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Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS

The summer visit to Caltech is 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 CephC-LABS team came to visit in June 2017. The core team educators attended, plus 5 students.

Quotes

  • Astronomy is rad. The way that astronomers use light to understand the universe is clever and math-y. The deepest truths about the universe are earned through patient, creative, sometimes tedious, skeptical scrutiny of data.
  • [student:] The best part of the trip was working with a real research team and helping each other figure things out that we didn't even have the answers to. Another fantastic part was learning so much, so fast. I enjoyed the fast pace because it kept the work interesting.
  • I really enjoyed the role of the artists and computer savvy in communicating the science. Astronomers have done a great job of improving the communication and education through various visual representations.
  • [...] this was a much different experience than taking a grad course, or doing a workshop on a campus. It reminded me of my undergrad physics courses (25+ years ago), where professors would often through big gems of knowledge a class, which you would take back to your dorm room and wrestle with throughout the week, although you were sure to get another packet of knowledge at the next lecture. I was able to get a glimpse into the experience of learning at an accelerated pace. It will help me this year as I make my revisions and consider what my students will experience as I lead classes this year, and also the rigor that must be maintained.
  • No, [this work] could not have been done online and had the same effect. Online has too many limitations. The amount of information was vast. Although, after the visit, the online will take on a new dimension. The trip activated us all in ways, (although we will be negotiating the startup of school for a few weeks), that if we can be patient, should result in higher motivation levels and a deeper sense of commitment by all involved. It was also good to learn the personalities of the students. We learned a lot in a short amount of time, and the students would never had been up to speed / gaps in knowledge, without the face-to-face time.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS