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Summer Visit - 2015 - LADDT

The summer visit to Caltech is 3-4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The LADDT team came to visit in June 2015. The core team educators attended, plus 14 students.

Quotes

  • Real astronomy goes beyond pretty pictures, which are only representative images. I was not expecting to do photometry but am sure glad we did. That is a tool I will be employing in my classes to give students a deeper understanding of what the data means and where it comes from.
  • [student: Real astronomy is] Not being afraid to mess up and writing every step you do.
  • Team build, team build, team build. The work is so much more successful and enjoyable if you build the trust.
  • One of the big benefits was how quickly our depth of understanding increased just by being able to talk to each other and work together. Personally, I would not have been able to think as deeply as I did without the in person interaction and conversations over lunch.
  • The best part of the trip besides watching the students interact with each other would have to be participating in actual research. Making analysis mistakes, regrouping and getting back to work. I really enjoyed the authenticity of the experience.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2015 - LADDT