Join ICAER: International Capacity-Building in Astronomy Education Research

Astronomy has long been described as a “gateway” into science – but what do we actually know about how students across different cultures and education systems understand and feel about it? ICAER (International Capacity-Building in Astronomy Education Research) is a new project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE), funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, that brings together astronomy educators and researchers from around the world to explore this question.

ICAER has two intertwined goals: First, we want to build a global community of AER-literate volunteers, i.e. people who want to learn more about and develop research skills, connect with colleagues internationally, and contribute to a growing evidence base in the field. Second, we want to conduct comparative astronomy education research: using shared, validated instruments across many national contexts to understand student attitudes toward astronomy (and, in a later phase, student conceptual understanding).

We are now inviting the wider astronomy education community, and in particular our National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs), to join us as local collaborators. This means contributing to data collection in your own country, becoming part of an international research project, and co-authoring the resulting publications.

No prior research experience required! You don't need to be an expert in astronomy education research to take part – just curious and willing to learn :)

Why join?

• Build AER skills. We offer a monthly seminar series, resources designed for colleagues new to education research as well as experienced astronomy education researchers who want to work in a new (and exciting!) context.
• Connect with and learn from a community of practice. Join a network of astronomy educators and researchers worldwide who are asking (and answering!) similar questions in very different classrooms.
• Contribute to AER publications. ICAER is modelled on successful large-scale collaborative studies, where local researchers retain ownership of their national data while contributing to a shared, comparative dataset. Data collected through ICAER feeds into peer-reviewed outputs, with authorship that reflects your contribution.

Interested? Read the terms of participation here, then submit a short expression of interest to let us know why you'd like to join and what opportunities you have to collect data locally.