Chelen Johnson
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.
What was especially important to me as an educator was the way that the students planned their own schedule of listening to research presentations [at the AAS] and reviewing poster presentations. The students were very active participants in the conference and they took away an amazing amount of information and excitement. One parent told me that her normally quiet son spent the entire weekend relating stories of the experience to his family and friends.
I enjoyed meeting the students from the other schools. They were polite, articulate, and intelligent. I thought the teachers and parents had done a great job raising these kids and preparing them for the meeting. I hope my students are half as good.
