Chelen Johnson
The HIPS AGaiN (Hidden in Plain Sight AGaiN) team will be using archival surveys for stellar variability to detect variability in active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the background.
[The most interesting thing during the summer trip was] the change in the students and their growth in confidence. The a-ha moments when the big picture came into focus for them. The tour of
JPL was fantastic, too.
By participating in NITARP, I'm leading by example as I'm trying to be a lifelong learner. The students are seeing that there are things that I don't understand, and it's not in a ‘gotcha’ type of way, but in a more reassuring way that we're all going through this together. I like collaborating with my students as if they were colleagues of mine, and I think that is a very redeeming prospect of this opportunity that will benefit them in the long run.
[..]Students who are given the opportunity to do "real science" generally find a greater deal of success when it comes to understanding concepts (and at a deeper level).
