• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2021

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.  This year, the pandemic forced the Jan 2021 meeting online, and meant that we didn't select a new class for 2021, so only one class is attending the online AAS. 

The 2020 NITARP teams attended the 2021 January AAS. We sent about 30 people to the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

2020 Teams:

Also see video "turbo talks" from ORMA team : science and education.

 

Quotes

  • What took place over the previous 12 months for myself and my students involved in the project was authentic learning. My students and I were interested in the project not because of a grade to receive at the end of the project nor because of a test that would assess our knowledge and determine our progression with respect to our peers.
  • Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, my unconscious misconceptions of science continue to burble forth. I finally came to understand that “research” is a much broader term than I thought. [...]the struggle continues, and continues to delight.
  • [student:] Experiences such as NITARP help start teachers and students down a road of curiosity. If there is one thing I’ll remember doing in NITARP, it’ll be asking questions. Instead of sitting in silence wondering what to do, I was encouraged to ask questions, and when that happened, I would always get a reply that sparked my curiosity even further. Having the ability to observe the world around me and wonder how it works is something that would not have happened without NITARP.
  • [..] as someone who has both careers in science and education, this is the most authentic experience I've had that satisfies both. I never felt like I was just a teacher observing, nor did I wonder how to take it back to the class.
  • [...]one of the greatest lessons I think I learned about professional scientists… they are drowning in challenges but keep smiling, keep questioning, and keep persisting. Building in the necessity of that kind of resiliency can’t be faked.

Related Teams

We're back from the Jan 2026 AAS and we had a grand time!