Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

"Space Youth Challenge" is a competition in which teams of 5 students use the game "Kerbal Space Program" to dream up their space missions and then execute them, according to the real laws of physics. Participants get to put the knowledge they learn in schools from physics, celestial mechanics, newton's law of motions, vectors, torque, aerodynamics, etc. into practice. Over the 3 seasons of Space Youth Challenge we have received nearly 1,997 participants from 472 teams. The responses to the competition are overwhelmingly positive and have proven that video game can also be a powerful alternative to conventional formal education in schools on top of allowing artistic freedom and teaching basic video editing skills which is arguable one of the most important skills in this era.

Biography:

Matipon Tangmatitham has a background in theoretical astrophysics. However, he is also an avid amateur astronomer, astrophotographer, science communicator, planetarian, outreach specialist, and has extensive experience developing activities for and arranging teacher training workshops in Thailand that has received well over 9000+ teachers. Apart from working with the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand in developing the country's astronomy outreach and education program, he is also serving as the current director of the International Training Center in Astronomy under the auspices of UNESCO (ITCA).