The Sun to the Earth – and Beyond Panel Reports (2003) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 Report of the Panel on Education and Society
5 Report of the Panel on Education and Society
Pages 211-236
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 211... ...
Report of the Pane' on Education and Society SUMMARY 213 5.1 INTRODUCTION 214 5.2 NATIONAL NEEDS 215 ATechnicallyTrained and Increasingly Diverse Workforce 215 A Scientifical Iy Literate Citizenry 21 7 The Need for Space Sciences 218 5.3 THE ROLE OF SOLAR AN D SPACE PHYSICS 218 A Motivator for the General Publ ic 218 Providing Educational Resources for K-1 6 Education 219 Providing Opportunities for Undergraduate Research 219 5.4 SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 219 Historical Background 219 Some Issues in Undergraduate and Graduate Science Education 220 5.5 K-1 2 SCI ENCE EDUCATION AN D PU BLIC OUTREACH 224 Science Education Reform, the National Standards, and Solar and Space Physics 224 NASA Education and Public Outreach and the Connection to NSF Education Initiatives Museums, the Web, Newspapers, and Other Outreach 230 5.6 ADDRESSING THE NEEDS: MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSION 232 211
|
From page 213... ...
However, efforts by the solar and space physics community to enhance science education do not take place in a vacuum. There is increasing recognition of our nation's need for a technically trained workforce and for a scientifically literate citizenry, and in particular for professionals trained in solar and space physics who will be capable of leading our efforts to understand, monitor, and respond to changes in Earth's space environment.
|
From page 214... ...
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS During the past few years NASA's OSS has begun to commit significant resources to education and public outreach. At the same time, efforts to revitalize and reform K-1 2 science education are wel I under way in several states, often with su pport from I arge federal programs, and particularly those funded by NSF.
|
From page 215... ...
in the reports Benchmarks for Science Literacy4 and National Science Education Standards.5 The standards have received support from scientific societies, including the American Geophysical Union, the scientific society with which most space scientists are associated.6 It is now recognized that, in addition to performing basic research, practitioners in all 2R.E. Lopez and T
|
From page 216... ...
.The AAAS established Project 2061 to produce a series of documents, including Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993) ,3 which outlines what students should be studying at various grade levels in order to achieve science literacy.The NRC then published the National Science Education Standards (1995)
|
From page 217... ...
At the same time NASA was developing a diversity strategy, and in the summer of 2000, OSS launched its Minority University Initiative (MUl) .The MUI made funds available to minority-serving institutions for a wide range of programs, such as new space science courses and degree programs and public education and outreach efforts.While both efforts are in their early phases, both are quite promising and may soon serve as models for increasing diversity in solar and space physics.
|
From page 218... ...
THE NEED FOR SPACE SCIENCES Stepping away from the larger issue of a technically trained workforce and general science literacy, there is also the need to ensure that there are sufficient technical professionals in solar and space physics to meet the growing national need to understand and monitor the space envi ran meet, wh ich is of critical i mportance to our nation's assets, both those in space and those on the ground. We are becoming increasingly dependent on orbiting satellites for applications such as communication networks, global positioning for ship and airline navigation and for military operations, and monitoring the Earth system for climate change and weather forecasting.
|
From page 219... ...
And while precollege science education is very important, the community must think beyond K-12, which is what most scientists think of when speaking of "education." Specifically, solar and space physics can contribute substantially to undergraduate education by provid i ng the context for i Instructional programs i n many different disciplines. PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH Undergraduate research experiences are widely recognized as having a significant impact on the recruitment and retention of science and engineering majors.
|
From page 220... ...
The field has much to offer such institutions in terms of outstanding opportunities for students and the excitement that space science generates. SOME ISSUES IN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE SCIENCE EDUCATION Access to undergraduate education has grown explosively in the past 50 years, and access to at least introductory col lege-level science courses has increased at a nearly comparable rate.
|
From page 221... ...
Undergraduate Research The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates has identified a major reason for the crisis in undergraduate science education as a destructive lack of con nection at many col loges and u n iversities between undergraduate study and the creation of future research faculty.46 In many universities undergraduates are isolated from the challenge and excitement their professors find in research. Howeverwell presented undergraduate courses may be, they do not and essentially cannot expose students to the character of the research world.
|
From page 222... ...
The panel thus believes that one significant step that the United States can take to increase the number of college and university students in science majors is to expand opportunities for undergraduate research experiences (see Figure 5.11. On-campus undergraduate research and off-campus research i nternsh i ps are val ued not on Iy because of the hands-on experience they provide.
|
From page 223... ...
Second, science education research has shown that higher-level learning is enhanced when students obtain research experience in more than one field. Indeed, many individuals currently active in solar and space physics began their research careers as undergraduates, often in other fields.
|
From page 224... ...
By creating the conditions that would allow research groups at such institutions to thrive, agencies with an interest in solar and space physics will also help to increase diversity in science. 5.5 K-1 2 SCIENCE EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH SCIENCE EDUCATION REFORM,THE NATIONAL STANDARDS, AND SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS The National Science Education Standards23 provide guidance on specific content understandings and process skills that students should achieve by certain grade levels.
|
From page 225... ...
In some cases, the connections between solar and space physics research and the National Science Education Standards are explicit. For example, through the standards for Earth and space science, high school students are expected to learn that the Sun is a star and to understand how the solar system evolved, and how the Sun will evolve with time.
|
From page 226... ...
A recent evaluation based on extensive interviews with a wide range of OSS EPO providers, customers, and others documents areas where real progress has been made.26 The support network has established strong working relationships with informal science centers around the country, leading to the development of successful programs and museum exhibits. It has also produced instructional materials that incorporate recognition of national standards, and it is attempting to review the quality of existing space science educational materials.
|
From page 227... ...
Courtesy of NASA Office of Space Science Education and Public Outreach. develop a local set of clearly defined activities that would require limited time commitments by scientists, such as reviewing instructional materials for scientific accuracy.
|
From page 228... ...
The newest initiatives in large-scale science and mathematics reform are the NSF-funded Centers for Teaching and Learning and the Math and Science Partnerships.These large collaborations represent additional opportunities for the solar and space physics community to provide resources and expertise for science education throughout the country. In fact, NSF's request for proposals for the Math and Science Partnerships emphasizes that mathematicians, scientists, and engineers accept vital roles in this effort to impact the teacher workforce and to work with teachers and administrators to substantially improve student achievement.
|
From page 229... ...
. This program solicited a broad range of proposals from minorityserving universities to expand space science education
|
From page 230... ...
and outreach in traditionally underserved communities. The kinds of projects funded range from professional development for teachers in space science topics, undergraduate research programs, and even the creation of new space science degree programs.
|
From page 231... ...
Even though organizations such as NSF and NASA have very capable press offices, press officers themselves are not in a good position to identify the newest results, and individual scientists in turn are typically not good at identifying which stories will easily capture the public eye. NAS~s Office of Space Science now funds a scientist at the 25 percent level as a press liaison who surveys current developments in solar and heliospheric physics and identifies interesting new results for press attention; this approach has yielded significant media coverage, and it has enhanced public awareness of solar physics phenomena.
|
From page 232... ...
At the Adler Planetarium in Chicago space scientists have contributed to a Sun-Earth Connections sky show and provided scientific animations to kiosks in public galleries. These informal science education efforts should continue to be supported (see Box 5.7~.
|
From page 233... ...
In fact, because solar and space physics is becoming a distributed enterprise, with many investigators having access to facilities and laboratories (spacecraft data sets, etc.) , solar and space physics research programs can produce world-class results without the need for enormous local investments to build laboratories.
|
From page 234... ...
The decline in science education, particularly at the undergraduate level and in physics, is well documented. Solar and space physics could play an important role in revitalizing physics and astronomy education, particularly at college, by using people's natural interest in space to reach a wide range of students.
|
From page 235... ...
The RDGs would develop instructional materials, do research on teaching and learning (including guiding graduate students to space science education research) , and disseminate teaching resources.
|
From page 236... ...
NASA EPO efforts seem largely unknown to most systemic reform projects in the country, although there are notable exceptions. In June 2002, NASA's Support Network project held a very successful education conference in Chicago; nonetheless, that conference was not attended by leaders of the major NSF-funded science education efforts.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.