Space Science Institute

What?

In early May, 2000, I attended a four day workshop by the Space Science Institute.  This workshop was entitled  K-12 Education for Scientists and Engineers.  

Why?

NASA has recently mandated that a small portion of every research or spacecraft grant be used for educational outreach to the public.  This seminar, partially funded by NASA, was intended to help the attendees understand the issues around delivering formal and informal science education.

Why Tom?

I'm finding that some of the most nourishing time I have is when I'm sharing what I know and sharing my enthusiasm, be it for astronomy, Sanskrit ... whatever...  Because my interest has been growing in this area, I wanted to get better informed about the field and ( a new term for me ) its "best practices."

Who Attended?

It was attended by about 45 professional scientists and engineers ... and me!  It was exhilarating to spend the time with these people.  It occurred to me that these are my people!  By that I mean, like me,  they're enthusiastic about science and space science and they are into education (so they're not too nerded out.)

I had many, many exciting discussions with the attendees, be it with a Hubble researcher described his galaxy observing research, or a Turkish woman gave me a travel log of her trip to South America (she ventured to the Southern tip, you know, the Straits of Magellan that we heard about in school) to do observing at a top observatory in Chile, or a physicist of 20 years who is now the Director of Teacher Education at Muddlebury college, or a daredevil motorcycling physicist who stretched my mind in a variety of wonderful  ways.  It was an astonishingly cool collection of people

Who Led the Workshop?

Space Science Institute staff and outside consultants, teachers, and others gave presentations at  the workshop.  Every one of them was articulate, passionate, informed, and interesting. 

Whadja Do?

There were  lectures, discussions, field trips to an elementary school classroom, poster sessions (where attendees post some aspect of their work and others mill about, read, and discuss it with them), hands-on science kit projects, a board learning game called "The Change Game," that very effectively drove home the complexity of making systemic changes in the classroom, and lots more. 

Whatja Learn?

I learnt that the current methodology in science education is "hands-on kit, inquiry-based."  Students (young or old)  learn how to do science, how to think, by doing it!  In the old teaching model, the teacher was always lecturing -- a "sage on the stage."  The new model is for a teacher to be a "guide on the side." It's harder to do, but more exciting. (It turns out that I had the good fortune to have several courses when I was growing up that were of this genre.)

I learned a lot about the politics of education, changing school districts, funding, and, quite frankly, how unbelievably difficult it is to be a good teacher.

And, I confirmed for myself that I do have something to offer our children and our schools.  I'm a jealous "wanna-be" -- I want to be as creative and insightful and smart about teaching as some of the attendees are.  Check back in a year or two to see how I'm doing!

The seminar was well worth my time and money, even if I was its "real-world poster boy!" surrounded by teachers, consultants, and researchers.

What's Next?

Um, I want a portable planetarium (see http://www.starlab.com for an example).  I need to continue learning  how to teach.   And, I need to make contacts with local school districts and museums to find ways to get into the classroom.

So?

So, I put this page up mainly because I wanted to show you my application to the workshop, which (thanks in part to K and Kathy) I feel captures the spirit of my involvement in the field of education thus far.  It has a photo or two in it, so it may take a minute or two to download.  It's an MS-Word document, which means you may or may not be able to view it.  But, check it out and let me know what you think.   Click here for my application to the workshop. (If you're asked for a network user name and password,  just hit OK a few times, it should let you in) Tell me what you think.

Click here to see the Space Science Institute's web site.