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AAS - 2015

The Winter American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is the largest meeting of professional astronomers in the world. NITARP educators attend an AAS first to meet their team, then they go home and work remotely for much of the year, and then attend an AAS to present their results.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The 2014 and 2015 NITARP teams attended the 2015 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2014 class was presenting results and the 2015 class was starting up. We had many alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

Quotes

  • [student:] Our teacher gave us the basic rules, and just let us go. In the beginning, we had no idea where to start. We were supposed to pick a topic of research and I remember being so used to teachers telling me every single thing I had to accomplish and every thing I wasn’t supposed to do or try. This project taught me that you will never get a checklist in a scientific career. There are no answers yet, and it’s up to you to figure them out. This is why I have trouble with the way students are taught in school. It’s easy to get an A when you have everything you’re supposed to do as a checklist, but there is no learning in that. You can’t fail at something that’s already done for you.
  • No district-led professional development can compare.
  • As a result of NITARP I will have a firm commitment to include some component of active, original, ongoing research in my teaching every year.
  • After having taught fiercely in our public schools for almost 20 years, I can tell you that programs like NITARP are the ONLY programs I have ever heard of that help people understand what science actually. You want to invest in the future of the US?...Help programs like NITARP to spread the word; no one else seems to know what it is.
  • [student:] I started this project knowing absolutely nothing about astronomy. My idea of an astronomer was a man (or woman) in a spacesuit prancing on the moon. I was completely unaware of the breadth of astronomy as I have never taken a class and have never been exposed to anything close to astronomy (haven't even taken a physics class before). I now realize that astronomers are one of the most friendliest, smartest, collaborative bunch of people, and that they don't have to be covered in white bubbly suits to be called astronomers.

Related Teams

AAS - 2015