Translating contemporary astrophysics topics into teaching materials. (CHAMELEON)

Astrophysics is a subject that is interdisciplinary by nature. It makes use of expertise from all four components of STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths), and can act as an exemplary teaching tool for combining multiple subjects within STEM. People of all ages find the topic of space exciting and there are a multitude of space-related teaching activities for students at all levels of education (e.g., ESA Education, NASA education, European Space Education Resource Office, Network for Astronomy for School Education). Despite this, astrophysics is not often included as a curriculum subject in schools. This research aims to investigate the translation of cutting-edge astrophysics concepts into STEM classroom lessons. This project is a part of the CHAMELEON innovative training network, virtual laboratories researching exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) and protoplanetary disks (the disks around stars within which exoplanets form). Due to the interdisciplinary nature of astrophysics, several topics being researched within this network were found to overlap with STEM topics that are taught in schools. During this project, scientists from within the network are grouped with STEM teachers in order to help develop educational resources that will be piloted and assessed in schools. The main aim of this project is to investigate the methods and limitations of translating cutting-edge astrophysics concepts into teaching materials. Through this project, insight will be provided into the process of identifying a promising cutting-edge science concept, constructing a standard model of the concept and then translating these into models appropriate for being taught in schools. This research project will have tangible outcomes including a number of tested and validated resources for the classroom, and teacher training sessions.

Keywords:ASTROPHYSICS

Disciplines:Atmospheric physics