(EER's homepage, Astronomer's Education Notebook)
EER's Astronomer's Education Notebook
An online notebook for astronomers and space scientists wanting to become involved in science education.

Things you can do

Astronomers aren't limited to classroom visits. Here are some ideas, and some estimates of the kinds of commitment needed to make them work.

Index:
Minor things to get ideas
Quick start, low commitment activities
Medium commitment activities
Significant commitment activities

Note: I'd really like to hear lessons learned by people who have tried these. How did you contact the right people? How would you start? What are the crucial things to know?

Minor things to get ideas

Talk about science education with others at your institution.
Bring in some science toys, or bring a short activity to lunch or a group meeting. Ask if anyone does K-12 or public activities. See if your institution has a speaker's bureau. Drop in to the Public Relations office, if there is one. Post flyers inviting people to gather for an educational brown-bag lunch (make sure you have a couple of people who will definitely come, first).

Consult your favorite professional organization.
Sit in on the education session or check the posters at a AAS or DPS meeting. Volunteer to help out at the education workshop. Read the AAS newsletter section on education, and the Working Group on Education electronic newsletter (see the subscriptions page. Talk to the people involved -- you can get lots of good ideas and tips, and a sense of what works and how to start.

Quick start, low commitment activities

• be a science fair judge
  If you can get your institution to donate a prize, all the better.
• attend your local school board meetings
• participate in a science-question service
  Deceptively simple, this can be addictive. Do read other's answers so you don't repeat them, and never respond in anger, please -- use references to settle an argument.
• visit a classroom
  If you're asked to visit a classroom, please, please talk to the teacher ahead of time. Don't assume there will be equipment, or even an extension cord. Find out what the students are learning, and work with the teacher to relate your visit topic to the curriculum.
• visit with a youth group/troup
• give a talk
  
• contact a science center or planetarium - volunteer for single events (or more extensive activities)

Medium commitment activities

• join your local amateur astronomy club - they often do public education
• volunteer for a teacher workshop session
  I particularly recommend assisting at teacher workshop held by the AAS or DPS. You may be able to give a science talk or an activity, or just be an extra pair of hands. Stick around for as much of the workshop as you can -- it helps the teachers feel more comfortable around scientists, and sometimes they'll ask quiet questions that they wouldn't ask publically. Sometimes they have insights our colleagues lack, too.

• sponsor a troup/group leader session
• become a science fair tutor
• participate in an outreach project
• replicate a successful project locally
• review textbooks (for publisher or school board)

Significant commitment activities

• answer teacher inquiries or start a teacher support service
  Teachers at a workshop told us that they get together with new teachers once a month. The new teachers save up their questions, and it makes them more confident when they know they have a place to get solutions. The teachers thought that it would be very useful to have this sort of relationship with scientists, too.
• organize a teachers' workshop
• develop educational materials
  I put this last because I don't recommend it to start. Educational materials are best developed by those actively using them. It takes a lot of work, much testing and revising, a familiarity with instructional design, and good marketing in order to develop educational materials that actually get used. There are actually lots of materials around. Learn from teachers: scavenge, adapt, and repackage rather than reinvent.

Go (back) to the Astronomer's Education Notebook or Elizabeth Roettger's Homepage.

Created 14 March 1995, last revised 15 June 1997

URL: http://www.nthelp.com/eer/AENthings2do.html