Chelen Johnson
This virtual team collects all independent research presented in 2017, and done by NITARP or Spitzer alumni with (or without) students outside of a formal NITARP team.
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.
The research is a big part of it, but watching how someone else teaches this high level information is really useful for my own teaching.
I enjoyed the whole week [at my first AAS]. The aspect that was best was connecting with my teammates. The personal contact at this early stage was important.
