Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2015, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with (or without) students outside of a formal NITARP team.
I assumed that [research] would require a great deal of data analysis, what I didn’t grasp until after this[, my first AAS] meeting was how focused and detailed the analysis would be. The steps in understanding that are gained through the analysis are much smaller than I anticipated they would be for the amount of work that is done.
The most valuable learning in high school arises when students take ownership of the content. Project such as the analysis of NASA telescope data, provide some optimal examples of this type of learning experience.
I had a request to present an inquiry professional development for educators while I was at NITARP and the AAS. Because of the amount of resources, new astronomy, lesson plans, and conversations I now feel I can try this with astronomy rather than my fields of practice.
