Chelen Johnson
My ideas about astronomy has changed significantly, thanks to NITARP. Quite simply, I didn't understand the role of archival data in modern astronomical research. Previously, I considered it an intellectual exercise, work suitable for a reference librarian, but not real research. I now know it to comprise the future of astronomy, and the very picture of MOST of tomorrow's scientific research.
I have begun to grasp the mind-boggling amount of data being produced by this [astronomical] infrastructure.
I'm also here with other educators, rubbing shoulders with them, seeing how they teach things, how they frame things, like what their mindset is. I keep opening my syllabus for the fall and adding things to it based on whatever we talked about here.