Published: 9th March 2024 06:00 (UTC)

Good news for anyone interested in astronomy education: the date for the next virtual Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education has been set: the event will take place 12 - 14 November 2024. Shaw-IAU Workshops feature a broad selection of presentations on resources, best practices, teaching methods and science topics of interest to primary and secondary school teaching. Mark your calendar! If you want to play it safe and not miss any news on the Shaw-IAU Workshops or similar offers from the IAU Office of Astronomy for education, make sure to subscribe to the OAE Mailing List.

If you want to learn more about previous Shaw-IAU Workshops, you’re in luck, since we are also announcing the publication of the previous fully virtual 5th Shaw–IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education. That workshop took place from 29th November to 1st December 2023. The proceedings provide you with summaries of all the contributions, and include links for all the talks published on the YouTube channel of the IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Education, as well as for the poster PDFs available on the website. This online workshop drew almost 800 participants from nearly 100 countries, and was made possible by generous funding from the Shaw Prize Foundation.

More specifically, the 5th workshop had two focus topics. Regarding best-practice, there were special sessions on astronomy education beyond traditional classroom settings, exploring diverse teaching methodologies applicable in environments such as science centers, planetaria, and youth clubs. The special science topic was planetary atmospheres including climate change, from Earth and the solar system to exoplanets. The special science topics are meant to bring participants up to date on an area of astronomy research that is relevant for astronomy teaching. Other workshop sessions addressed teaching methods and tools, astronomy education research and evaluation, and astronomy education in practice.

This collection was compiled and edited by Eduardo Penteado, Rebecca Sanderson, Tshiamiso Makwela, Niall Deacon, Sophie Bartlett, and Samantha Browne who led the effort says, “We are happy to present this compilation of projects and resources from educators and researchers around the world, who are working to bring astronomy to a new generation and inspire them to address the urgent challenge of climate change. My gratitude extends to all co-editors and participants for their valuable insights and contributions to make this possible.”

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
The 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop is scheduled to take place: 12 - 14 November 2024
If you want to stay up to date with the activities of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education, and receive our announcements about projects, opportunities for collaboration, and events, please subscribe to the OAE mailing list.

More information:
The IAU is the international astronomical organization that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) is hosted at Haus der Astronomie (HdA), managed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. The OAE’s mission is to support and coordinate astronomy education by astronomy researchers and educators, aimed at primary or secondary schools worldwide. HdA’s hosting the OAE was made possible through the support of the German foundations Klaus Tschira Stiftung and Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. The Shaw-IAU Workshops on Astronomy for Education are funded by the Shaw Prize Foundation.

The OAE is supported by a growing network of OAE Centers and OAE Nodes, collaborating to lead global projects developed within the network. The OAE Centers and Nodes are: the OAE Center China–Nanjing, hosted by the Beijing Planetarium (BJP); the OAE Center Cyprus, hosted by Cyprus Space Exploration Organization (CSEO); the OAE Center Egypt, hosted by the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG); the OAE Center India, hosted by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA); the OAE Center Italy, hosted by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF); the OAE Node Republic of Korea, hosted by the Korean Astronomical Society (KAS); OAE Node France at CY Cergy Paris University hosted by CY Cergy Paris University; and the OAE Node Nepal, hosted by the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO).

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