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AAS - 2019

The Winter American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is the largest meeting of professional astronomers in the world. NITARP educators attend an AAS first to meet their team, then they go home and work remotely for much of the year, and then attend an AAS to present their results.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The 2018 and 2019 NITARP teams attended the 2019 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2018 class was presenting results and the 2019 class was starting up. We had alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

2018 Teams:

NITARP Management:

Returning Alumni Teams:

 

Quotes

  • I am trying to make my astronomy class more discussion-based and trying to make it more inquiry-based. I was able to network with other teachers and got some ideas of how to move away from lecture. Although lecture has some usefulness I really want to try to be more inquiry driven.
  • I think that you can see a distinct difference between science teachers with a research background and science teachers who just went to school for teaching. Kids need to stop getting the worksheet recipe of a lab and taught critical thinking skills. Projects like this help teachers get that.
  • While [my scientist] knows way more than I do about the topic of YSOs, for the purpose of our team study, she will be looking to me (and our other team members) for new information. Rather than a teacher/student dynamic, a successful research project will require real collaboration and learning from each other. [...]it was a really cool moment.
  • Teachers will be better at providing students with authentic learning experiences if they are provided with them as well. Teachers love to learn, and inspiration from programs like NITARP can only add to their ability to inspire their students.
  • NITARP has made me really hungry for intense, in-depth experiences—I can no longer imagine doing the sort of basic PD sessions that many local school systems offer to their teachers.

Related Teams

AAS - 2019