Published: 31st January 2025 13:45 (UTC)

The Tamil nadu Astronomy & Science Society (TASS) and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) organized an OAE-Center India supported TTP on Astronomy on the 6th, 7th and 8th December, 2024 in order to support school teachers and resource personnel dedicated to teaching science, geography, mathematics, and environmental studies but who wish to impart astronomy concepts to their students directly and indirectly. The workshop was attended by 35 participants. The program addressed pedagogical aspects of the teaching-learning process with regard to concepts in astronomy and included hands-on activities, simple calculations, and a sky watch session.

The main aim of the workshop was to improve Astronomy education for the students in primary and high school classes through teachers. The workshop included concepts covered in school textbooks such as the effects of the tilt of the Earth’s axis, the phases of the moon, eclipses, tides, in addition to basics of the solar system, astronomy in daily life and the various missions of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The teachers were also introduced to scales in the Universe, constellations and stars, pre-telescopic observational astronomy as well as galaxies and cosmology.

The workshop is expected to help teachers introduce astronomy in an interesting and interactive way which will kindle the students curiosity to learn about astronomy. One of the themes of the workshop was to introduce teachers to different teaching techniques. The resource persons for the workshop were drawn from reputed national astronomy institutes in India, along with staff from the TASS and IIA. Through the use of visual and study aids, worksheets and demonstrations, as well as hands-on activities and role plays, some of the complex concepts were broken in to smaller bits which would be easier to digest for school children.

The workshop was well received by the participants based on their feedback and is expected to enhance the quality of astronomy education in schools, especially to make both astronomy and science education more fruitful for students and learners.

         

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