towards science overall. The current study goal is to better understand the levels and relationships of attitude, exposure, and participation in science that were present among students and parents attending a free science festival. The project collected survey data from 65 students and 79 parents attending a science festival ranging from age 6 to 65. Informal science participation is significantly related to science attitudes in students and informal science exposure is not. No relationship was found for parents between science attitudes and participation. Students who indicated high levels of informal science participation (i.e., reading science-themed books) were positively related to their attitudes regarding science. However, informal science exposures, such as attending the zoo or independently visiting a science lab, was not significantly associated with positive attitudes towards science.

CERN and space science

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

The connection between CERN and space is tangible this week, as former CERN Fellow and ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang begins the second week of his mission on space shuttle flight STS-128. I had the pleasure to meet Christer back in October 2008 at an IEEE symposium in Dresden, and he asked me whether we could give him something related to CERN for his official flight kit. We thought of caps and tee-shirts, but in the end decided to give him a neutralino as a symbol of the link between particle physics and the science of the Universe. Neutralinos are theoretical particles that the LHC will be looking for, and if they exist, they’re strong candidates for the Universe’s dark matter. Christer’s neutralino is just a model, of course, escaped from the particle zoo, but what better symbol of the connectedness of science? Christer Fuglesang is not the only link CERN has with the space shuttle programme. We’ve recently learned that...

Taiwanese Students' Science Learning Self-Efficacy and Teacher and Student Science Hardiness: A Multilevel Model Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ya-Ling; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the factors accounting for science learning self-efficacy (the specific beliefs that people have in their ability to complete tasks in science learning) from both the teacher and the student levels. We thus propose a multilevel model to delineate its relationships with teacher and student science hardiness (i.e.,…

Factors Affecting Academic Dishonesty in the Space of Social Science Education (A Case Study of Public Universities in Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoumeh Qarakhani

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Academic Dishonesty is one of the important issues in the higher education system of Iran, and reducing or preventing it requires identifying the factors which have an impact on it. The present study has analyzed the perceptions and understandings of PhD students in social science fields, who have a wider experience of scientific socialization in the process of education, with the aim of identifying the factors influencing academic dishonesty in the space of social science in Iran. The findings of this research show that the factors influencing academic dishonesty in the space of social science education can be detected at two individual and structural levels. At the structural level, sources and rules, and at the individual level, academic dishonesty among three groups of actors in educational space, i.e. professors, students and managers (heads of departments and faculties, with reference to their individual and personality characteristics, have paved the way for academic dishonesty, or have resulted in its occurrence. In the framework of a combination of actor/structure in explaining social phenomena, the factors influencing academic dishonesty and non-conformity to the norms of the ethics of science in the educational space can be reduced neither to the role of the structure nor that of the actor. Dishonesty in the ethics of science in social science education and the factors affecting them can be explained in the light of a combination of structure and actor.

Space life sciences strategic plan, 1991

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-01

Over the last three decades the life sciences program has significantly contributed to NASA's manned and unmanned exploration of space, while acquiring new knowledge in the fields of space biology and medicine. The national and international events which have led to the development and revision of NASA strategy will significantly affect the future of life sciences programs both in scope and pace. This document serves as the basis for synthesizing the option to be pursued during the next decade, based on the decisions, evolution, and guiding principles of the National Space Policy.

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarti Raja

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K–12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach.

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Raja, Aarti; Lavin, Emily Schmitt; Gali, Tamara; Donovan, Kaitlin

2016-05-01

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K-12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach.

Popular Science Writing Bringing New Perspectives into Science Students' Theses

Science.gov (United States)

Pelger, Susanne

2018-01-01

This study analyses which perspectives occur in science students' texts at different points in time during the process of writing a popular science article. The intention is, thus, to explore how popular science writing can help students discover and discuss different perspectives on science matter. For this purpose, texts written by 12 bachelor…

Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, P. T.

2016-11-01

The national space programs have an historic opportunity to help solve the global-scale economic and environmental problems of Earth while becoming more effective at science through the use of space resources. Space programs will be more cost-effective when they work to establish a supply chain in space, mining and manufacturing then replicating the assets of the supply chain so it grows to larger capacity. This has become achievable because of advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. It is roughly estimated that developing a lunar outpost that relies upon and also develops the supply chain will cost about 1/3 or less of the existing annual budgets of the national space programs. It will require a sustained commitment of several decades to complete, during which time science and exploration become increasingly effective. At the end, this space industry will capable of addressing global-scale challenges including limited resources, clean energy, economic development, and preservation of the environment. Other potential solutions, including nuclear fusion and terrestrial renewable energy sources, do not address the root problem of our limited globe and there are real questions whether they will be inadequate or too late. While industry in space likewise cannot provide perfect assurance, it is uniquely able to solve the root problem, and it gives us an important chance that we should grasp. What makes this such an historic opportunity is that the space-based solution is obtainable as a side-benefit of doing space science and exploration within their existing budgets. Thinking pragmatically, it may take some time for policymakers to agree that setting up a complete supply chain is an achievable goal, so this paper describes a strategy of incremental progress. The most crucial part of this strategy is establishing a water economy by mining on the Moon and asteroids to manufacture rocket propellant. Technologies that support a water economy will play an

Middle School Students' Attitudes toward Science, Scientists, Science Teachers and Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Kapici, Hasan Özgür; Akçay, Hakan

2016-01-01

It is an indispensable fact that having a positive attitude towards science is one of the important factors that promotes students for studying in science. The study is a kind of national study that aims to investigate middle school students', from different regions of Turkey, attitudes toward science, scientists and science classes. The study was…

Program to enrich science and mathematics experiences of high school students through interactive museum internships

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reif, R.J. [State Univ. of New York, New Paltz, NY (United States); Lock, C.R. [Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC (United States)

1998-11-01

This project addressed the problem of female and minority representation in science and mathematics education and in related fields. It was designed to recruit high school students from under-represented groups into a program that provided significant, meaningful experiences to encourage those young people to pursue careers in science and science teaching. It provided role models for those students. It provided experiences outside of the normal school environment, experiences that put the participants in the position to serve as role models themselves for disadvantaged young people. It also provided encouragement to pursue careers in science and mathematics teaching and related careers. In these respects, it complemented other successful programs to encourage participation in science. And, it differed in that it provided incentives at a crucial time, when career decisions are being made during the high school years. Further, it encouraged the pursuit of careers in science teaching. The objectives of this project were to: (1) provide enrichment instruction in basic concepts in the life, earth, space, physical sciences and mathematics to selected high school students participating in the program; (2) provide instruction in teaching methods or processes, including verbal communication skills and the use of questioning; (3) provide opportunities for participants, as paid student interns, to transfer knowledge to other peers and adults; (4) encourage minority and female students with high academic potential to pursue careers in science teaching.

The United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Haubold, Hans; Balogh, Werner

2014-05-01

The basic space science initiative was a long-term effort for the development of astronomy and space science through regional and international cooperation in this field on a worldwide basis, particularly in developing nations. Basic space science workshops were co-sponsored and co-organized by ESA, JAXA, and NASA. A series of workshops on basic space science was held from 1991 to 2004 (India 1991, Costa Rica and Colombia 1992, Nigeria 1993, Egypt 1994, Sri Lanka 1995, Germany 1996, Honduras 1997, Jordan 1999, France 2000, Mauritius 2001, Argentina 2002, and China 2004; http://neutrino.aquaphoenix.com/un-esa/) and addressed the status of astronomy in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Western Asia. Through the lead of the National Astronomical Observatory Japan, astronomical telescope facilities were inaugurated in seven developing nations and planetariums were established in twenty developing nations based on the donation of respective equipment by Japan.Pursuant to resolutions of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of the United Nations (COPUOS) and its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, since 2005, these workshops focused on the preparations for and the follow-ups to the International Heliophysical Year 2007 (UAE 2005, India 2006, Japan 2007, Bulgaria 2008, South Korea 2009; www.unoosa.org/oosa/SAP/bss/ihy2007/index.html). IHY's legacy is the current operation of 16 worldwide instrument arrays with more than 1000 instruments recording data on solar-terrestrial interaction from coronal mass ejections to variations of the total electron content in the ionosphere (http://iswisecretariat.org/). Instruments are provided to hosting institutions by entities of Armenia, Brazil, France, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. Starting in 2010, the workshops focused on the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) as mandated in a three-year-work plan as part of the deliberations of COPUOS. Workshops on ISWI

Engaging Karen refugee students in science learning through a cross-cultural learning community

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Susan G.

2017-02-01

This research explored how Karen (first-generation refugees from Burma) elementary students engaged with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence within the context of a cross-cultural learning community. In this action research, the researcher and a Karen parent served as co-teachers for fourth- and fifth-grade Karen and non-Karen students in a science and culture after-school programme in a public elementary school in the rural southeastern United States. Photovoice provided a critical platform for students to create their own cultural discourses for the learning community. The theoretical framework of critical pedagogy of place provided a way for the learning community to decolonise and re-inhabit the learning spaces with knowledge they co-constructed. Narrative analysis of video transcripts of the after-school programme, ethnographic interviews, and focus group discussions from Photovoice revealed a pattern of emerging agency by Karen students in the scientific practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence and in Karen language lessons. This evidence suggests that science learning embedded within a cross-cultural learning community can empower refugee students to construct their own hybrid cultural knowledge and leverage that knowledge to engage in a meaningful way with the epistemology of science.

Radiologic science students' perceptions of parental involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

DuBose, Cheryl; Barymon, Deanna; Vanderford, Virginia; Hensley, Chad; Shaver, Gary

2014-01-01

A new generation of students is in the classroom, and they are not always alone. Helicopter parents, those who hover around the student and attempt to ease life's challenges, are accompanying the students to radiologic science programs across the nation. To determine radiologic science students' perception regarding their parents' level of involvement in their lives. A survey focused on student perceptions of parental involvement inside and outside of the academic setting was completed by 121 radiologic science students at 4 institutional settings. The analysis demonstrates statistically significant relationships between student sex, age, marital status, and perceived level of parental involvement. In addition, as financial support increases, students' perception of the level of parental involvement also increases. Radiologic science students want their parents to be involved in their higher education decisions. Research indicates that students with involved parents are more successful, and faculty should be prepared for increased parental involvement in the future. Radiologic science students perceive their parents to be involved in their academic careers. Ninety-five percent of respondents believe that the financial support of their parent or parents contributes to their academic success. Sixty-five percent of participants are content with their parents' current level of involvement, while 11% wish their parents were more involved in their academic careers.

Elementary Students' Retention of Environmental Science Knowledge: Connected Science Instruction versus Direct Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Bhaskar; DeFranco, Cristina

2008-01-01

This study compares 3rd-grade elementary students' gain and retention of science vocabulary over time in two different classes--"connected science instruction" versus "direct instruction." Data analysis yielded that students who received connected science instruction showed less gain in science knowledge in the short term compared to students who…

International Summer School on Astronomy and Space Science in Chile, first experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Stepanova, M.; Arellano-Baeza, A. A.

I International Summer School on Astronomy and Space Science took place in the Elqui Valley Chile January 15-29 2005 Eighty 12-17 year old students from Chile Russia Venezuela and Bulgaria obtained a valuable experience to work together with outstanding scientists from Chile and Russia and with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Balandine They also had opportunity to visit the main astronomical observatories and to participate in workshops dedicated to the telescope and satellite design and remote sensing This activity was supported by numerous institutions in Chile including the Ministry of Education the European Southern Observatory Chilean Space Agency Chilean Air Force Latin American Association of Space Geophysics the principal Chilean universities and the First Lady Mrs Luisa Duran

Students' Awareness of Science Teachers' Leadership, Attitudes toward Science, and Positive Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ying-Yan; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Hong, Zuway-R.; Yore, Larry D.

2016-01-01

There appears to be a complex network of cognitive and affective factors that influence students' decisions to study science and motivate their choices to engage in science-oriented careers. This study explored 330 Taiwanese senior high school students' awareness of their science teacher's learning leadership and how it relates to the students'…

Using the Process and Excitement of Science and Technology to Empower Teachers and Engage their Students

Science.gov (United States)

Crannell, Carol Jo

2002-01-01

Students United with NASA Becoming Enthusiastic About Math and Science (SUNBEAMS) is a Partnership between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). It empowers teachers and inspires students with the process and excitement of science and technology. SUNBEAMS is being developed as a model urban intervention program for sixth grade teachers and their students. The teachers come to Goddard for five weeks during the summer. They partner with Goddard mentors and work much the same way that summer students do. In addition, the teachers are responsible for developing lesson plans that they pilot at their schools and post on the SUNBEAMS web site. During the school year, each teacher brings one class to Goddard for a full week of total immersion in math and science.

Preparing Graduate Students as Science Communicators

Science.gov (United States)

Knudson, K.; Gutstein, J.

2012-12-01

Our presentation introduces our interdisciplinary curriculum that teaches graduate students at our R-1 university to translate their research to general audiences. We also discuss the challenges we have faced and strategies we have employed to broaden graduate education at our campus to include preparation in science communication. Our "Translating Research beyond Academia" curriculum consists of three separate thematically based courses taught over the academic year: Education and Community Outreach, Science Communication and Writing, Communicating with Policy- and Decision-makers. Course goals are to provide professional development training so that graduate students become more capable professionals prepared for careers inside and outside academia while increasing the public understanding of science and technology. Open to graduate students of any discipline, each course meets weekly for two hours; students receive academic credit through a co-sponsoring graduate program. Students learn effective strategies for communicating research and academic knowledge with the media, the general public, youth, stakeholders, and decision- and policy-makers. Courses combine presentations from university and regional experts with hands-on work sessions aimed towards creating effective communications, outreach and policy plans, broader impacts statements, press releases, blogs, and policy briefs. A final presentation and reflections are required. Students may opt for further training through seminars tailored to student need. Initial results of our analyses of student evaluations and work indicate that students appreciate the interdisciplinary, problem-based approach and the low-risk opportunities for learning professional development skills and for exploring non-academic employment. Several students have initiated engaged work in their disciplines, and several have secured employment in campus science communication positions. Two have changed career plans as a direct result of

Discursive geographies in science: space, identity, and scientific discourse among indigenous women in higher education

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Brandt, Carol B.

2008-09-01

Despite completing undergraduate degrees in the life sciences, few Indigenous women choose to pursue careers in scientific research. To help us understand how American Indian students engage with science, this ethnographic research describes (1) how four Navajo women identified with science, and (2) the narratives they offered when we discussed their experiences with scientific discourse. Using intensive case studies to describe the experiences of these women, my research focused on their final year of undergraduate study in the life sciences at a university in southwestern US. I point to the processes by which the participants align themselves with ideas, practices, groups, or people in science. As each participant recounted her experiences with scientific discourse, they recreated for me a discursive geography of their lives on the reservation, at home, at community colleges (in some cases), and on the university campus. In the construction and analysis of the narratives for this research, mapping this geography was critical to understanding each participant's discursive relationship with science. In these discursive spaces, I observed productive "locations of possibility" in which students and their instructors: valued connected knowing; acknowledged each other's history, culture, and knowledge; began to speak to each other subject-to-subject; and challenged normative views of schooling. I argue that this space, as a location of possibility, has the power to transform the crushing impersonalized schooling that often characterizes "rigorous" scientific programs in a research institution.

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

Science.gov (United States)

Alston, Erica J.; Chambers, Lin H.; Phelps, Carrie S.; Oots, Penny C.; Moore, Susan W.; Diones, Dennis D.

2007-01-01

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

Space Interferometry Science Working Group

Science.gov (United States)

Ridgway, Stephen T.

1992-12-01

Decisions taken by the astronomy and astrophysics survey committee and the interferometry panel which lead to the formation of the Space Interferometry Science Working Group (SISWG) are outlined. The SISWG was formed by the NASA astrophysics division to provide scientific and technical input from the community in planning for space interferometry and in support of an Astrometric Interferometry Mission (AIM). The AIM program hopes to measure the positions of astronomical objects with a precision of a few millionths of an arcsecond. The SISWG science and technical teams are described and the outcomes of its first meeting are given.

Seeding science success: Relations of secondary students' science self-concepts and motivation with aspirations and achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasena, Wanasinghe Durayalage

This research comprises three inter-related synergistic studies. Study 1 aims to develop a psychometrically sound tool to measure secondary students' science self-concepts, motivation, and aspirations in biology, chemistry, earth and environmental methodology to explicate students' and teachers' views, practices, and personal experiences, to identify the barriers to undertaking science for secondary students and to provide rich insights into the relations of secondary students' science self-concepts and motivation with their aspirations and achievement. Study 3 will detect additional issues that may not necessarily be identifiable from the quantitative findings of Study 2. The psychometric properties of the newly developed instrument demonstrated that students' science self-concepts were domain specific, while science motivation and science aspirations were not. Students' self-concepts in general science, chemistry, and physics were stronger for males than females. Students' self-concepts in general science and biology became stronger for students in higher years of secondary schooling. Students' science motivation did not vary across gender and year levels. Though students' science aspirations did not vary across gender, they became stronger with age. In general, students' science self-concepts and science motivation were positively related to science aspirations and science achievement. Specifically, students' year level, biology self-concept, and physics self concept predicted their science and career aspirations. Biology self-concept predicted teacher ratings of students' achievement, and students' general science self-concepts predicted their achievement according to students' ratings. Students' year level and intrinsic motivation in science were predictors of their science aspirations, and intrinsic motivation was a greater significant predictor of students' achievement, according to student ratings. Based upon students' and teachers' perceptions, the

Space life sciences: Programs and projects

Science.gov (United States)

1989-01-01

NASA space life science activities are outlined. Brief, general descriptions are given of research in the areas of biomedical research, space biology, closed loop life support systems, exobiology, and biospherics.

Enhancing students' science literacy using solar cell learning multimedia containing science and nano technology

Science.gov (United States)

Eliyawati, Sunarya, Yayan; Mudzakir, Ahmad

2017-05-01

This research attempts to enhance students' science literacy in the aspects of students' science content, application context, process, and students' attitude using solar cell learning multimedia containing science and nano technology. The quasi-experimental method with pre-post test design was used to achieve these objectives. Seventy-two students of class XII at a high school were employed as research's subject. Thirty-six students were in control class and another thirty-six were in experiment class. Variance test (t-test) was performed on the average level of 95% to identify the differences of students' science literacy in both classes. As the result, there were significant different of learning outcomes between experiment class and control class. Almost half of students (41.67%) in experiment class are categorized as high. Therefore, the learning using solar cell learning multimedia can improve students' science literacy, especially in the students' science content, application context, and process aspects with n-gain(%) 59.19 (medium), 63.04 (medium), and 52.98 (medium). This study can be used to develop learning multimedia in other science context.

Student Attitudes, Student Anxieties, and How to Address Them; A handbook for science teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Kastrup, Helge

2016-02-01

This book is based on a commitment to teaching science to everybody. What may work for training professional scientists does not work for general science education. Students bring to the classrooms preconceived attitudes, as well as the emotional baggage called 'science anxiety'. Students may regard science as cold, unfriendly, and even inherently hostile and biased against women. This book has been designed to deal with each of these issues and results from research in both Denmark and the USA. The first chapter discusses student attitudes towards science and the second discusses science anxiety. The connection between the two is discussed before the introduction of constructivism as a pedagogy that can aid science learning if it also addresses attitudes and anxieties. Much of the book elucidates what the authors have learned as science teachers and science education researchers. They studied various groups including university students majoring in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, social sciences, business, nursing, and education; high-school students; teachers' seminary students; science teachers at all levels from middle school through college; and science administrators. The insights of these groups constitute the most important feature of the book, and by sharing them, the authors hope to help their fellow science teachers to understand student attitudes about science, to recognize the connections between these and science anxiety, and to see how a pedagogy that takes these into account can improve science learning.

The Perceptions of Elementary School Teachers Regarding Their Efforts to Help Students Utilize Student-to-Student Discourse in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Craddock, Jennifer Lovejoy

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of elementary teachers who teach science as opposed to science teacher specialists regarding their efforts to help students use student-to-student discourse for improving science learning. A growing body of research confirms the importance of a) student-to-student discourse for making meaning of science ideas and b) moving students' conceptual development towards a more scientific understanding of the natural world. Based on those foundations, the three research questions that guided this study examined the value elementary teachers place on student-to-student discourse, the various approaches teachers employ to promote the use of student-to-student discourse for learning science, and the factors and conditions that promote and inhibit the use of student-to-student discourse as an effective pedagogical strategy in elementary science. Data were gathered from 23 elementary teachers in a single district using an on-line survey and follow-up interviews with 8 teachers. All data were analyzed and evolving themes led to the following findings: (1) elementary teachers value student-to-student discourse in science, (2) teachers desire to increase time using student-to-student discourse, (3) teachers use a limited number of student-to-student discourse strategies to increase student learning in science, (4) teachers use student-to-student discourse as formative assessment to determine student learning in science, (5) professional development focusing on approaches to student-to-student discourse develops teachers' capacity for effective implementation, (6) teachers perceive school administrators' knowledge of and support for student-to-student discourse as beneficial, (7) time and scheduling constraints limit the use of student-to-student discourse in science. Implications of this study included the necessity of school districts to focus on student-to-student discourse in science, provide teacher and

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 13

Science.gov (United States)

Hooke, Lydia Razran (Editor); Teeter, Ronald (Editor); Teeter, Ronald (Editor); Teeter, Ronald (Editor); Teeter, Ronald (Editor)

1987-01-01

This is the thirteenth issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 39 papers recently published in Russian-language periodicals and bound collections, two papers delivered at an international life sciences symposium, and three new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. Also included is a review of a recent Soviet-French symposium on Space Cytology. Current Soviet Life Sciences titles available in English are cited. The materials included in this issue have been identified as relevant to 31 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology. These areas are: adaptation, biological rhythms, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, cosmonaut training, cytology, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, gastrointestinal systems, genetics, habitability and environment effects, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, operational medicine, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, space biology, and space medicine.

NASA Astrophysics Education and Public Outreach: The Impact of the Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Denise Anne; Jirdeh, Hussein; Eisenhamer, Bonnie; Villard, Ray; Green, Joel David

2015-08-01

As the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is uniquely positioned to captivate the imagination and inspire learners of all ages in humanity’s quest to understand fundamental questions about our universe and our place in it. This presentation will provide an overview of the impact of the STScI’s Office of Public Outreach’s efforts to engage students, educators, and the public in exploring the universe through audience-based news, education, and outreach programs.At the heart of our programs lies a tight coupling of scientific, education, and communications expertise. By partnering scientists and educators, we assure current, accurate science content and education products and programs that are classroom-ready and held to the highest pedagogical standards. Likewise, news and outreach programs accurately convey cutting-edge science and technology in a way that is attuned to audience needs. The combination of Hubble’s scientific capabilities, majestic imagery, and our deep commitment to create effective programs to share Hubble science with the education community and the public, has enabled the STScI Office of Public Outreach programs to engage 6 million students and ½ million educators per year, and 24 million online viewers per year. Hubble press releases generate approximately 5,000 online news articles per year with an average circulation of 125 million potential readers per press release news story. We will also share how best practices and lessons learned from this long-lived program are already being applied to engage a new generation of explorers in the science and technology of the James Webb Space Telescope.

How to Teach High-School Students "How Science Really Works?"

Science.gov (United States)

Losiak, Anna; Students, High-School; Winiarska, Anna; Parys-Wasylkiewicz, Magdalena

2016-04-01

terrestrial glaciers and Martian North Polar Residual Cap. 3) Students were responsible for physically preparing scientific equipment (within a given budget). 4) Students prepared detailed procedures which were used during the experiment. The experiment was performed by the Austrian Space Forum analog astronauts during the Mars Analog Mission AMADEE-15 between 2nd and 14th of August 2015 at the Kaunertal Glacier in Austria. 5) During and after the mission students analyzed data collected during the experiment. 6) Students presented their findings during the regional science fair (Dolnoslaski Festiwal Nauki). Despite the fact the quality of the data produced during the experiment was not satisfactory, the project was a success in terms of explaining students "How Science Really Works" (e.g., how much depends on the properly designed and executed procedures).

The Office of Space Science and Applications strategic plan, 1990: A strategy for leadership in space through excellence in space science and applications

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

A strategic plan for the U.S. space science and applications program during the next 5 to 10 years was developed and published in 1988. Based on the strategies developed by the advisory committees of both the National Academy of Science and NASA, the plan balances major, moderate, and small mission initiatives, the utilization of the Space Station Freedom, and the requirements for a vital research base. The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) strategic plan is constructed around five actions: establish a set of programmatic themes; establish a set of decision rules; establish a set of priorities for missions and programs within each theme; demonstrate that the strategy will yield a viable program; and check the strategy for consistency within resource constraints. The OSSA plan is revised annually. This OSSA 1990 Strategic Plan refines the 1989 Plan and represents OSSA's initial plan for fulfilling its responsibilities in two major national initiatives. The Plan is now built on interrelated, complementary strategies for the core space science and applications program, for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and for the Space Exploration Initiative. The challenge is to make sure that the current level of activity is sustained through the end of this century and into the next. The 1990 Plan presents OSSA's strategy to do this.

The effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Felita

Student achievement in the Twenty First Century demands a new rigor in student science knowledge, since advances in science and technology require students to think and act like scientists. As a result, students must acquire proficient levels of knowledge and skills to support a knowledge base that is expanding exponentially with new scientific advances. This study examined the effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students. More specifically, this study was concerned with the influence of hands-on science instruction versus traditional science instruction on the science test scores of middle school students. The subjects in this study were one hundred and twenty sixth-grade students in six classes. Instruction involved lecture/discussion and hands-on activities carried out for a three week period. Specifically, the study ascertained the influence of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the science test scores of middle school students. Additionally, this study assessed the effect of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the attitudes of sixth grade students toward science. The two instruments used to collect data for this study were the Prentice Hall unit ecosystem test and the Scientific Work Experience Programs for Teachers Study (SWEPT) student's attitude survey. Moreover, the data for the study was treated using the One-Way Analysis of Covariance and the One-Way Analysis of Variance. The following findings were made based on the results: (1) A statistically significant difference existed in the science performance of middle school students exposed to hands-on science instruction. These students had significantly higher scores than the science performance of middle school students exposed to traditional instruction. (2) A statistically significant difference did not exist between the science scores of male and female middle school students. (3) A statistically

Astronautics Degrees for Space Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R.; Erwin, D.; Kunc, J.

The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science degree program in Astronautics combines basic science and engineering classes with specialized astronautics classes. The Master of Science degree program in Astronautics offers classes in various areas of space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. We show how the transformation of distance learning and particularly the introduction of webcasting transform organization of the program and class delivery. We will describe in detail the academic focus of the program, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

Climate Change Education Today in K-12: What's Happening in the Earth and Space Science Classroom?

Science.gov (United States)

Holzer, M. A.; National Earth Science Teachers Association

2011-12-01

Climate change is a highly interdisciplinary topic, involving not only multiple fields of science, but also social science and the humanities. There are many aspects of climate change science that make it particularly well-suited for exploration in the K-12 setting, including opportunities to explore the unifying processes of science such as complex systems, models, observations, change and evolution. Furthermore, this field of science offers the opportunity to observe the nature of science in action - including how scientists develop and improve their understanding through research and debate. Finally, climate change is inherently highly relevant to students - indeed, students today will need to deal with the consequences of the climate change. The science of climate change is clearly present in current science education standards, both at the National level as well as in the majority of states. Nonetheless, a significant number of teachers across the country report difficulties addressing climate change in the classroom. The National Earth Science Teachers Association has conducted several surveys of Earth and space science educators across the country over the past several years on a number of issues, including their needs and concerns, including their experience of external influences on what they teach. While the number of teachers that report external pressures to not teach climate change science are in the minority (and less than the pressure to not teach evolution and related topics), our results suggest that this pressure against climate change science in the K-12 classroom has grown over the past several years. Some teachers report being threatened by parents, being encouraged by administrators to not teach the subject, and a belief that the "two sides" of climate change should be taught. Survey results indicate that teachers in religious or politically-conservative districts are more likely to report difficulties in teaching about climate change than in

Students' science attitudes, beliefs, and context: associations with science and chemistry aspirations

Science.gov (United States)

Mujtaba, Tamjid; Sheldrake, Richard; Reiss, Michael J.; Simon, Shirley

2018-04-01

There is a widespread concern that relatively few students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, continue to study chemistry and other science subjects after compulsory education. Yet it remains unclear how different aspects of students' background and home context, their own attitudes and beliefs, and their experiences of particular teaching approaches in school might limit or facilitate their studying aspirations; concurrently, less research has specifically focused on and surveyed disadvantaged students. In order to gain more insight, 4780 students were surveyed, covering those in Year 7 (age 11-12 years) and in Year 8 (age 12-13) from schools in England with high proportions of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Predictive modelling highlighted that the students' aspirations to study non-compulsory science in the future, and to study the particular subject of chemistry, were strongly associated with their extrinsic motivation towards science (their perceived utility of science, considered as a means to gain particular careers or skills), their intrinsic interest in science, and their engagement in extra-curricular activities. Additionally, their self-concept beliefs (their confidence in their own abilities in science), some teaching approaches, and encouragement from teachers and family alongside family science capital had smaller but still relevant associations.

Designing informal learning spaces using student perspectives

OpenAIRE

Matthew David Riddle; Kay Souter

2012-01-01

This article describes the design of informal learning spaces at an Australian university that support students in the generation of knowledge. Recent learning space design projects at La Trobe have been informed by a number of pre-existing projects, including a small research project on student use of technologies, a national project on learning space design, and a significant curriculum renewal process at the university. It demonstrates the ways in which evidence based on student perspectiv...

ISS External Contamination Environment for Space Science Utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Carlos; Mikatarian, Ron; Steagall, Courtney; Huang, Alvin; Koontz, Steven; Worthy, Erica

2014-01-01

(1) The International Space Station is the largest and most complex on-orbit platform for space science utilization in low Earth orbit, (2) Multiple sites for external payloads, with exposure to the associated natural and induced environments, are available to support a variety of space science utilization objectives, (3) Contamination is one of the induced environments that can impact performance, mission success and science utilization on the vehicle, and (4)The ISS has been designed, built and integrated with strict contamination requirements to provide low levels of induced contamination on external payload assets.

Designing informal learning spaces using student perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew David Riddle

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This article describes the design of informal learning spaces at an Australian university that support students in the generation of knowledge. Recent learning space design projects at La Trobe have been informed by a number of pre-existing projects, including a small research project on student use of technologies, a national project on learning space design, and a significant curriculum renewal process at the university. It demonstrates the ways in which evidence based on student perspectives and principles developed through applied research in teaching and learning can inform real world learning space design projects in a higher education context.

Nursing students' attitudes toward science in the nursing curricula

Science.gov (United States)

Maroo, Jill Deanne

The nursing profession combines the art of caregiving with scientific concepts. Nursing students need to learn science in order to start in a nursing program. However, previous research showed that students left the nursing program, stating it included too much science (Andrew et al., 2008). Research has shown a correlation between students' attitudes and their performance in a subject (Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003). However, little research exists on the overall attitude of nursing students toward science. At the time of my study there existed no large scale quantitative study on my topic. The purpose of my study was to identify potential obstacles nursing students face, specifically, attitude and motivation toward learning science. According to research the nation will soon face a nursing shortage and students cite the science content as a reason for not completing the nursing program. My study explored nursing students' attitudes toward science and reasons these students are motivated to learn science. I ran a nationwide mixed methods approach with 1,402 participants for the quantitative portion and 4 participants for the qualitative portion. I validated a questionnaire in order to explore nursing students' attitudes toward science, discovered five different attitude scales in that questionnaire and determined what demographic factors provided a statistically significant prediction of a student's score. In addition, I discovered no statistical difference in attitude exists between students who have the option of taking nursing specific courses and those who do not have that option. I discovered in the qualitative interviews that students feel science is necessary in nursing but do not feel nurses are scientists. My study gives a baseline of the current attitude of nursing students toward science and why these students feel the need to learn the science.

Student explanations of their science teachers' assessments, grading practices and how they learn science

Science.gov (United States)

del Carmen Gomez, María

2018-03-01

The current paper draws on data generated through group interviews with students who were involved in a larger ethnographic research project performed in three science classrooms. The purpose of the study from which this data was generated, was to understand science teachers' assessment practices in an upper-secondary school in Sweden. During group interviews students were asked about their conceptions of what were the assessment priority of teachers, why the students were silent during lecturing and their experiences regarding peer- and self-assessments. The research design and analysis of the findings derives from what students told us about their assessments and learning sciences experiences. Students related that besides the results of the written test, they do not know what else teachers assessed and used to determine their grades. It was also found that students did not participate in the discussion on science because of peer-pressure and a fear of disappointing their peers. Student silence is also linked with student conceptions of science learning and student experiences with methodologies of teaching and learning sciences.

In-Space Internet-Based Communications for Space Science Platforms Using Commercial Satellite Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kerczewski, Robert J.; Bhasin, Kul B.; Fabian, Theodore P.; Griner, James H.; Kachmar, Brian A.; Richard, Alan M.

1999-01-01

The continuing technological advances in satellite communications and global networking have resulted in commercial systems that now can potentially provide capabilities for communications with space-based science platforms. This reduces the need for expensive government owned communications infrastructures to support space science missions while simultaneously making available better service to the end users. An interactive, high data rate Internet type connection through commercial space communications networks would enable authorized researchers anywhere to control space-based experiments in near real time and obtain experimental results immediately. A space based communications network architecture consisting of satellite constellations connecting orbiting space science platforms to ground users can be developed to provide this service. The unresolved technical issues presented by this scenario are the subject of research at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Assessment of network architectures, identification of required new or improved technologies, and investigation of data communications protocols are being performed through testbed and satellite experiments and laboratory simulations.

Indiana secondary students' evolution learning experiences and demarcations of science from non-science

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Lisa A.

2007-12-01

Previous research has documented students' conceptual difficulties learning evolution and how student learning may be related to students' views of evolution and science. This mixed methods study addressed how 74 high school biology students from six Indiana high schools viewed their evolution learning experiences, the demarcations of science from non-science, and evolution understanding and acceptance. Data collection entailed qualitative and quantitative methods including interviews, classroom observations, surveys, and assessments to address students' views of science and non-science, evolution learning experiences, and understanding and acceptance of evolution. Qualitative coding generated several demarcation and evolution learning experience codes that were subsequently used in quantitative comparisons of evolution understanding and acceptance. The majority of students viewed science as empirical, tentative but ultimately leading to certain truth, compatible with religion, the product of experimental work, and the product of human creativity. None of the students offered the consensus NOS view that scientific theories are substantiated explanations of phenomena while scientific laws state relationships or patterns between phenomena. About half the students indicated that scientific knowledge was subjectively and socio-culturally influenced. The majority of students also indicated that they had positive evolution learning experiences and thought evolution should be taught in secondary school. The quantitative comparisons revealed how students who viewed scientific knowledge as subjectively and socio-culturally influenced had higher understanding than their peers. Furthermore, students who maintained that science and religion were compatible did not differ with respect to understanding but had higher acceptance than their peers who viewed science and religion as conflicting. Furthermore, students who maintained that science must be consistent with their

Integration of ICT Methods for Teaching Science and Astronomy to Students and Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Sumit; Chary, Naveen; Raghavender, G.; Aslam, Syed

All children start out as scientist, full of curiosity and questions about the world, but schools eventually destroy their curiosity. In an effective teaching and learning process, the most challenging task is to motivate the students. As the science subjects are more abstract and complex, the job of teachers become even more daunting. We have devised an innovative idea of integrating ICT methods for teaching space science to students and teachers. In a third world country like India, practical demonstrations are given less importance and much emphasis is on theoretical aspects. Even the teachers are not trained or aware of the basic concepts. With the intention of providing the students and as well as the teachers more practical, real-time situations, we have incorporated innovative techniques like video presentation, animations, experimental models, do-yourself-kits etc. In addition to these we provide hands on experience on some scientific instruments like telescope, Laser. ICT has the potential to teach complex science topics to students and teachers in a safe environment and cost effective manner. The students are provided with a sense of adventure, wherein now they can manipulate parameters, contexts and environment and can try different scenarios and in the process they not only learn science but also the content and also the reasoning behind the content. The response we have obtained is very encouraging and students as well as teachers have acknowledged that they have learnt new things, which up to now they were ignorant of.

The Information Science Experiment System - The computer for science experiments in space

Science.gov (United States)

Foudriat, Edwin C.; Husson, Charles

1989-01-01

The concept of the Information Science Experiment System (ISES), potential experiments, and system requirements are reviewed. The ISES is conceived as a computer resource in space whose aim is to assist computer, earth, and space science experiments, to develop and demonstrate new information processing concepts, and to provide an experiment base for developing new information technology for use in space systems. The discussion covers system hardware and architecture, operating system software, the user interface, and the ground communication link.

Expedition Earth and Beyond: Using Crew Earth Observation Imagery from the International Space Station to Facilitate Student-Led Authentic Research

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W. L.; Willis, K. J.; Runco, S.

2012-01-01

Student-led authentic research in the classroom helps motivate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related subjects. Classrooms benefit from activities that provide rigor, relevance, and a connection to the real world. Those real world connections are enhanced when they involve meaningful connections with NASA resources and scientists. Using the unique platform of the International Space Station (ISS) and Crew Earth Observation (CEO) imagery, the Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) program provides an exciting way to enable classrooms in grades 5-12 to be active participants in NASA exploration, discovery, and the process of science. EEAB was created by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Education Program, at the NASA Johnson Space Center. This Earth and planetary science education program has created a framework enabling students to conduct authentic research about Earth and/or planetary comparisons using the captivating CEO images being taken by astronauts onboard the ISS. The CEO payload has been a science payload onboard the ISS since November 2000. ISS crews are trained in scientific observation of geological, oceanographic, environmental, and meteorological phenomena. Scientists on the ground select and periodically update a series of areas to be photographed as part of the CEO science payload.

Training teachers to promote Talent Development in Science Students In Science Education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Valk, Ton

2014-01-01

In recent years, the interest of governments and schools in challenging gifted and talented (G+T) science students has grown (Taber, 2007). In the Netherlands, the government promotes developing science programmes for talented secondary science students. This causes a need for training teachers, but

Original science-based music and student learning

Science.gov (United States)

Smolinski, Keith

American middle school student science scores have been stagnating for several years, demonstrating a need for better learning strategies to aid teachers in instruction and students in content learning. It has also been suggested by researchers that music can be used to aid students in their learning and memory. Employing the theoretical framework of brain-based learning, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of original, science-based music on student content learning and student perceptions of the music and its impact on learning. Students in the treatment group at a public middle school learned songs with lyrics related to the content of a 4-week cells unit in science; whereas an equally sized control group was taught the same material using existing methods. The content retention and learning experiences of the students in this study were examined using a concurrent triangulation, mixed-methods study. Independent sample t test and ANOVA analyses were employed to determine that the science posttest scores of students in the treatment group (N = 93) were significantly higher than the posttest scores of students in the control group (N = 93), and that the relative gains of the boys in the treatment group exceeded those of the girls. The qualitative analysis of 10 individual interviews and 3 focus group interviews followed Patton's method of a priori coding, cross checking, and thematic analysis to examine the perceptions of the treatment group. These results confirmed that the majority of the students thought the music served as an effective learning tool and enhanced recall. This study promoted social change because students and teachers gained insight into how music can be used in science classrooms to aid in the learning of science content. Researchers could also utilize the findings for continued investigation of the interdisciplinary use of music in educational settings.

Grade six students' understanding of the nature of science

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Donald Brian

The goal of scientific literacy requires that students develop an understanding of the nature of science to assist them in the reasoned acquisition of science concepts and in their future role as citizens in a participatory democracy. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the range of positions that grade six students hold with respect to the nature of science and to investigate whether gender or prior science education was related to students' views of the nature of science. Two grade six classes participated in this study. One class was from a school involved in a long-term elementary science curriculum project. The science curriculum at this school involved constructivist epistemology and pedagogy and a realist ontology. The curriculum stressed hands-on, open-ended activities and the development of science process skills. Students were frequently involved in creating and testing explanations for physical phenomena. The second class was from a matched school that had a traditional science program. Results of the study indicated that students hold a wider range of views of the nature of science than previously documented. Student positions ranged from having almost no understanding of the nature of science to those expressing positions regarding the nature of science that were more developed than previous studies had documented. Despite the range of views documented, all subjects held realist views of scientific knowledge. Contrary to the literature, some students were able to evaluate a scientific theory in light of empirical evidence that they had generated. Results also indicated that students from the project school displayed more advanced views of the nature of science than their matched peers. However, not all students benefited equally from their experiences. No gender differences were found with respect to students' understanding of the nature of science.

Examining authentic talk and student authorship of scientific ideas: Public pedagogy and affinity space

Science.gov (United States)

Slaton, Adriane McNamara

One of the great challenges to teachers both historically and contemporarily is to facilitate a classroom as a group of students, while concurrently attending to each individual student. As the profession becomes increasingly aware and sensitive to student (dis)abilities, academic giftedness, pressures of athletics and extra-curricular events, and acknowledges the racial, cultural, sexual, economic, gendered identities of students--- the complexity of each individual student becomes ever more apparent. It is a seemingly insurmountable challenge. This dissertation examines how stem cell unit guided group learning while also attending to the individual learning needs of each student. What makes classroom study unusual in research is that it is completely "usual". This study was not part of a university partnership nor did it take place in an affluent school district. Instead, this unit took place in a large, Midwestern urban high school that was/is often written off as a failing---underscoring that powerful science teaching and learning is occurring in schools society simultaneously portrays as victim and villain in the media. Using a sociocultural lens, this ethnographic study draws upon two frameworks, Wenger's communities of practice (1998) and Hayes and Gee's (2011) public pedagogy, to examine how participation in a debate individualizes and personalizes student knowledge and participation in science. The primary use of a community of practice framework allowed for analysis of the norms, rules, practices, and routines of Classroom 507---to establish the nature of the community of learners in the study. A secondary framework, public pedagogy, allowed for deeper understanding of the practices drawn upon in the classroom through consideration of the design, resources, and an emergent "affinity space". This hybridized analysis led to further understanding of how students and teacher stand to learn, participate, engage and use a classroom lesson, the debate, to serve

The science of space-time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raine, D.J.; Heller, M.

1981-01-01

Analyzing the development of the structure of space-time from the theory of Aristotle to the present day, the present work attempts to sketch a science of relativistic mechanics. The concept of relativity is discussed in relation to the way in which space-time splits up into space and time, and in relation to Mach's principle concerning the relativity of inertia. Particular attention is given to the following topics: Aristotelian dynamics Copernican kinematics Newtonian dynamics the space-time of classical dynamics classical space-time in the presence of gravity the space-time of special relativity the space-time of general relativity solutions and problems in general relativity Mach's principle and the dynamics of space-time theories of inertial mass the integral formation of general relativity and the frontiers of relativity

The importance of teacher-student interpersonal relationships for Turkish students' attitudes towards science

Science.gov (United States)

Telli, Sibel; den Brok, Perry; Cakiroglu, Jale

2010-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between Turkish high school students' perceptions of their science teachers' interpersonal behaviour and their attitudes towards science. Students' perceptions of the teacher-student interpersonal relationship were mapped with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), which uses two relational dimensions: influence and proximity. Data on Students' subject-related attitudes were collected with the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). A total of 7484 students (Grades 9 to 11) from 278 science classes (55 public schools) in 13 major Turkish cities participated in the study. Multilevel analyses of variance indicated that influence was related with student enjoyment, while proximity was associated with attitudes towards inquiry and with enjoyment.

Which Space? Whose Space? An Experience in Involving Students and Teachers in Space Design

Science.gov (United States)

Casanova, Diogo; Di Napoli, Roberto; Leijon, Marie

2018-01-01

To date, learning spaces in higher education have been designed with little engagement on the part of their most important users: students and teachers. In this paper, we present the results of research carried out in a UK university. The research aimed to understand how students and teachers conceptualise learning spaces when they are given the…

Space and Earth Science Data Compression Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Tilton, James C. (Editor)

1991-01-01

The workshop explored opportunities for data compression to enhance the collection and analysis of space and Earth science data. The focus was on scientists' data requirements, as well as constraints imposed by the data collection, transmission, distribution, and archival systems. The workshop consisted of several invited papers; two described information systems for space and Earth science data, four depicted analysis scenarios for extracting information of scientific interest from data collected by Earth orbiting and deep space platforms, and a final one was a general tutorial on image data compression.

Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets: Space Science Applications of Physics and Chemistry for High School and College Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, M. M.; Tobola, K. W.; Stocco, K.; Henry, M.; Allen, J. S.

2003-01-01

As the scientific community studies Mars remotely for signs of life and uses Martian meteorites as its only available samples, teachers, students, and the general public continue to ask, "How do we know these meteorites are from Mars?" This question sets the stage for a three-lesson instructional package Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets. Expanding on the short answer "It's the chemistry of the rock", students are introduced to the research that reveals the true identities of the rocks. Since few high school or beginning college students have the opportunity to participate in this level of research, a slide presentation introduces them to the labs, samples, and people involved with the research. As they work through the lessons and interpret real data, students realize that the research is an application of basic science concepts they should know, the electromagnetic spectrum and isotopes. They can understand the results without knowing how to do the research or operate the instruments.

Ninth Grade Student Responses to Authentic Science Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Ellison, Michael Steven

This mixed methods case study documents an effort to implement authentic science and engineering instruction in one teacher's ninth grade science classrooms in a science-focused public school. The research framework and methodology is a derivative of work developed and reported by Newmann and others (Newmann & Associates, 1996). Based on a working definition of authenticity, data were collected for eight months on the authenticity in the experienced teacher's pedagogy and in student performance. Authenticity was defined as the degree to which a classroom lesson, an assessment task, or an example of student performance demonstrates construction of knowledge through use of the meaning-making processes of science and engineering, and has some value to students beyond demonstrating success in school (Wehlage et al., 1996). Instruments adapted for this study produced a rich description of the authenticity of the teacher's instruction and student performance. The pedagogical practices of the classroom teacher were measured as moderately authentic on average. However, the authenticity model revealed the teacher's strategy of interspersing relatively low authenticity instructional units focused on building science knowledge with much higher authenticity tasks requiring students to apply these concepts and skills. The authenticity of the construction of knowledge and science meaning-making processes components of authentic pedagogy were found to be greater, than the authenticity of affordances for students to find value in classroom activities beyond demonstrating success in school. Instruction frequently included one aspect of value beyond school, connections to the world outside the classroom, but students were infrequently afforded the opportunity to present their classwork to audiences beyond the teacher. When the science instruction in the case was measured to afford a greater level of authentic intellectual work, a higher level of authentic student performance on

The International Space Life Sciences Strategic Planning Working Group

Science.gov (United States)

White, Ronald J.; Rabin, Robert; Lujan, Barbara F.

1993-01-01

Throughout the 1980s, ESA and the space agencies of Canada, Germany, France, Japan, and the U.S. have pursued cooperative projects bilaterally and multilaterally to prepare for, and to respond to, opportunities in space life sciences research previously unapproachable in scale and sophistication. To cope effectively with likely future space research opportunities, broad, multilateral, coordinated strategic planning is required. Thus, life scientists from these agencies have allied to form the International Space Life Sciences Strategic Planning Working Group. This Group is formally organized under a charter that specifies the purpose of the Working Group as the development of an international strategic plan for the space life sciences, with periodic revisions as needed to keep the plan current. The plan will be policy-, not operations-oriented. The Working Group also may establish specific implementation teams to coordinate multilateral science policy in specific areas; such teams have been established for space station utilization, and for sharing of flight equipment.

The New England Space Science Initiative in Education (NESSIE)

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, W. H.; Clemens, C. M.; Sneider, C. I.

2002-12-01

Founded in January 2002, NESSIE is the NASA/OSS broker/facilitator for education and public outreach (E/PO) within the six-state New England region. NESSIE is charged with catalyzing and fostering collaborations among space scientists and educators within both the formal and informal education communities. NESSIE itself is a collaboration of scientists and science educators at the Museum of Science, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Tufts University. Its primary goals are to 1) broker partnerships among space scientists and educators, 2) facilitate a wide range of educational and public outreach activities, and 3) examine and improve space science education methods. NESSIE's unique strengths reside in its prime location (the Museum of Science), its diverse mix of scientists and educators, and its dedicated board of advisors. NESSIE's role as a clearinghouse and facilitator of space science education is being realized through its interactive web site and via targeted meetings, workshops, and conferences involving scientists and educators. Special efforts are being made to reach underserved groups by tailoring programs to their particular educational needs and interests. These efforts are building on the experiences of prior and ongoing programs in space science education at the Museum of Science, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Tufts University, and NASA.

Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets: Space Science Applications of Physics and Chemistry for High School and College Classes: Update

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, M. M.; Tobola, K. W.; Stocco, K.; Henry, M.; Allen, J. S.; McReynolds, Julie; Porter, T. Todd; Veile, Jeri

2004-01-01

As the scientific community studies Mars remotely for signs of life and uses Martian meteorites as its only available samples, teachers, students, and the general public continue to ask, How do we know these meteorites are from Mars? This question sets the stage for a six-lesson instructional package Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets. Expanding on the short answer It s the chemistry of the rock , students are introduced to the research that reveals the true identities of the rocks. Since few high school or beginning college students have the opportunity to participate in this level of research, a slide presentation introduces them to the labs, samples, and people involved with the research. As they work through the lessons and interpret authentic data, students realize that the research is an application of two basic science concepts taught in the classroom, the electromagnetic spectrum and isotopes.

An Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Space Physics Course: Understanding the Process of Science Through One Field's Colorful History

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Ramon E.

1996-01-01

Science education in this country is in its greatest period of ferment since the post-Sputnik frenzy a generation ago. In that earlier time, however, educators' emphasis was on producing more scientists and engineers. Today we recognize that all Americans need a good science background. The ability to observe, measure, think quantitatively, and reach logical conclusions based on available evidence is a set of skills that everyone entering the workforce needs to acquire if our country is to be competitive in a global economy. Moreover, as public policy increasingly crystallizes around scientific issues, it is critical that citizens be educated in science so that they may provide informed debate and on these issues. In order to develop this idea more fully, I proposed to teach a historically based course about space physics as an honors course at the University of Maryland-College Park (UMCP). The honors program at UMCP was established to foster broad-based undergraduate courses that utilize innovative teaching techniques to provide exemplary education to a select group of students. I designed an introductory course that would have four basic goals: to acquaint students with geomagnetic and auroral phenomena and their relationship to the space environment; to examine issues related to the history of science using the evolution of the field as an example; to develop familiarity with basic skills such as describing and interpreting observations, analyzing scientific papers, and communicating the results of their own research; and to provide some understanding of basic physics, especially those aspect that play a role in the near-earth space environment.

Examining Teacher Framing, Student Reasoning, and Student Agency in School-Based Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Emily Mae

This dissertation presents three interrelated studies examining opportunities for student learning through contributory citizen science (CS), where students collect and contribute data to help generate new scientific knowledge. I draw on sociocultural perspectives of learning to analyze three cases where teachers integrated CS into school science, one third grade, one fourth grade, and one high school Marine Biology classroom. Chapter 2 is a conceptual investigation of the opportunities for students to engage in scientific reasoning practices during CS data collection activities. Drawing on science education literature and vignettes from case studies, I argue that the teacher plays an important role in mediating opportunities for students to engage in investigative, explanatory, and argumentative practices of science through CS. Chapter 3 focuses on teacher framing of CS, how teachers perceive what is going on (Goffman, 1974) and how they communicate that to students as they launch CS tasks. Through analysis of videos and interviews of two upper elementary school teachers, I found that teachers frame CS for different purposes. These framings were influenced by teachers' goals, orientations towards science and CS, planning for instruction, and prior knowledge and experience. Chapter 4 examines how students demonstrate agency with environmental science as they explore their personal interests across their third grade classroom, school garden, and science lab contexts, through the lens of social practice theory (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998). Through analysis of classroom observations, student interviews, teacher interviews and important moments for three focal students, I found that student agency was enabled and constrained by the different cultures of the classroom, garden, and science lab. Despite affordances of the garden and science lab, the teachers' epistemic authority in the classroom permeated all three contexts, constraining student agency. In

Killing Curiosity? An Analysis of Celebrated Identity Performances among Teachers and Students in Nine London Secondary Science Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, Louise; Dawson, Emily; DeWitt, Jennifer; Godec, Spela; King, Heather; Mau, Ada; Nomikou, Effrosyni; Seakins, Amy

2017-01-01

In this paper, we take the view that school classrooms are spaces that are constituted by complex power struggles (for voice, authenticity, and recognition), involving multiple layers of resistance and contestation between the "institution," teachers and students, which can have profound implications for students' science identity and…

Artistic Research on Freedom in Space and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Foing, Bernard H.; Schelfhout, Ronald; Gelfand, Dmitry; Van der Heide, Edwin; Preusterink, Jolanda; Domnitch, Evelina

ArtScience ESTEC: Space science in the arts. Since the earliest scientific preparations for extra-terrestrial travel at the beginning of the 20th century, the exploration of outer space has become a quintessential framework of the human condition and its creative manifestations. Although the artistic pursuit of space science is still in its infancy, an accelerated evolution is currently underway. Perspective: With the current state of the planet and the development of technology, humankind has the ability to look from a greater distance to the damage that has been done. This offers potential in the form of early detection and prevention of disasters. Meanwhile our aim seems to be directed away from the earth into the universe. In the Space science in the arts project I tried to encapsulate these two viewpoints that tend to avoid each other. We are still earthbound and that is our basis. A tree cannot grow tall without strong roots. Space, a promise of freedom. Line of thought: Space sounds like freedom but to actually send people out there they have to be strapped tightly on top of a giant missile to reach a habitat of interconnecting tubes with very little space. It is impossible to escape protocol with- out risking your life and the lives of astronauts have been fixed years in advance. This is the human predicament which does not apply to the telescopes and other devices used to reach far into the universe. Providing information instantly the various forms of light allow us to travel without moving. Description of the installation: The research on freedom in space and science led to the development of an installation that reflects the dualistic aspect which clings to the exploration of the universe. The installation is a model on multiple scales. You can look at the material or the feeling it evokes as well as at the constantly changing projections. The image is light. Inside this glass circle there is a broken dome placed over a dark and reflective surface on

Student Facebook groups as a third space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aaen, Janus Holst; Dalsgaard, Christian

2016-01-01

-institutional, personal space of the Facebook network. The main study of the article examines six student-managed Facebook groups and provides an analysis of a total of 2247 posts and 12,217 comments. Furthermore, the study draws on group interviews with students from 17 Danish upper secondary schools and a survey......The paper examines educational potentials of Facebook groups that are created and managed by students without any involvement from teachers. The objective is to study student-managed Facebook groups as a ‘third space' between the institutional space of teacher-managed Facebook groups and the non...... answered by 932 students from 25 schools. Based on the survey and interviews, the paper concludes that Facebook is an important educational tool for students in Danish upper secondary schools to receive help on homework and assignments. Furthermore, on the basis of the analysis of Facebook groups...

Astronautics degrees for the space industry

Science.gov (United States)

Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R. F.; Erwin, D. A.; Kunc, J. A.

2004-01-01

The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree programs in Astronautics combine basic science and engineering classes with specialized classes in space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available entirely through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers while earning their degrees. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. Distance learning, and particularly the introduction of webcasting, transform the organization of the graduate program and class delivery. We describe in detail the program's academic focus, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

The United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Haubold, H. J.

2006-08-01

Pursuant to recommendations of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) and deliberations of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), annual UN/ European Space Agency workshops on basic space science have been held around the world since 1991. These workshops contribute to the development of astrophysics and space science, particularly in developing nations. Following a process of prioritization, the workshops identified the following elements as particularly important for international cooperation in the field: (i) operation of astronomical telescope facilities implementing TRIPOD, (ii) virtual observatories, (iii) astrophysical data systems, (iv) concurrent design capabilities for the development of international space missions, and (v) theoretical astrophysics such as applications of nonextensive statistical mechanics. Beginning in 2005, the workshops focus on preparations for the International Heliophysical Year 2007 (IHY2007). The workshops continue to facilitate the establishment of astronomical telescope facilities as pursued by Japan and the development of low-cost, ground-based, world-wide instrument arrays as lead by the IHY secretariat. Wamsteker, W., Albrecht, R. and Haubold, H.J.: Developing Basic Space Science World-Wide: A Decade of UN/ESA Workshops. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht 2004. http://ihy2007.org http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/SAP/bss/ihy2007/index.html http://www.cbpf.br/GrupPesq/StatisticalPhys/biblio.htm

Using History of Science to Teach Nature of Science to Elementary Students

Science.gov (United States)

Fouad, Khadija E.; Masters, Heidi; Akerson, Valarie L.

2015-01-01

Science lessons using inquiry only or history of science with inquiry were used for explicit reflective nature of science (NOS) instruction for second-, third-, and fourth-grade students randomly assigned to receive one of the treatments. Students in both groups improved in their understanding of creative NOS, tentative NOS, empirical NOS, and…

Enhancing Teacher and Student Engagement and Understanding of Marine Science Through Classroom Citizen Science Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Goodale, T. A.

2016-02-01

Overview This paper presentation shares findings from a granted funded project that sought to expand teacher content knowledge and pedagogy within the fields of marine science and coastal resource management through the implementation of classroom citizen science projects. A secondary goal was to increase middle and high school student interest and participation in marine science and natural resources research. Background A local science & engineering fair has seen a rapid decline in secondary student participants in the past four years. Research has demonstrated that when students are a part of a system of knowledge production (citizen science) they become much more aware, involved and conscious of scientific concepts compared to traditional school laboratory and nature of science activities. This project's primary objectives were to: (a) enhance teacher content expertise in marine science, (b) enrich teacher professional learning, (c) support citizen science classroom projects and inspire student activism and marine science engagement. Methods Project goals were addressed through classroom and meaningful outdoor educational experiences that put content knowledge into field based practices. Teachers learned to apply thier expanded content knowlege through classroom citizen science projects that focus on marine resource conservation issues such as fisheries management, water quality, turtle nesting and biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. These projects would eventually become potential topics of citizen science research topics for their students to pursue. Upon completion of their professional development, participants were urged to establish student Marine Science clubs with the goal of mentoring student submissions into the local science fair. Supplemental awards were possible for the students of project participants. Findings Based on project measures participants significantly increased their knowledge and awareness of presented material marine science and

The CAS-NAS forum for new leaders in space science

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David H.

The space science community is thoroughly international, with numerous nations now capable of launching scientific payloads into space either independently or in concert with others. As such, it is important for national space-science advisory groups to engage with like-minded groups in other spacefaring nations. The Space Studies Board of the US National Academy of Sciences' (NAS') National Research Council has provided scientific and technical advice to NASA for more than 50 years. Over this period, the Board has developed important multilateral and bilateral partnerships with space scientists around the world. The primary multilateral partner is COSPAR, for which the Board serves as the US national committee. The Board's primary bilateral relationship is with the European Science Foundation’s European Space Science Committee. Burgeoning Chinese space activities have resulted in several attempts in the past decade to open a dialogue between the Board and space scientists in China. On each occasion, the external political environment was not conducive to success. The most recent efforts to engage the Chinese space researchers began in 2011 and have proved particularly successful. Although NASA is currently prohibited from engaging in bilateral activities with China, the Board has established a fruitful dialogue with its counterpart in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). A joint NAS-CAS activity, the Forum for New Leaders in Space Science, has been established to provide opportunities for a highly select group of young space scientists from China and the United States to discuss their research activities in an intimate and collegial environment at meetings to be held in both nations. The presentation will describe the current state of US-China space relations, discuss the goals of the joint NAS-CAS undertaking and report on the activities at the May, 2014, Forum in Beijing and the planning for the November, 2014, Forum in Irvine, California.

Attitudes and achievement of Bruneian science students

Science.gov (United States)

Dhindsa, Harkirat S.; Chung, Gilbert

2003-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes towards and achievement in science of Form 3 students studying in single-sex and coeducational schools in Brunei. The results demonstrated significant differences in attitudes towards and achievement in science of male and female students in single-sex schools and students in coeducational schools. These differences were at moderate level. In single-sex schools, the girls achieved moderately better in science than the boys despite their attitudes were only marginally better than the boys. However, there were no gender differences in attitudes towards and achievement in science of students in coeducational schools. The attitudes towards and achievement in science of girls in single-sex schools were moderately better than those of girls in coeducational schools. Whereas the attitudes towards and achievement in science of boys in single-sex schools were only marginally better than the boys in coeducational schools. However, further research to investigate (a) if these differences are repeated at other levels as well as in other subjects, and (b) the extent to which school type contributed towards these differences is recommended.

Teachers' tendencies to promote student-led science projects: Associations with their views about science

Science.gov (United States)

Bencze, J. Lawrence; Bowen, G. Michael; Alsop, Steve

2006-05-01

School science students can benefit greatly from participation in student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects. For various possible reasons, however, students tend not to be engaged in such inquiries. Among factors that may limit their opportunities to engage in open-ended inquiries of their design are teachers' conceptions about science. To explore possible relationships between teachers' conceptions about science and the types of inquiry activities in which they engage students, instrumental case studies of five secondary science teachers were developed, using field notes, repertory grids, samples of lesson plans and student activities, and semistructured interviews. Based on constructivist grounded theory analysis, participating teachers' tendencies to promote student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects seemed to correspond with positions about the nature of science to which they indicated adherence. A tendency to encourage and enable students to carry out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects appeared to be associated with adherence to social constructivist views about science. Teachers who opposed social constructivist views tended to prefer tight control of student knowledge building procedures and conclusions. We suggest that these results can be explained with reference to human psychological factors, including those associated with teachers' self-esteem and their relationships with knowledge-building processes in the discipline of their teaching.

Integrating SQ4R Technique with Graphic Postorganizers in the Science Learning of Earth and Space

OpenAIRE

Djudin, Tomo; Amir, R

2018-01-01

This study examined the effect of integrating SQ4R reading technique with graphic post organizers on the students' Earth and Space Science learning achievement and development of metacognitive knowledge. The pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design was employed in this quasi-experimental method. The sample which consists of 103 seventh grade of secondary school students of SMPN 1 Pontianak was drawn by using intact group random sampling technique. An achievement test and a questio...

An innovative approach to space education

Science.gov (United States)

Marton, Christine; Berinstain, Alain B.; Criswick, John

1994-01-01

At present, Canada does not have enough scientists to be competitive in the global economy, which is rapidly changing from a reliance on natural resources and industry to information and technology. Space is the final frontier and it is a multidisciplinary endeavor. It requires a knowledge of science and math, as well as non-science areas such as architecture and law. Thus, it can attract a large number of students with a diverse range of interests and career goals. An overview is presented of the space education program designed by Canadian Alumni of the International Space University (CAISU) to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science and technology and to improve science literacy in Canada.

Thinking about television science: How students understand the nature of science from different program genres

Science.gov (United States)

Dhingra, Koshi

2003-02-01

Student views on the nature of science are shaped by a variety of out-of-school forces and television-mediated science is a significant force. To attempt to achieve a science for all, we need to recognize and understand the diverse messages about science that students access and think about on a regular basis. In this work I examine how high school students think about science that is mediated by four different program genres on television: documentary, magazine-format programming, network news, and dramatic or fictional programming. The following categories of findings are discussed: the ethics and validity of science, final form science, science as portrayed by its practitioners, and school science and television science. Student perceptions of the nature of science depicted on the program sample used in this study ranged from seeing science as comprising tentative knowledge claims to seeing science as a fixed body of facts.

Calling Taikong a strategy report and study of China's future space science missions

CERN Document Server

Wu, Ji

2017-01-01

This book describes the status quo of space science in China, details the scientific questions to be addressed by the Chinese space science community in 2016-2030, and proposes key strategic goals, space science programs and missions, the roadmap and implementation approaches. Further, it explores the supporting technologies needed and provides an outlook of space science beyond the year 2030. “Taikong” means “outer space” in Chinese, and space science is one of the most important areas China plans to develop in the near future. This book is authored by Ji Wu, a leader of China's space science program, together with National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a leading institute responsible for planning and managing most of China’s space science missions. It also embodies the viewpoints shared by many space scientists and experts on future space science development. Through this book, general readers and researchers alike will gain essential insights into the current developments an...

Secondary School Students' Predictors of Science Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Tosun, Cemal; Genç, Murat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the secondary school students' attitudes in science. This study was conducted using survey method. The sample of the study was 503 students from four different secondary schools in Bartin and Düzce. Data were obtained using the Survey of Factors Affecting Students' Science Attitudes…

Understanding science teaching effectiveness: examining how science-specific and generic instructional practices relate to student achievement in secondary science classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Mikeska, Jamie N.; Shattuck, Tamara; Holtzman, Steven; McCaffrey, Daniel F.; Duchesneau, Nancy; Qi, Yi; Stickler, Leslie

2017-12-01

In order to create conditions for students' meaningful and rigorous intellectual engagement in science classrooms, it is critically important to help science teachers learn which strategies and approaches can be used best to develop students' scientific literacy. Better understanding how science teachers' instructional practices relate to student achievement can provide teachers with beneficial information about how to best engage their students in meaningful science learning. To address this need, this study examined the instructional practices that 99 secondary biology teachers used in their classrooms and employed regression to determine which instructional practices are predictive of students' science achievement. Results revealed that the secondary science teachers who had well-managed classroom environments and who provided opportunities for their students to engage in student-directed investigation-related experiences were more likely to have increased student outcomes, as determined by teachers' value-added measures. These findings suggest that attending to both generic and subject-specific aspects of science teachers' instructional practice is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms that result in more effective science instruction in secondary classrooms. Implications about the use of these observational measures within teacher evaluation systems are discussed.

Middle school science curriculum design and 8th grade student achievement in Massachusetts public schools

Science.gov (United States)

Clifford, Betsey A.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released proposed Science and Technology/Engineering standards in 2013 outlining the concepts that should be taught at each grade level. Previously, standards were in grade spans and each district determined the method of implementation. There are two different methods used teaching middle school science: integrated and discipline-based. In the proposed standards, the Massachusetts DESE uses grade-by-grade standards using an integrated approach. It was not known if there is a statistically significant difference in student achievement on the 8th grade science MCAS assessment for students taught with an integrated or discipline-based approach. The results on the 8th grade science MCAS test from six public school districts from 2010 -- 2013 were collected and analyzed. The methodology used was quantitative. Results of an ANOVA showed that there was no statistically significant difference in overall student achievement between the two curriculum models. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference for the various domains: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Technology/Engineering. This information is useful for districts hesitant to make the change from a discipline-based approach to an integrated approach. More research should be conducted on this topic with a larger sample size to better support the results.

Bringing Space Scientists, Teachers, and Students Together With The CINDI E/PO Program

Science.gov (United States)

Urquhart, M.; Hairston, M.

2007-12-01

We will report on the activities, challenges, and successes of the ongoing collaboration between the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences (CSS) and the Department of Science/Mathematics Education (SME) at the University of Texas at Dallas. At the core of our partnership is the Education and Public Outreach program for the Coupled Ion / Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) instrument. CINDI is a NASA-funded program on the Air Force's Communication / Navigation Outage Forecast Satellite (C/NOFS) which will be launched in summer 2008. The CSS faculty and research scientists and the SME faculty and students have created a dynamic program that brings scientists and K-12 teachers together. Our activities include middle and high school curriculum development, teachers workshops, graduate course work for teachers, creation of the popular "Cindi in Space" educational comic book, and bringing K-12 teachers and students to work and/or visit with the CINDI scientists. We will present the outcomes of this collaborative effort as well as our recent experience of having a physics teacher from a local high school as our Teacher in Residence at CSS in summer 2007.

Topos of the cosmic space in science fiction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poutilo Oleg Olegovich

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article examines the forms of cosmic space in science fiction, its characteristics and main trends of evolution. Cosmic space is seen as a dichotomy of “our” and “their”, though their interaction is complicated and full interiorization is impossible. The specificity of the described cosmic space is the absence of the traditional system of coordinates associated with the sides of the world. Authors have to resort to the use of “map-route”, describing the journey sequentially, from the point of view of a moving person. In this regard, in recent years there has been a tendency to reduce the role of images of cosmic space in science fiction novels. Their appearance in the works becomes a kind of stamp, a concession to the classical traditions of the genre. Once popular genres of strict science fiction or space opera inferior position to the other, recreating a far more convincing picture of the probable future of humanity - cyberpunk dystopia and post-apocalyptic fiction.

The third space: The use of self-study to examine the culture of a science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, Dashia M.

Science educators are in the position to create bridges between their students and the world of science (Aikenhead, 1996, 1999). This connection has often been described as the third space (Bhabha, 1994; Moje, Collazo, Carrillo, & Marx, 2001; Wallace, 2004), which is represented as a combination or a meeting of the students' world and the world of science. In this study, I examined my role in creating the third space through the use of self-study. Self-study is a form of research, educators use to understand their practice (Austin & Senese, 2004; Loughran, 2004; Northfield & Loughran, 1996). It is a means of describing, analyzing, and interpreting a teacher's actions within his or her classroom (Tidwell, 2002). The focal point of this self-study is to understand my actions found within my past and present teaching experiences and the underlying beliefs that are expressed through those actions. In this self-study, I collected data from my life history, classroom observations, and member check interview. My life history described my influences that shaped my philosophy of teaching and learning, while the classroom observations provided a means of understanding my interactions with the science curriculum and my English Language Learner (ELL) students. And finally, a member check focus group interview occurred to confirm the results occurring in the classroom observations. Once the data were collected, I used grounded theory methods to analyze my results and answer the research questions. This self-study became the means of exploring my philosophy of teaching and learning and my teaching practices as they occurred in an ELL science classroom. I examined my own practice through a comparison between my past experiences and my current teaching situation and through this exploration, I identified my actions and the beliefs associated with those actions as they informed my teaching practices.

Reaching Nonscience Students through Science Fiction

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Donald A.

2009-01-01

In 2006 I had the chance to design a physics course for students not majoring in scientific fields. I chose to shape the course around science fiction, not as a source for quantitative problems but as a means for conveying important physics concepts. I hoped that, by encountering these concepts in narratives, students with little or no science or…

Sobolev spaces

CERN Document Server

Adams, Robert A

2003-01-01

Sobolev Spaces presents an introduction to the theory of Sobolev Spaces and other related spaces of function, also to the imbedding characteristics of these spaces. This theory is widely used in pure and Applied Mathematics and in the Physical Sciences.This second edition of Adam''s ''classic'' reference text contains many additions and much modernizing and refining of material. The basic premise of the book remains unchanged: Sobolev Spaces is intended to provide a solid foundation in these spaces for graduate students and researchers alike.* Self-contained and accessible for readers in other disciplines.* Written at elementary level making it accessible to graduate students.

Women and girls in science education: Female teachers' and students' perspectives on gender and science

Science.gov (United States)

Crotty, Ann

Science is a part of all students' education, PreK-12. Preparing students for a more scientifically and technologically complex world requires the best possible education including the deliberate inclusion and full contributions of all students, especially an underrepresented group: females in science. In the United States, as elsewhere in the world, the participation of girls and women in science education and professional careers in science is limited, particularly in the physical sciences (National Academy of Sciences [NAS], 2006). The goal of this research study is to gain a better understanding of the perspectives and perceptions of girls and women, both science educators and students, related to gender and participation in science at the time of an important course: high school chemistry. There is a rich body of research literature in science education that addresses gender studies post---high school, but less research that recognizes the affective voices of practicing female science teachers and students at the high school level (Bianchini, Cavazos, & Helms, 2000; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 1982). Similarly, little is known with regard to how female students and teachers navigate their educational, personal, and professional experiences in science, or how they overcome impediments that pose limits on their participation in science, particularly the physical sciences. This exploratory study focuses on capturing voices (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 1982) of high school chemistry students and teachers from selected urban and suburban learning communities in public schools in the Capital Region of New York State. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, this qualitative study explores the intersection of the students' and teachers' experiences with regard to the following questions: (1) How do female chemistry teachers view the role gender has played in their professional and personal lives as they have pursued education, degree status, and

AIAA Educator Academy - Mars Rover Curriculum: A 6 week multidisciplinary space science based curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Henriquez, E.; Bering, E. A.; Slagle, E.; Nieser, K.; Carlson, C.; Kapral, A.

2013-12-01

The Curiosity mission has captured the imagination of children, as NASA missions have done for decades. The AIAA and the University of Houston have developed a flexible curriculum program that offers children in-depth science and language arts learning culminating in the design and construction of their own model rover. The program is called the Mars Rover Model Celebration. It focuses on students, teachers and parents in grades 3-8. Students learn to research Mars in order to pick a science question about Mars that is of interest to them. They learn principles of spacecraft design in order to build a model of a Mars rover to carry out their mission on the surface of Mars. The model is a mock-up, constructed at a minimal cost from art supplies. This project may be used either informally as an after school club or youth group activity or formally as part of a class studying general science, earth science, solar system astronomy or robotics, or as a multi-disciplinary unit for a gifted and talented program. The project's unique strength lies in engaging students in the process of spacecraft design and interesting them in aerospace engineering careers. The project is aimed at elementary and secondary education. Not only will these students learn about scientific fields relevant to the mission (space science, physics, geology, robotics, and more), they will gain an appreciation for how this knowledge is used to tackle complex problems. The low cost of the event makes it an ideal enrichment vehicle for low income schools. It provides activities that provide professional development to educators, curricular support resources using NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) content, and provides family opportunities for involvement in K-12 student learning. This paper will describe the structure and organization of the 6 week curriculum. A set of 30 new 5E lesson plans have been written to support this project as a classroom activity. The challenge of developing interactive

An Integrative Cultural Model to better situate marginalized science students in postsecondary science education

Science.gov (United States)

Labouta, Hagar Ibrahim; Adams, Jennifer Dawn; Cramb, David Thomas

2018-03-01

In this paper we reflect on the article "I am smart enough to study postsecondary science: a critical discourse analysis of latecomers' identity construction in an online forum", by Phoebe Jackson and Gale Seiler (Cult Stud Sci Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9818-0). In their article, the authors did a significant amount of qualitative analysis of a discussion on an online forum by four latecomer students with past negative experiences in science education. The students used this online forum as an out-of-class resource to develop a cultural model based on their ability to ask questions together with solidarity as a new optimistic way to position themselves in science. In this forum, we continue by discussing the identity of marginalized science students in relation to resources available in postsecondary science classes. Recent findings on a successful case of a persistent marginalized science student in spite of prior struggles and failures are introduced. Building on their model and our results, we proposed a new cultural model, emphasizing interaction between inside and outside classroom resources which can further our understanding of the identity of marginalized science students. Exploring this cultural model could better explain drop-outs or engagement of marginalized science students to their study. We, then, used this model to reflect on both current traditional and effective teaching and learning practices truncating or re-enforcing relationships of marginalized students with the learning environment. In this way, we aim to further the discussion initiated by Jackson and Seiler and offer possible frameworks for future research on the interactions between marginalized students with past low achievements and other high and mid achieving students, as well as other interactions between resources inside and outside science postsecondary classrooms.

Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets: Space Science Applications of Physics and Chemistry for High School and College Classes. Update.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, M. M.; Tobola, K. W.; Allen, J. S.; Stocco, K.; Henry, M.; Allen, J. S.; McReynolds, Julie; Porter, T. Todd; Veile, Jeri

2005-01-01

As the scientific community studies Mars remotely for signs of life and uses Martian meteorites as its only available samples, teachers, students, and the general public continue to ask, "How do we know these meteorites are from Mars?" This question sets the stage for a six-lesson instructional package Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets. Expanding on the short answer "It's the chemistry of the rock", students are introduced to the research that reveals the true identities of the rocks. Since few high school or beginning college students have the opportunity to participate in this level of research, a slide presentation introduces them to the labs, samples, and people involved with the research. As they work through the lessons and interpret authentic data, students realize that the research is an application of two basic science concepts taught in the classroom, the electromagnetic spectrum and isotopes. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Space Policy Debate - On Space Privatization and Property Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Eugene; Yan, Jerry Chi Yiu

2017-01-01

This presentation is intended to acquaint the audience of UC Berkeley and UC Los Angeles students with the mission of NASA, core competencies at Ames, and to provide a framework for further discussion by students of aeronautics and space sciences.

Student Perceptions of a 21st Century Learning Space

Science.gov (United States)

Adedokun, Omolola A.; Henke, Jacqueline N.; Parker, Loran Carleton; Burgess, Wilella D.

2017-01-01

Higher education institutions are increasingly building or remodeling classrooms to be flexible spaces that support learner-centered instruction. However, little is known about the actual impact of these spaces on student outcomes. Using a mixed method design, this study examined student perceptions of a flexible learning space on student learning…

Achievements and Challenges in the Science of Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Koskinen, Hannu E. J.; Baker, Daniel N.; Balogh, André; Gombosi, Tamas; Veronig, Astrid; von Steiger, Rudolf

2017-11-01

In June 2016 a group of 40 space weather scientists attended the workshop on Scientific Foundations of Space Weather at the International Space Science Institute in Bern. In this lead article to the volume based on the talks and discussions during the workshop we review some of main past achievements in the field and outline some of the challenges that the science of space weather is facing today and in the future.

Learning style preferences of Australian health science students.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoghi, Maryam; Brown, Ted; Williams, Brett; Roller, Louis; Jaberzadeh, Shapour; Palermo, Claire; McKenna, Lisa; Wright, Caroline; Baird, Marilyn; Schneider-Kolsky, Michal; Hewitt, Lesley; Sim, Jenny; Holt, Tangerine-Ann

2010-01-01

It has been identified that health science student groups may have distinctive learning needs. By university educators' and professional fieldwork supervisors' being aware of the unique learning style preferences of health science students, they have the capacity to adjust their teaching approaches to best fit with their students' learning preferences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning style preferences of a group of Australian health science students enrolled in 10 different disciplines. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was distributed to 2,885 students enrolled in dietetics and nutrition, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, paramedics, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy, radiography, and social work at one Australian university. A total of 752 usable survey forms were returned (response rate 26%). The results indicated the converger learning style to be most frequently preferred by health science students and that the diverger and accommodator learning styles were the least preferred. It is recommended that educators take learning style preferences of health science students into consideration when planning, implementing, and evaluating teaching activities, such as including more problem-solving activities that fit within the converger learning style.

Indigenous Elementary Students' Science Instruction in Taiwan: Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Huei; Yen, Chiung-Fen; Aikenhead, Glen S.

2012-12-01

This preliminary ethnographic investigation focused on how Indigenous traditional wisdom can be incorporated into school science and what students learned as a result. Participants included community elders and knowledge keepers, as well as 4th grade (10-year-old) students, all of Amis ancestry, an Indigenous tribe in Taiwan. The students' non-Indigenous teacher played a central role in developing a science module `Measuring Time' that combined Amis knowledge and Western science knowledge. The study identified two cultural worldview perspectives on time; for example, the place-based cyclical time held by the Amis, and the universal rectilinear time presupposed by scientists. Students' pre-instructional fragmented concepts from both knowledge systems became more informed and refined through their engagement in `Measuring Time'. Students' increased interest and pride in their Amis culture were noted.

Practical science communication strategies for graduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuehne, Lauren M; Twardochleb, Laura A; Fritschie, Keith J; Mims, Meryl C; Lawrence, David J; Gibson, Polly P; Stewart-Koster, Ben; Olden, Julian D

2014-10-01

Development of skills in science communication is a well-acknowledged gap in graduate training, but the constraints that accompany research (limited time, resources, and knowledge of opportunities) make it challenging to acquire these proficiencies. Furthermore, advisors and institutions may find it difficult to support graduate students adequately in these efforts. The result is fewer career and societal benefits because students have not learned to communicate research effectively beyond their scientific peers. To help overcome these hurdles, we developed a practical approach to incorporating broad science communication into any graduate-school time line. The approach consists of a portfolio approach that organizes outreach activities along a time line of planned graduate studies. To help design the portfolio, we mapped available science communication tools according to 5 core skills essential to most scientific careers: writing, public speaking, leadership, project management, and teaching. This helps graduate students consider the diversity of communication tools based on their desired skills, time constraints, barriers to entry, target audiences, and personal and societal communication goals. By designing a portfolio with an advisor's input, guidance, and approval, graduate students can gauge how much outreach is appropriate given their other commitments to teaching, research, and classes. The student benefits from the advisors' experience and mentorship, promotes the group's research, and establishes a track record of engagement. When graduate student participation in science communication is discussed, it is often recommended that institutions offer or require more training in communication, project management, and leadership. We suggest that graduate students can also adopt a do-it-yourself approach that includes determining students' own outreach objectives and time constraints and communicating these with their advisor. By doing so we hope students will

Meeting Classroom Needs: Designing Space Physics Educational Outreach for Science Education Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Urquhart, M. L.; Hairston, M.

2008-12-01

As with all NASA missions, the Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) is required to have an education and public outreach program (E/PO). Through our partnership between the University of Texas at Dallas William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences and Department of Science/Mathematics Education, the decision was made early on to design our educational outreach around the needs of teachers. In the era of high-stakes testing and No Child Left Behind, materials that do not meet the content and process standards teachers must teach cannot be expected to be integrated into classroom instruction. Science standards, both state and National, were the fundamental drivers behind the designs of our curricular materials, professional development opportunities for teachers, our target grade levels, and even our popular informal educational resource, the "Cindi in Space" comic book. The National Science Education Standards include much more than content standards, and our E/PO program was designed with this knowledge in mind as well. In our presentation we will describe how we came to our approach for CINDI E/PO, and how we have been successful in our efforts to have CINDI materials and key concepts make the transition into middle school classrooms. We will also present on our newest materials and high school physics students and professional development for their teachers.

The science experience: The relationship between an inquiry-based science program and student outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Poderoso, Charie

Science education reforms in U.S. schools emphasize the importance of students' construction of knowledge through inquiry. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Research Council (NRC), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have demonstrated a commitment to searching for solutions and renewed efforts to improve science education. One suggestion for science education reform in U.S. schools was a transition from traditional didactic, textbook-based to inquiry-based instructional programs. While inquiry has shown evidence for improved student learning in science, what is needed is empirical evidence of those inquiry-based practices that affect student outcomes in a local context. This study explores the relationship between instructional programs and curricular changes affecting student outcomes in the Santa Ana Unified District (SAUSD): It provides evidence related to achievement and attitudes. SAUSD employs two approaches to teaching in the middle school science classrooms: traditional and inquiry-based approaches. The Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program is an inquiry-based science program that utilizes resources for implementation of the University of California Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) to support inquiry-based teaching and learning. Findings in this study provide empirical support related to outcomes of seventh-grade students, N = 328, in the LASER and traditional science programs in SAUSD.

The effect of classroom instruction, attitudes towards science and motivation on students' views of uncertainty in science

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Meadow

This study examined developmental and gender differences in Grade 5 and 9 students' views of uncertainty in science and the effect of classroom instruction on attitudes towards science, and motivation. Study 1 examined views of uncertainty in science when students were taught science using constructivist pedagogy. A total of 33 Grade 5 (n = 17, 12 boys, 5 girls) and Grade 9 (n = 16, 8 boys, 8 girls) students were interviewed about the ideas they had about uncertainty in their own experiments (i.e., practical science) and in professional science activities (i.e., formal science). Analysis found an interaction between grade and gender in the number of categories of uncertainty identified for both practical and formal science. Additionally, in formal science, there was a developmental shift from dualism (i.e., science is a collection of basic facts that are the result of straightforward procedures) to multiplism (i.e., there is more than one answer or perspective on scientific knowledge) from Grade 5 to Grade 9. Finally, there was a positive correlation between the understanding uncertainty in practical and formal science. Study 2 compared the attitudes and motivation towards science and motivation of students in constructivist and traditional classrooms. Scores on the measures were also compared to students' views of uncertainty for constructivist-taught students. A total of 28 students in Grade 5 (n = 13, 11 boys, 2 girls) and Grade 9 (n = 15, 6 boys, 9 girls), from traditional science classrooms and the 33 constructivist students from Study 1 participated. Regardless of classroom instruction, fifth graders reported more positive attitudes towards science than ninth graders. Students from the constructivist classrooms reported more intrinsic motivation than students from the traditional classrooms. Constructivist students' views of uncertainty in formal and practical science did not correlate with their attitudes towards science and motivation.

Student leadership in small group science inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Alandeom W.; Boz, Umit; Broadwell, George A.; Sadler, Troy D.

2014-09-01

Background: Science educators have sought to structure collaborative inquiry learning through the assignment of static group roles. This structural approach to student grouping oversimplifies the complexities of peer collaboration and overlooks the highly dynamic nature of group activity. Purpose: This study addresses this issue of oversimplification of group dynamics by examining the social leadership structures that emerge in small student groups during science inquiry. Sample: Two small student groups investigating the burning of a candle under a jar participated in this study. Design and method: We used a mixed-method research approach that combined computational discourse analysis (computational quantification of social aspects of small group discussions) with microethnography (qualitative, in-depth examination of group discussions). Results: While in one group social leadership was decentralized (i.e., students shared control over topics and tasks), the second group was dominated by a male student (centralized social leadership). Further, decentralized social leadership was found to be paralleled by higher levels of student cognitive engagement. Conclusions: It is argued that computational discourse analysis can provide science educators with a powerful means of developing pedagogical models of collaborative science learning that take into account the emergent nature of group structures and highly fluid nature of student collaboration.

Space Experiment Module (SEM)

Science.gov (United States)

Brodell, Charles L.

1999-01-01

The Space Experiment Module (SEM) Program is an education initiative sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shuttle Small Payloads Project. The program provides nationwide educational access to space for Kindergarten through University level students. The SEM program focuses on the science of zero-gravity and microgravity. Within the program, NASA provides small containers or "modules" for students to fly experiments on the Space Shuttle. The experiments are created, designed, built, and implemented by students with teacher and/or mentor guidance. Student experiment modules are flown in a "carrier" which resides in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. The carrier supplies power to, and the means to control and collect data from each experiment.

Implications of the Next Generation Science Standards for Earth and Space Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Wysession, M. E.; Colson, M.; Duschl, R. A.; Huff, K.; Lopez, R. E.; Messina, P.; Speranza, P.; Matthews, T.; Childress, J.

2012-12-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), due to be released in 2013, set a new direction for K-12 science education in America. These standards will put forth significant changes for Earth and space sciences. The NGSS are based upon the recommendations of the National Research Council's 2011 report "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts, and Core Ideas." The standards are being written by a large group of authors who represent many different constituencies, including 26 participating states, in a process led by Achieve, Inc. The standards encourage innovative ways to teach science at the K-12 level, including enhanced integration between the content, practices, and crosscutting ideas of science and greater assimilation among the sciences and engineering, and among the sciences, mathematics, and English language arts. The NGSS presents a greater emphasis on Earth and space sciences than in previous standards, recommending a year at both the middle and high school levels. The new standards also present a greater emphasis on areas of direct impact between humans and the Earth system, including climate change, natural hazards, resource management, and sustainability.

Structure of Black Male Students Academic Achievement in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Rascoe, Barbara

Educational policies and practices have been largely unsuccessful in closing the achievement gap between Black and White students "Schwartz, 2001". This achievement gap is especially problematic for Black students in science "Maton, Hrabrowski, - Schmitt, 2000. Given the fact that the Black-White achievement gap is still an enigma, the purpose of this article is to address the Black female-Black male academic achievement gap in science majors. Addressing barriers that Black male students may experience as college science and engineering majors, this article presents marketing strategies relative to politics, emotional intelligence, and issues with respect to how science teaching, and Black male students' responses to it, are different. Many Black male students may need to experience a paradigm shift, which structures and enhances their science achievement. Paradigm shifts are necessary because exceptional academic ability and motivation are not enough to get Black males from their first year in a science, technology, education, and mathematics "STEM" major to a bachelor's degree in science and engineering. The conclusions focus on the balance of truth-slippery slopes concerning the confluence of science teachers' further ado and Black male students' theories, methods, and values that position their academic achievement in science and engineering majors.

Impact of space on science

Science.gov (United States)

Elachi, Charles

1993-01-01

The advent of the capability to conduct space-based measurements has revolutionized the study of the Earth, the planetary system and the astrophysical universe. The resultant knowledge has yielded insights into the management of our planet's resources and provides intellectual enrichment for our civilization. New investigation techniques hold promise for extending the scope of space science to address topics in fundamental physics such as gravitational waves and certain aspects of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

Science Education and ESL Students

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Heather; Park, Soonhye

2011-01-01

The number of students who learn English as a second language (ESL) in U.S. schools has grown significantly in the past decade. This segment of the student population increased by 56% between the 1994-95 and 2004-05 school years (NCLR 2007). As the ESL student population increases, many science teachers struggle to tailor instructional materials,…

Science Students and the Social Sciences: Strange Bedfellows?

Science.gov (United States)

Yeong, Foong May

2014-01-01

With various internet resources available to students, the main aim of a good university education today should not merely be to provide students with content knowledge, but rather to equip them with essential skills necessary to develop into lifelong learners. Among science educators, repeated calls have been made to promote a more holistic…

Laboratory science with space data accessing and using space-experiment data

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van Loon, Jack J W A; Zell, Martin; Beysens, Daniel

2011-01-01

For decades experiments conducted on space stations like MIR and the ISS have been gathering data in many fields of research in the natural sciences, medicine and engineering. The European Union-sponsored ULISSE project focused on exploring the wealth of unique experimental data provided by revealing raw and metadata from these studies via an Internet Portal. This book complements the portal. It serves as a handbook of space experiments and describes the various types of experimental infrastructure areas of research in the life and physical sciences and technology space missions that hosted scientific experiments the types and structures of the data produced and how one can access the data through ULISSE for further research. The book provides an overview of the wealth of space experiment data that can be used for additional research and will inspire academics (e.g. those looking for topics for their PhD thesis) and research departments in companies for their continued development.

Elementary student teachers' science content representations

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Zembal-Saul, Carla; Krajcik, Joseph; Blumenfeld, Phyllis

2002-08-01

This purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which three prospective teachers who had early opportunities to teach science would approach representing science content within the context of their student teaching experiences. The study is framed in the literature on pedagogical content knowledge and learning to teach. A situated perspective on cognition is applied to better understand the influence of context and the role of the cooperating teacher. The three participants were enrolled in an experimental teacher preparation program designed to enhance the teaching of science at the elementary level. Qualitative case study design guided the collection, organization, and analysis of data. Multiple forms of data associated with student teachers' content representations were collected, including audiotaped planning and reflection interviews, written lesson plans and reflections, and videotaped teaching experiences. Broad analysis categories were developed and refined around the subconstructs of content representation (i.e., knowledge of instructional strategies that promote learning and knowledge of students and their requirements for meaningful science learning). Findings suggest that when prospective teachers are provided with opportunities to apply and reflect substantively on their developing considerations for supporting children's science learning, they are able to maintain a subject matter emphasis. However, in the absence of such opportunities, student teachers abandon their subject matter emphasis, even when they have had extensive background and experiences addressing subject-specific considerations for teaching and learning.

Project BioEYES: Accessible Student-Driven Science for K-12 Students and Teachers.

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Shuda, Jamie R; Butler, Valerie G; Vary, Robert; Farber, Steven A

2016-11-01

BioEYES, a nonprofit outreach program using zebrafish to excite and educate K-12 students about science and how to think and act like scientists, has been integrated into hundreds of under-resourced schools since 2002. During the week-long experiments, students raise zebrafish embryos to learn principles of development and genetics. We have analyzed 19,463 participating students' pre- and post-tests within the program to examine their learning growth and attitude changes towards science. We found that at all grade levels, BioEYES effectively increased students' content knowledge and produced favorable shifts in students' attitudes about science. These outcomes were especially pronounced in younger students. Having served over 100,000 students, we find that our method for providing student-centered experiences and developing long-term partnerships with teachers is essential for the growth and sustainability of outreach and school collaborations.

An Investigation of Students' Personality Traits and Attitudes toward Science

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Hong, Zuway-R.; Lin, Huann-shyang

2011-05-01

The purposes of this study were to validate an instrument of attitudes toward science and to investigate grade level, type of school, and gender differences in Taiwan's students' personality traits and attitudes toward science as well as predictors of attitudes toward science. Nine hundred and twenty-two elementary students and 1,954 secondary students completed the School Student Questionnaire in 2008. Factor analyses, correlation analyses, ANOVAs, and regressions were used to compare the similarities and differences among male and female students in different grade levels. The findings were as follows: female students had higher interest in science and made more contributions in teams than their male counterparts across all grade levels. As students advanced through school, student scores on the personality trait scales of Conscientiousness and Openness sharply declined; students' scores on Neuroticism dramatically increased. Elementary school and academic high school students had significantly higher total scores on interest in science than those of vocational high and junior high school students. Scores on the scales measuring the traits of Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness were the most significant predictors of students' attitudes toward science. Implications of these findings for classroom instruction are discussed.

A Network Enabled Platform for Canadian Space Science Data

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Rankin, R.; Boteler, D. R.; Jayachandran, T. P.; Mann, I. R.; Sofko, G.; Yau, A. W.

2008-12-01

The internet is an example of a pervasive disruptive technology that has transformed society on a global scale. The term "cyberinfrastructure" refers to technology underpinning the collaborative aspect of large science projects and is synonymous with terms such as e-Science, intelligent infrastructure, and/or e- infrastructure. In the context of space science, a significant challenge is to exploit the internet and cyberinfrastructure to form effective virtual organizations (VOs) of scientists that have common or agreed- upon objectives. A typical VO is likely to include universities and government agencies specializing in types of instrumentation (ground and/or space based), which in deployment produce large quantities of space data. Such data is most effectively described by metadata, which if defined in a standard way, facilitates discovery and retrieval of data over the internet by intelligent interfaces and cyberinfrastructure. One recent and significant approach is SPASE, which is being developed by NASA as a data-standard for its Virtual Observatories (VxOs) programs. The space science community in Canada has recently formed a VO designed to complement the e-POP microsatellite mission, and new ground-based observatories (GBOs) that collect data over a large fraction of the Canadian land-mass. The VO includes members of the CGSM community (www.cgsm.ca), which is funded operationally by the Canadian Space Agency. It also includes the UCLA VMO team, and scientists in the NASA THEMIS mission. CANARIE (www.canarie.ca), the federal agency responsible for management, design and operation of Canada's research internet, has recently recognized the value of cyberinfrastucture through the creation of a Network-Enabled-Platforms (NEPs) program. An NEP for space science was funded by CANARIE in its first competition. When fully implemented, the Space Science NEP will consist of a front-end portal providing access to CGSM data. It will utilize an adaptation of the SPASE

Student-generated illustrations and written narratives of biological science concepts: The effect on community college life science students' achievement in and attitudes toward science

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Harvey, Robert Christopher

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two conceptually based instructional strategies on science achievement and attitudes of community college biological science students. The sample consisted of 277 students enrolled in General Biology 1, Microbiology, and Human Anatomy and Physiology 1. Control students were comprised of intact classes from the 2005 Spring semester; treatment students from the 2005 Fall semester were randomly assigned to one of two groups within each course: written narrative (WN) and illustration (IL). WN students prepared in-class written narratives related to cell theory and metabolism, which were taught in all three courses. IL students prepared in-class illustrations of the same concepts. Control students received traditional lecture/lab during the entire class period and neither wrote in-class descriptions nor prepared in-class illustrations of the targeted concepts. All groups were equivalent on age, gender, ethnicity, GPA, and number of college credits earned and were blinded to the study. All interventions occurred in class and no group received more attention or time to complete assignments. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) via multiple regression was the primary statistical strategy used to test the study's hypotheses. The model was valid and statistically significant. Independent follow-up univariate analyses relative to each dependent measure found that no research factor had a significant effect on attitude, but that course-teacher, group membership, and student academic characteristics had a significant effect (p < .05) on achievement: (1) Biology students scored significantly lower in achievement than A&P students; (2) Microbiology students scored significantly higher in achievement than Biology students; (3) Written Narrative students scored significantly higher in achievement than Control students; and (4) GPA had a significant effect on achievement. In addition, given p < .08: (1

Designing Science Learning Environments That Support Emerging Bilingual Students to Problematize Electrical Phenomena

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Suarez, Enrique A.

This dissertation investigates how emerging bilingual students make sense of natural phenomena through engaging in certain epistemic practices of science, and the elements of the learning environment that created those opportunities. Specifically, the dissertation focuses on how emerging bilingual students problematized electrical phenomena, like electric flow and electrical resistance, and how the design features of the environment (e.g., sequencing of activities, linguistic practices) may have supported students as they made sense of phenomena. The first study describes how for students presented and evaluated mechanistic models of electric flow, focusing specifically on how students identified and negotiated a disagreement between their explanatory models. The results from this study highlight the complexity of students' disagreements, not only because of the epistemological aspects related to presenting and evaluating knowledge, but also due to interpersonal dynamics and the discomfort associated with disagreeing with another person. The second study focuses on the design features of the learning environment that supported emerging bilingual students' investigations of electrical phenomena. The findings from this study highlight how a carefully designed set of activities, with the appropriate material resources (e.g., experimental tools), could support students to problematize electrical resistance. The third study describes how emerging bilingual students engaged in translanguaging practices and the contextual features of the learning environment that created and hindered opportunities for translanguaging. The findings from this study identify and articulate how emerging bilingual students engaged in translanguaging practices when problematizing electrical resistance, and strengthen the perspective that, in order to be equitable for emerging bilingual students, science learning environments need to act as translanguaging spaces. This dissertation makes three

Research Experiences for Science Teachers: The Impact On Their Students

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Dubner, J.

2005-12-01

Deficiencies in science preparedness of United States high school students were recognized more than two decades ago, as were some of their underlying causes. Among the primary causes are the remoteness of the language, tools, and concepts of science from the daily experiences of teachers and students, and the long-standing national shortage of appropriately prepared science teachers. Secondary school science teachers are challenged each school year by constantly changing content, new technologies, and increasing demands for standards-based instruction. A major deficiency in the education of science teachers was their lack of experience with the practice of science, and with practicing scientists. Providing teachers with opportunities to gain hands-on experience with the tools and materials of science under the guidance and mentorship of leading scientists in an environment attuned to professional development, would have many beneficial effects. They would improve teachers' understanding of science and their ability to develop and lead inquiry- and standards-based science classes and laboratories. They would enable them to communicate the vitality and dynamism of science to their students and to other teachers. They would enhance their ability to motivate and guide students. From its inception, Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teacher's goal has been to enhance interest and improve performance in science of students in New York City area schools. The program seeks to achieve this goal by increasing the professional competence of teachers. Our ongoing program evaluation shows that following completion of the program, the teachers implement more inquiry-based classroom and laboratory exercises, increase utilization of Internet resources, motivate students to participate in after school science clubs and Intel-type science projects; and create opportunities for students to investigate an area of science in greater depth and for longer periods

High school students presenting science: An interactional sociolinguistic analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bleicher, Robert

Presenting science is an authentic activity of practicing scientists. Thus, effective communication of science is an important skill to nurture in high school students who are learning science. This study examines strategies employed by high school students as they make science presentations; it assesses students' conceptual understandings of particular science topics through their presentations and investigates gender differences. Data are derived from science presentation given by eight high school students, three females and five males who attended a summer science program. Data sources included videotaped presentations, ethnographic fieldnotes, interviews with presenters and members of the audience, and presenter notes and overheads. Presentations were transcribed and submitted to discourse analysis from an interactional sociolinguistic perspective. This article focuses on the methodology employed and how it helps inform the above research questions. The author argues that use of this methodology leads to findings that inform important social-communicative issues in the learning of science. Practical advice for teaching students to present science, implications for use of presentations to assess conceptual learning, and indications of some possible gender differences are discussed.Received: 14 April 1993; Revised: 15 February 1994;

NASA Astrophysics E/PO: The Impact of the Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach

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Smith, Denise A.; Jirdeh, Hussein; Eisenhamer, Bonnie; Villard, Ray

2015-01-01

As the science operations center for Hubble and Webb, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is uniquely positioned to captivate the imagination and inspire learners of all ages in humanity's quest to understand fundamental questions about our universe and our place in it. With the 25th anniversary of Hubble's launch and deployment approaching in April 2015, this presentation will provide an overview of the impact of the STScI's Office of Public Outreach's programs to engage students, educators, and the public in exploring the universe through audience-based news, education, and outreach programs. At the heart of our programs lies a tight coupling of scientific, education, and communications expertise. By partnering scientists and educators, we assure current, accurate science content and education products and programs that are classroom-ready and held to the highest pedagogical standards. Likewise, news and outreach programs accurately convey cutting-edge science and technology in a way that is attuned to audience needs. The combination of Hubble's scientific capabilities and majestic imagery, together with a deep commitment to creating effective programs to share Hubble science with the education community and the public, has enabled the STScI Office of Public Outreach programs to engage 6 million students and ½ million educators per year, and 24 million online viewers per year. Hubble press releases generate approximately 5,000 online news articles per year with an average circulation of 125 million potential readers per press release news story. We will also share how best practices and lessons learned from this long-lived program are already being applied to engage a new generation of explorers in the science and technology of the James Webb Space Telescope.

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 14

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Hooke, Lydia Razran; Teeter, Ronald; Radtke, Mike; Rowe, Joseph

1988-01-01

This is the fourteenth issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 32 papers recently published in Russian language periodicals and bound collections and of three new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. Also included is a review of a recent Soviet conference on Space Biology and Aerospace Medicine. Current Soviet life sciences titles available in English are cited. The materials included in this issue have been identified as relevant to the following areas of aerospace medicine and space biology: adaptation, biological rhythms, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, gastrointestinal systems, habitability and environment effects, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, operational medicine, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, and space biology and medicine.

Success Stories of Undergraduate Retention: A Pathways Study of Graduate Students in Solar and Space Physics

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Morrow, C. A.; Stoll, W.; Moldwin, M.; Gross, N. A.

2012-12-01

This presentation describes results from an NSF-funded study of the pathways students in solar and space physics have taken to arrive in graduate school. Our Pathways study has documented results from structured interviews conducted with graduate students attending two, week-long, NSF-sponsored scientific workshops during the summer of 2011. Our research team interviewed 48 solar and space physics students (29 males and 19 females currently in graduate programs at US institutions,) in small group settings regarding what attracted and retained them along their pathways leading to grad school. This presentation addresses what these students revealed about the attributes and influences that supported completion of their undergraduate experience and focused their aspirations toward graduate school. In advance of the interview process, we collected 125 on-line survey responses from students at the two workshops. This 20-item survey included questions about high school and undergraduate education, as well as about research and graduate experience. A subset of the 125 students who completed this on-line survey volunteered to be interviewed. Two types of interview data were collected from the 48 interviewees: 1) written answers to a pre-interview questionnaire; and 2) detailed notes taken by researchers during group interviews. On the pre-interview questionnaire, we posed the question: "How did you come to be a graduate student in your field?" Our findings to date are based on an analysis of responses to this question, cross correlated with the corresponding on-line survey data. Our analysis reveals the importance of early research experiences. About 80% of the students participating in the Pathways study cited formative undergraduate research experiences. Moreover, about 50% of participants reported undergraduate research experiences that were in the field of their current graduate studies. Graduate students interviewed frequently cited a childhood interest in science

`Teaching What I Learned': Exploring students' Earth and Space Science learning experiences in secondary school with a particular focus on their comprehension of the concept of `geologic time'

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Yoon, Sae Yeol; Peate, David W.

2015-06-01

According to the national survey of science education, science educators in the USA currently face many challenges such as lack of qualified secondary Earth and Space Science (ESS) teachers. Less qualified teachers may have difficulty teaching ESS because of a lack of conceptual understanding, which leads to diminished confidence in content knowledge. More importantly, teachers' limited conceptual understanding of the core ideas automatically leads to a lack of pedagogical content knowledge. This mixed methods study aims to explore the ways in which current secondary schooling, especially the small numbers of highly qualified ESS teachers in the USA, might influence students' learning of the discipline. To gain a better understanding of the current conditions of ESS education in secondary schools, in the first phase, we qualitatively examined a sample middle and high school ESS textbook to explore how the big ideas of ESS, particularly geological time, are represented. In the second phase, we quantitatively analyzed the participating college students' conceptual understanding of geological time by comparing those who had said they had had secondary school ESS learning experience with those who did not. Additionally, college students' perceptions on learning and teaching ESS are discussed. Findings from both the qualitative and quantitative phases indicate participating students' ESS learning experience in their secondary schools seemed to have limited or little influence on their conceptual understandings of the discipline. We believe that these results reflect the current ESS education status, connected with the declining numbers of highly qualified ESS teachers in secondary schools.

Next Generation Science Standards: All Standards, All Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Okhee; Miller, Emily C.; Januszyk, Rita

2014-01-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offer a vision of science teaching and learning that presents both learning opportunities and demands for all students, particularly student groups that have traditionally been underserved in science classrooms. The NGSS have addressed issues of diversity and equity from their inception, and the NGSS…

Marine Technology for Teachers and Students: A Multi-modal Approach to Integrate Technology and Ocean Sciences Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Gingras, A.; Knowlton, C. W.; Scowcroft, G. A.; Babb, I.; Coleman, D.; Morin, H.

2016-02-01

The Marine Technology for Teachers and Students (MaTTS) Project implements a year-long continuum of activities beginning with educators reading and reporting on peer-reviewed publications, followed by face-to-face, hands-on weekend workshops and virtual professional development activities. Teams of teacher and student leaders then participate in an intensive, residential Summer Institute (SI) that emphasizes hands-on building of marine related technologies and exposure to career pathways through direct interactions with ocean scientists and engineers. During the school year, teachers integrate ocean science technology and data into their classrooms and participate, along with colleagues and students from their schools, in science cafes and webinars. Student leaders transfer knowledge gained by engaging their district's middle school students in ocean science activities and technologies by serving as hosts for live broadcasts that connect classrooms with ocean scientists and engineers though the Inner Space Center, a national ocean science telecommunications hub. Communication technologies bridge formal and informal learning environments, allowing MaTTS participants to interact with their fellow cohort members, scientists, and engineers both during and outside of school. Evaluation results indicate that for teachers both the weekend workshops and SI were most effective in preparing them to integrate ocean science and technology in STEM curricula and increase their ocean science content knowledge and leadership characteristics. For students the SI and the middle school interactions supported gains in knowledge, awareness, leadership skills and interest in ocean sciences and technologies, and related STEM careers. In particular, the connections made by working directly with scientists have positively impacted both student and teacher leaders. This presentation will provide an overview of the MaTTS model and early evaluation results.

An analysis of high-performing science students' preparation for collegiate science courses

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Karen

This mixed-method study surveyed first year high-performing science students who participated in high-level courses such as International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP), and honors science courses in high school to determine their perception of preparation for academic success at the collegiate level. The study used 52 students from an honors college campus and surveyed the students and their professors. The students reported that they felt better prepared for academic success at the collegiate level by taking these courses in high school (pstudent GPA with honors science courses (n=55 and Pearson's r=-0.336), while AP courses (n=47 and Pearson's r=0.0016) and IB courses (n=17 and Pearson's r=-0.2716) demonstrated no correlation between perception of preparation and GPA. Students reported various themes that helped or hindered their perception of academic success once at the collegiate level. Those themes that reportedly helped students were preparedness, different types of learning, and teacher qualities. Students reported in a post-hoc experience that more lab time, rigorous coursework, better teachers, and better study techniques helped prepare them for academic success at the collegiate level. Students further reported on qualities of teachers and teaching that helped foster their academic abilities at the collegiate level, including teacher knowledge, caring, teaching style, and expectations. Some reasons for taking high-level science courses in high school include boosting GPA, college credit, challenge, and getting into better colleges.

Inventing a space mission the story of the Herschel space observatory

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Minier, Vincent; Bontems, Vincent; de Graauw, Thijs; Griffin, Matt; Helmich, Frank; Pilbratt, Göran; Volonte, Sergio

2017-01-01

This book describes prominent technological achievements within a very successful space science mission: the Herschel space observatory. Focusing on the various processes of innovation it offers an analysis and discussion of the social, technological and scientific context of the mission that paved the way to its development. It addresses the key question raised by these processes in our modern society, i.e.: how knowledge management of innovation set the conditions for inventing the future? In that respect the book is based on a transdisciplinary analysis of the programmatic complexity of Herschel, with inputs from space scientists, managers, philosophers, and engineers. This book is addressed to decision makers, not only in space science, but also in other industries and sciences using or building large machines. It is also addressed to space engineers and scientists as well as students in science and management.

Individual Difference Predictors of Creativity in Art and Science Students

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Furnham, Adrian; Batey, Mark; Booth, Tom W.; Patel, Vikita; Lozinskaya, Dariya

2011-01-01

Two studies are reported that used multiple measures of creativity to investigate creativity differences and correlates in arts and science students. The first study examined Divergent Thinking fluency, Self-Rated Creativity and Creative Achievement in matched groups of Art and Science students. Arts students scored higher than Science students on…

Qualities of effective secondary science teachers: Perspectives of university biology students

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McCall, Madelon J.

This research was an attempt to hear the student voice concerning secondary science teacher effectiveness and to share that voice with those who impact the educational process. It was a snapshot of university freshmen biology students' opinions of the qualities of effective secondary science teachers based on their high school science experiences. The purpose of this study was to compile a list of effective secondary science teacher qualities as determined through a purposeful sampling of university second semester biology students and determine the role of the secondary science teacher in promoting interest and achievement in science, as well as the teacher's influence on a students' choice of a science career. The research was a mixed methods design using both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through the use of a 24 question electronic survey. There were 125 participants who provided information concerning their high school science teachers. Respondents provided information concerning the qualities of effective secondary science teachers and influences on the students' present career choice. The quantitative data was used to construct a hierarchy of qualities of effective secondary science teachers, divided into personal, professional, and classroom management qualities. The qualitative data was used to examine individual student responses to questions concerning secondary science teacher effectiveness and student career choice. The results of the research indicated that students highly value teachers who are both passionate about the subject taught and passionate about their students. High school science students prefer teachers who teach science in a way that is both interesting and relevant to the student. It was determined that the greatest influence on a secondary student's career choice came from family members and not from teachers. The secondary teacher's role was to recognize the student's interest in the career and provide encouragement

Predictors of student success in entry-level science courses

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Mamta K.

Although the educational evaluation process is useful and valuable and is supported by the Higher Education Act, a strong research base for program evaluation of college entry-level science courses is still lacking. Studies in science disciplines such as, biology, chemistry, and physics have addressed various affective and demographic factors and their relationships to student achievement. However, the literature contains little information that specifically addresses student biology content knowledge skills (basics and higher order thinking skills) and identifies factors that affect students' success in entry-level college science courses. These gate-keeping courses require detailed evaluation if the goal of an institution is to increase students' performance and success in these courses. These factors are, in fact, a stepping stone for increasing the number of graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. The present study measured students' biology content knowledge and investigated students' performance and success in college biology, chemistry, and physics entry-level courses. Seven variables---gender, ethnicity, high school Grade Point Average (GPA), high school science, college major, school financial aid support, and work hours were used as independent variables and course final performance as a dichotomous dependent variable. The sample comprised voluntary student participants in entry-level science courses. The study attempted to explore eight research questions. Content knowledge assessments, demographic information analysis, multiple regression analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis were used to address research questions. The results suggested that high school GPA was a consistently good predictor of students' performance and success in entry-level science courses. Additionally, high school chemistry was a significant predictor variable for student success in entry-level biology and chemistry courses

The Impact of Teachers and Their Science Teaching on Students' "Science Interest": A Four-Year Study

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Logan, Marianne R.; Skamp, Keith R.

2013-01-01

There is a crisis in school science in Australia and this may be related to insufficient students developing an interest in science. This extended study looked at changes in 14 students' interest in science as they moved through junior secondary school into Year 10. Although the majority of these students still had an interest in science in Year…

Study of university students' attitudes toward office space at universities

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S.M. Eteadifard

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Office space is the space where students first experience the university. In this paper, the attitude of students toward office space in the public sphere of university is discussed. This article is the result of the research conducted for the “Institute for Social and Cultural Studies” by the author. The main issues in this paper are: university students' attitudes towards quality office space at the universities and mental basis of common issues among students at the universities. Data were collected through individual and group interviews. More than eighty interviews with activists and students of University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti University, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Sharif University of Technology and Kharazmi University were done. The main indicators of office space in this study include: students’ satisfaction of office space, students’ welfare affairs and students’ feedback about this space. Problems and obstacles relating to the office space and their solutions were also studied in this paper.

Sixth Annual NASA Ames Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree

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Hollingsworth, Jeffery; Howell, Steve; Fonda, Mark; Dateo, Chris; Martinez, Christine M.

2018-01-01

Welcome to the Sixth Annual NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science and Astrobiology Jamboree at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). The Space Science and Astrobiology Division consists of over 60 Civil Servants, with more than 120 Cooperative Agreement Research Scientists, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Science Support Contractors, Visiting Scientists, and many other Research Associates. Within the Division there is engagement in scientific investigations over a breadth of disciplines including Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Exobiology, Exoplanets, Planetary Systems Science, and many more. The Division's personnel support NASA spacecraft missions (current and planned), including SOFIA, K2, MSL, New Horizons, JWST, WFIRST, and others. Our top-notch science research staff is spread amongst three branches in five buildings at ARC. Naturally, it can thus be difficult to remain abreast of what fellow scientific researchers pursue actively, and then what may present and/or offer regarding inter-Branch, intra-Division future collaborative efforts. In organizing this annual jamboree, the goals are to offer a wholesome, one-venue opportunity to sense the active scientific research and spacecraft mission involvement within the Division; and to facilitate communication and collaboration amongst our research scientists. Annually, the Division honors one senior research scientist with a Pollack Lecture, and one early career research scientist with an Outstanding Early Career Space Scientist Lecture. For the Pollack Lecture, the honor is bestowed upon a senior researcher who has made significant contributions within any area of research aligned with space science and/or astrobiology. This year we are pleased to honor Linda Jahnke. With the Early Career Lecture, the honor is bestowed upon an early-career researcher who has substantially demonstrated great promise for significant contributions within space science, astrobiology, and/or, in support of spacecraft missions addressing such

Examples of learning activities for Earth and Space Sciences in the new Italian National curriculum

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Macario, Maddalena

2016-04-01

In the last few years, starting from 2010, science curricula were changed dramatically in the secondary Italian school as consequence of a radical law reform. In particular, Earth Science and Astronomy subjects have been shifted from the last to the previous school years; in addition, these subjects have been integrated with other natural sciences learning, such as biology and chemistry. As a consequence, Italian teachers felt forced to totally revise their teaching methods for all of these disciplines. The most demanding need was adapting content to younger learners, as those of the first years are, who usually do have neither pre-knowledge in physics nor high level maths skills. Secondly, content learning was progressively driven toward a greater attention to environmental issues in order to raise more awareness in learners about global changes as examples of fragile equilibrium of our planet. In this work some examples of activities are shown, to introduce students to some astronomical phenomena in a simpler way, which play a key role in influencing other Earth's events, in order to make pupils more conscious about how and to what extent our planet depends on space, at different time scales. The activities range from moon motions affecting tides, to secondary Earth motions, which are responsible for climate changes, to the possibility to find life forms in other parts of the Universe, to the possibility for humans to live in the space for future space missions. Students are involved in hands-on inquiry-based laboratories that scaffold both theoretic knowledge and practical skills for a deeper understanding of cause-effect relationships existing in the Earth.

Communal space design as student interaction in polnep campus

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Hasriyanti, N.; Zulestari, A.; Judhi, J.; Ikayanti, P.

2018-03-01

Communal space is a means to do for social interaction, from private to the public. The purpose of this study was conducted to explore the phenomenon of communal space setting of Pontianak State Polytechnic students from 8 departments of study both indoor and outdoor spaces. The research method used is a rationalistic study. The planned activities to be undertaken include the determination of communal places (indoor and outdoor), sample determination, data collection with surveys and interviews, presenting data and analysis and drawing conclusions as a basis for designing communal space for Polnep students. The research were analyzed of building and space character, analysis of space organization and circulation, space requirement analysis, material and color analysis, site analysis, and analysis of inner space elements and outer space elements. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that Polnep campus environment requires the addition of public space for students in conducting formal activities outside lectures. Some activity which to do some student such as activity to waiting lecturer, do some coursework, discussion, relaxation, extracurricular activities, and other informal activities still require adequate space infrastructure and are equipped with street furnitures such as garden lights, benches, outer space markers and shade vegetation.

Using Science to Take a Stand: Action-Oriented Learning in an Afterschool Science Club

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Hagenah, Sara

This dissertation study investigates what happens when students participate in an afterschool science club designed around action-oriented science instruction, a set of curriculum design principles based on social justice pedagogy. Comprised of three manuscripts written for journal publication, the dissertation includes 1) Negotiating community-based action-oriented science teaching and learning: Articulating curriculum design principles, 2) Middle school girls' socio-scientific participation pathways in an afterschool science club, and 3) Laughing and learning together: Productive science learning spaces for middle school girls. By investigating how action-oriented science design principles get negotiated, female identity development in and with science, and the role of everyday social interactions as students do productive science, this research fills gaps in the understanding of how social justice pedagogy gets enacted and negotiated among multiple stakeholders including students, teachers, and community members along what identity development looks like across social and scientific activity. This study will be of interest to educators thinking about how to enact social justice pedagogy in science learning spaces and those interested in identity development in science.

Science Communication versus Science Education: The Graduate Student Scientist as a K-12 Classroom Resource

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Jeff; Shope, Richard E., III; Terebey, Susan

2005-01-01

Science literacy is a major goal of science educational reform (NRC, 1996; AAAS, 1998; NCLB Act, 2001). Some believe that teaching science only requires pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Others believe doing science requires knowledge of the methodologies of scientific inquiry (NRC, 1996). With these two mindsets, the challenge for science educators is to create models that bring the two together. The common ground between those who teach science and those who do science is science communication, an interactive process that galvanizes dialogue among scientists, teachers, and learners in a rich ambience of mutual respect and a common, inclusive language of discourse . The dialogue between science and non-science is reflected in the polarization that separates those who do science and those who teach science, especially as it plays out everyday in the science classroom. You may be thinking, why is this important? It is vital because, although not all science learners become scientists, all K-12 students are expected to acquire science literacy, especially with the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Students are expected to acquire the ability to follow the discourse of science as well as connect the world of science to the context of their everyday life if they plan on moving to the next grade level, and in some states, to graduate from high school. This paper posits that science communication is highly effective in providing the missing link for K-12 students cognition in science and their attainment of science literacy. This paper will focus on the "Science For Our Schools" (SFOS) model implemented at California State Univetsity, Los Angeles (CSULA) as a project of the National Science Foundation s GK-12 program, (NSF 2001) which has been a huge success in bridging the gap between those who "know" science and those who "teach" science. The SFOS model makes clear the distinctions that identify science, science communication, science

Integration of basic sciences and clinical sciences in oral radiology education for dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Baghdady, Mariam T; Carnahan, Heather; Lam, Ernest W N; Woods, Nicole N

2013-06-01

Educational research suggests that cognitive processing in diagnostic radiology requires a solid foundation in the basic sciences and knowledge of the radiological changes associated with disease. Although it is generally assumed that dental students must acquire both sets of knowledge, little is known about the most effective way to teach them. Currently, the basic and clinical sciences are taught separately. This study was conducted to compare the diagnostic accuracy of students when taught basic sciences segregated or integrated with clinical features. Predoctoral dental students (n=51) were taught four confusable intrabony abnormalities using basic science descriptions integrated with the radiographic features or taught segregated from the radiographic features. The students were tested with diagnostic images, and memory tests were performed immediately after learning and one week later. On immediate and delayed testing, participants in the integrated basic science group outperformed those from the segregated group. A main effect of learning condition was found to be significant (pbasic sciences integrated with clinical features produces higher diagnostic accuracy in novices than teaching basic sciences segregated from clinical features.

EDITORIAL: From reciprocal space to real space in surface science From reciprocal space to real space in surface science

Science.gov (United States)

Bartels, Ludwig; Ernst, Karl-Heinz

2012-09-01

This issue is dedicated to Karl-Heinz Rieder on the occasion of his 70th birthday. It contains contributions written by his former students and colleagues from all over the world. Experimental techniques based on free electrons, such as photoelectron spectroscopy, electron microscopy and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), were foundational to surface science. While the first revealed the band structures of materials, the second provided nanometer scale imagery and the latter elucidated the atomic scale periodicity of surfaces. All required an (ultra-)high vacuum, and LEED illustrated impressively that adsorbates, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen or oxygen, can markedly and periodically restructure surfaces from their bulk termination, even at pressures ten orders of magnitude or more below atmospheric. Yet these techniques were not generally able to reveal atomic scale surface defects, nor could they faithfully show adsorption of light atoms such as hydrogen. Although a complete atom, helium can also be regarded as a wave with a de Broglie wavelength that allows the study of surface atomic periodicities at a delicateness and sensitivity exceeding that of electrons-based techniques. In combination, these and other techniques generated insight into the periodicity of surfaces and their vibrational properties, yet were limited to simple and periodic surface setups. All that changed with the advent of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) roughly 30 years ago, allowing real space access to surface defects and individual adsorbates. Applied at low temperatures, not only can STM establish a height profile of surfaces, but can also perform spectroscopy and serve as an actuator capable of rearranging individual species at atomic scale resolution. The direct and intuitive manner in which STM provided access as a spectator and as an actor to the atomic scale was foundational to today's surface science and to the development of the concepts of nanoscience in general. The

Life science students' attitudes, interest, and performance in introductory physics for life sciences: An exploratory study

Science.gov (United States)

Crouch, Catherine H.; Wisittanawat, Panchompoo; Cai, Ming; Renninger, K. Ann

2018-06-01

In response to national calls for improved physical sciences education for students pursuing careers in the life sciences and medicine, reformed introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS) courses are being developed. This exploratory study is among the first to assess the effect of an IPLS course on students' attitudes, interest, and performance. The IPLS course studied was the second semester of introductory physics, following a standard first semester course, allowing the outcomes of the same students in a standard course and in an IPLS course to be compared. In the IPLS course, each physics topic was introduced and elaborated in the context of a life science example, and developing students' skills in applying physics to life science situations was an explicitly stated course goal. Items from the Colorado Learning about Science Survey were used to assess change in students' attitudes toward and their interest in physics. Whereas the same students' attitudes declined during the standard first semester course, we found that students' attitudes toward physics hold steady or improve in the IPLS course. In particular, students with low initial interest in physics displayed greater increases in both attitudes and interest during the IPLS course than in the preceding standard course. We also find that in the IPLS course, students' interest in the life science examples is a better predictor of their performance than their pre-IPLS interest in physics. Our work suggests that the life science examples in the IPLS course can support the development of student interest in physics and positively influence their performance.

A culturally appropriate program that works: Native Americans in Marine and Space Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Vergun, J. R.

2001-05-01

For more than ten years, the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University has carried out the Native Americans in Marine and Space Sciences (NAMSS) Program. Its long-term goal is to increase the number of American Indian and Native Alaskan undergraduates in science who complete degrees, continue to graduate school and enter the professional scientific work force. Ninety-eight percent of NAMSS students have earned BS degrees and almost forty percent have continued in graduate school. These are impressive results considering the high national drop-out rate for Native American studentsaround 70% according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (26 May 1993, page A29). Most often, Native students wishing to earn degrees in science find few programs that fit with their traditional sense of place and community. Most programs are narrowly focused and do not support or nurture Native views of interrelationship of all things. While Western science's recent ecological systems thinking approach more closely resembles the traditional Native view, Traditional Ecological Knowledge is often perceived as anecdotal or storytelling and not real science. This is a problem for Native students who are strongly underrepresented in the U.S. scientific community as a whole and nearly absent from the marine sciences. Undergraduates from this group are without scientific career models or mentors from their ethnic group and experience difficulty establishing contacts with majority scientists. They have limited access to opportunities to explore career possibilities in the sciences through research participation. Once on campus they have difficulty establishing a sense of belonging in the University community and do not have an organized way to enter into the scientific activities that initially attracted them. Representation of Native Americans in the ranks of U.S. scientists will not be increased without special efforts to retain them as undergraduates and to recruit

Engaging Students In The Science Of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Rhew, R. C.; Halversen, C.; Weiss, E.; Pedemonte, S.; Weirman, T.

2013-12-01

Climate change is arguably the defining environmental issue of our generation. It is thus increasingly necessary for every member of the global community to understand the basic underlying science of Earth's climate system and how it is changing in order to make informed, evidence-based decisions about how we will respond individually and as a society. Through exploration of the inextricable interconnection between Earth's ocean, atmosphere and climate, we believe students will be better prepared to tackle the complex issues surrounding the causes and effects of climate change and evaluate possible solutions. If students are also given opportunities to gather evidence from real data and use scientific argumentation to make evidence-based explanations about climate change, not only will they gain an increased understanding of the science concepts and science practices, the students will better comprehend the nature of climate change science. Engaging in argument from evidence is a scientific practice not only emphasized in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), but also emphasized in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science (CCSS). This significant overlap between NGSS and CCSS has implications for science and language arts classrooms, and should influence how we support and build students' expertise with this practice of sciences. The featured exemplary curricula supports middle school educators as they address climate change in their classrooms. The exemplar we will use is the NOAA-funded Ocean Sciences Sequence (OSS) for Grades 6-8: The ocean-atmosphere connection and climate change, which are curriculum units that deliver rich science content correlated to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas and an emphasis on the Practices of Science, as called for in NGSS and the Framework. Designed in accordance with the latest

Science Teaching Methods Preferred by Grade 9 Students in Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Juuti, Kalle; Lavonen, Jari; Uitto, Anna; Byman, Reijo; Meisalo, Veijo

2010-01-01

Students find science relevant to society, but they do not find school science interesting. This survey study analyzes Finnish grade 9 students' actual experiences with science teaching methods and their preferences for how they would like to study science. The survey data were collected from 3,626 grade 9 students (1,772 girls and 1,832 boys)…

SpacePy - a Python-based library of tools for the space sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morley, Steven K.; Welling, Daniel T.; Koller, Josef; Larsen, Brian A.; Henderson, Michael G.

2010-01-01

Space science deals with the bodies within the solar system and the interplanetary medium; the primary focus is on atmospheres and above - at Earth the short timescale variation in the the geomagnetic field, the Van Allen radiation belts and the deposition of energy into the upper atmosphere are key areas of investigation. SpacePy is a package for Python, targeted at the space sciences, that aims to make basic data analysis, modeling and visualization easier. It builds on the capabilities of the well-known NumPy and MatPlotLib packages. Publication quality output direct from analyses is emphasized. The SpacePy project seeks to promote accurate and open research standards by providing an open environment for code development. In the space physics community there has long been a significant reliance on proprietary languages that restrict free transfer of data and reproducibility of results. By providing a comprehensive, open-source library of widely used analysis and visualization tools in a free, modern and intuitive language, we hope that this reliance will be diminished. SpacePy includes implementations of widely used empirical models, statistical techniques used frequently in space science (e.g. superposed epoch analysis), and interfaces to advanced tools such as electron drift shell calculations for radiation belt studies. SpacePy also provides analysis and visualization tools for components of the Space Weather Modeling Framework - currently this only includes the BATS-R-US 3-D magnetohydrodynamic model and the RAM ring current model - including streamline tracing in vector fields. Further development is currently underway. External libraries, which include well-known magnetic field models, high-precision time conversions and coordinate transformations are wrapped for access from Python using SWIG and f2py. The rest of the tools have been implemented directly in Python. The provision of open-source tools to perform common tasks will provide openness in the

Exploring the Dialogic Space of Public Participation in Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kristian Hvidtfelt

of public understanding of science and scientific literacy approaches: that scientific knowledge in some sense is privileged, that understanding the science will lead to appreciative attitudes toward science and technology in general, and that controversial issues involving science and the public are rooted...... in public misconceptions of science. This paper uses the dialogic space proposed by Callon et al. to explore relationships between public and science. The dialogic space spans collective versus scientific dimensions. The collective (or public) is constituted by aggregation (opinion polls) or by composition...... (organized groups of concerned citizens), whereas scientific research is characterized as either secluded research that is performed exclusively by expert scientists or as collaborative research that involves lay people in the production and communication of knowledge....

The connection between students' out-of-school experiences and science learning

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Natalie A.

This study sought to understand the connection between students' out-of-school experiences and their learning in science. This study addresses the following questions: (a) What effects does contextualized information have on student achievement and engagement in science? (b) To what extent do students use their out-of-school activities to construct their knowledge and understanding about science? (c) To what extent do science teachers use students' skills and knowledge acquired in out-of-school settings to inform their instructional practices? This study integrates mixed methods using both quantitative and qualitative approaches to answer the research questions. It involves the use of survey questionnaire and science assessment and features two-level hierarchical analyses of student achievement outcomes nested within classrooms. Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) analyses were used to account for the cluster effect of students nested within classrooms. Interviews with students and teachers were also conducted to provide information about how learning opportunities that take place in out-of-school settings can be used to facilitate student learning in science classrooms. The results of the study include the following: (a) Controlling for student and classroom factors, students' ability to transfer science learning across contexts is associated with positive learning outcomes such as achievement, interest, career in science, self-efficacy, perseverance, and effort. Second, teacher practice using students' out-of-school experiences is associated with decrease in student achievement in science. However, as teachers make more connection to students' out-of-school experiences, the relationship between student effort and perseverance in science learning and transfer gets weaker, thus closing the gaps on these outcomes between students who have more ability to establish the transfer of learning across contexts and those who have less ability to do so. Third, science teachers

Best practices for measuring students' attitudes toward learning science.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovelace, Matthew; Brickman, Peggy

2013-01-01

Science educators often characterize the degree to which tests measure different facets of college students' learning, such as knowing, applying, and problem solving. A casual survey of scholarship of teaching and learning research studies reveals that many educators also measure how students' attitudes influence their learning. Students' science attitudes refer to their positive or negative feelings and predispositions to learn science. Science educators use attitude measures, in conjunction with learning measures, to inform the conclusions they draw about the efficacy of their instructional interventions. The measurement of students' attitudes poses similar but distinct challenges as compared with measurement of learning, such as determining validity and reliability of instruments and selecting appropriate methods for conducting statistical analyses. In this review, we will describe techniques commonly used to quantify students' attitudes toward science. We will also discuss best practices for the analysis and interpretation of attitude data.

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 9

Science.gov (United States)

Hooke, Lydia Razran; Radtke, Mike; Teeter, Ronald; Rowe, Joseph E.

1987-01-01

This is the ninth issue of NASA's USSR Space Lifes Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 46 papers recently published in Russian language periodicals and bound collections and of a new Soviet monograph. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. Additional features include reviews of a Russian book on biological rhythms and a description of the papers presented at a conference on space biology and medicine. A special feature describes two paradigms frequently cited in Soviet space life sciences literature. Information about English translations of Soviet materials available to readers is provided. The abstracts included in this issue have been identified as relevant to 28 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology. These areas are: adaptation, biological rhythms, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, gastrointestinal system, genetics, habitability and environment effects, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, morphology and cytology, musculoskeletal system, nutrition, neurophysiology, operational medicine, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, and space biology and medicine.

Incorporating Earth Science into Other High School Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, C. L. B.; Holzer, M.; Colson, M.; Courtier, A. M. B.; Jacobs, B. E.

2016-12-01

As states begin to review their standards, some adopt or adapt the NGSS and others write their own, many basing these on the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Both the NGSS and the Frameworks have an increased emphasis on Earth Science but many high school teachers are being asked to teach these standards in traditional Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses. At the Earth Educators Rendezvous, teachers, scientists, and science education researchers worked together to find the interconnections between the sciences using the NGSS and identified ways to reference the role of Earth Sciences in the other sciences during lectures, activities and laboratory assignments. Weaving Earth and Space sciences into the other curricular areas, the teams developed relevant problems for students to solve by focusing on using current issues, media stories, and community issues. These and other lessons and units of study will be presented along with other resources used by teachers to ensure students are gaining exposure and a deeper understanding of Earth and Space Science concepts.

The Student/Library Computer Science Collaborative

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Jim

2015-01-01

With funding from an Institute of Museum and Library Services demonstration grant, librarians of the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign partnered with students in computer science courses to design and build student-centered mobile apps. The grant work called for demonstration of student collaboration…

Space science in the twenty-first century: imperatives for the decades 1995 to 2015 : life sciences

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1988-01-01

Early in 1984, NASA asked the Space Science Board to undertake a study to determine the principal scientific issues that the disciplines of space science would face during the period from about 1995 to 2015...

Moon 101: Introducing Students to Lunar Science and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Shaner, A. J.; Shipp, S. S.; Allen, J. S.; Kring, D. A.

2011-12-01

Moon 101 is designed with the purpose of familiarizing students with lunar geology and exploration. Armed with guiding questions, students read articles covering various lunar science topics and browse images from past and current lunar missions to familiarize themselves with available lunar data sets. Moon 101 was originally created for high school students preparing to conduct open-inquiry, lunar research. Most high school students' knowledge of lunar science is limited to lunar phases and tides, and their knowledge of lunar exploration is close to non-existent. Moon 101 provides a summary of the state of knowledge of the Moon's formation and evolution, and the exploration that has helped inform the lunar science community. Though designed for high school students, Moon 101 is highly appropriate for the undergraduate classroom, especially at the introductory level where resources for teaching lunar science are scarce. Moon 101 is comprised of two sections covering lunar science (formation and geologic evolution of the Moon) and one section covering lunar exploration. Students read information on the formation and geologic evolution of the Moon from sources such as the Planetary Science Research Discoveries (PSRD) website and the USGS professional paper A Geologic History of the Moon by Wilhelms. While these resources are not peer-reviewed journals, the information is presented at a level more advanced than articles from newspapers and popular science magazines. This ensures that the language is accessible to students who do not have a strong lunar/planetary science background, or a strong science background in general. Formation readings include information on older and current formation hypotheses, including the Giant Impact Hypothesis, the Magma Ocean hypothesis, and the age of the lunar crust. Lunar evolution articles describe ideas such as the Late Heavy Bombardment and geologic processes such as volcanism and impact cratering. After reading the articles

Seeding Science Success: Psychometric Properties of Secondary Science Questionnaire on Students' Self-Concept, Motivation, and Aspirations

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasena, Wanasinghe; Craven, Rhonda G.; Tracey, Danielle; Dillon, Anthony

2014-01-01

Every sphere of life has been revolutionised by science. Thus, science understanding is an increasingly precious resource throughout the world. Despite the widely recognised need for better science education, the percentage of school students studying science is particularly low, and the numbers of students pursuing science continue to decline…

Graduate Experience in Science Education: the development of a science education course for biomedical science graduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

Markowitz, Dina G; DuPré, Michael J

2007-01-01

The University of Rochester's Graduate Experience in Science Education (GESE) course familiarizes biomedical science graduate students interested in pursuing academic career tracks with a fundamental understanding of some of the theory, principles, and concepts of science education. This one-semester elective course provides graduate students with practical teaching and communication skills to help them better relate science content to, and increase their confidence in, their own teaching abilities. The 2-h weekly sessions include an introduction to cognitive hierarchies, learning styles, and multiple intelligences; modeling and coaching some practical aspects of science education pedagogy; lesson-planning skills; an introduction to instructional methods such as case studies and problem-based learning; and use of computer-based instructional technologies. It is hoped that the early development of knowledge and skills about teaching and learning will encourage graduate students to continue their growth as educators throughout their careers. This article summarizes the GESE course and presents evidence on the effectiveness of this course in providing graduate students with information about teaching and learning that they will use throughout their careers.

NASA/MSFC/NSSTC Science Communication Roundtable

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Mitzi L.; Gallagher, D. L.; Koczor, R. J.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

For the last several years the Science Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center has carried out a diverse program of Internet-based science communication. The Directorate's Science Roundtable includes active researchers, NASA public relations, educators, and administrators. The Science@NASA award-winning family of Web sites features science, mathematics, and space news. The program includes extended stories about NASA science, a curriculum resource for teachers tied to national education standards, on-line activities for students, and webcasts of real-time events. Science stories cover a variety of space-related subjects and are expressed in simple terms everyone can understand. The sites address such questions as: what is space weather, what's in the heart of a hurricane, can humans live on Mars, and what is it like to live aboard the International Space Station? Along with a new look, the new format now offers articles organized by subject matter, such as astronomy, living in space, earth science or biology. The focus of sharing real-time science related events has been to involve and excite students and the public about science. Events have involved meteor showers, solar eclipses, natural very low frequency radio emissions, and amateur balloon flights. In some cases broadcasts accommodate active feedback and questions from Internet participants. Information will be provided about each member of the Science@NASA web sites.

Science writing heurisitc: A writing-to-learn strategy and its effect on student's science achievement, science self-efficacy, and scientific epistemological view

Science.gov (United States)

Caukin, Nancy S.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if employing the writing-to-learn strategy known as a "Science Writing Heuristic" would positively effect students' science achievement, science self-efficacy, and scientific epistemological view. The publications Science for All American, Blueprints for Reform: Project 2061 (AAAS, 1990; 1998) and National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996) strongly encourage science education that is student-centered, inquiry-based, active rather than passive, increases students' science literacy, and moves students towards a constructivist view of science. The capacity to learn, reason, problem solve, think critically and construct new knowledge can potentially be experienced through writing (Irmscher, 1979; Klein, 1999; Applebee, 1984). Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) is a tool for designing science experiences that move away from "cookbook" experiences and allows students to design experiences based on their own ideas and questions. This non-traditional classroom strategy focuses on claims that students make based on evidence, compares those claims with their peers and compares those claims with the established science community. Students engage in reflection, meaning making based on their experiences, and demonstrate those understandings in multiple ways (Hand, 2004; Keys et al, 1999, Poock, nd.). This study involved secondary honors chemistry students in a rural prek-12 school in Middle Tennessee. There were n = 23 students in the group and n = 8 in the control group. Both groups participated in a five-week study of gases. The treatment group received the instructional strategy known as Science Writing Heuristic and the control group received traditional teacher-centered science instruction. The quantitative results showed that females in the treatment group outscored their male counterparts by 11% on the science achievement portion of the study and the males in the control group had a more constructivist scientific

Nuclear science summer school for high scholl students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foster, D.E.; Stone, C.A.

1997-01-01

We have developed a two-week summer lecture and laboratory course that introduces hihg school students to concepts in nuclear science. The program has operated at the San Jose State University Nuclear Science Facility for two years. Experienced high school science teachers run the summer scholl, assisted by other science teachers. Students consider the program to be effective. Its popularity is shown by numerous requests for reservations and the necessity to offer multiple sections in 1997. (author)

The key factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Derek