Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

Traditionally, the majority of astronomy outreach and educational work has been undertaken by scientists with an interest in science communication. However, recent research has shown the importance of actively including teachers in designing and testing new educational materials. In this talk we will present a new project which takes co-creation to a new level. Stargazing Live! is a collaboration between the NOVA education and outreach group and the MeerLICHT and BlackGEM telescopes. It combines the expertise of 1) astronomy outreach and education professionals, 2) physics teachers and 3) scientists to create an exciting and innovative education package bringing semi-live telescope data into the classroom.

About Joanna Holt

I’m originally from the UK but have been living and working in The Netherlands since 2008. After obtaining a PhD in Astrophysics and working for several years as a postdoc, I moved into STEM Education and Outreach. I spent several years working in the European Space Agency’s Education Team on a variety of projects at primary and secondary level including developing classroom resources, teacher training events and educational competitions. In 2016 I moved to the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, AUAS) to teach science and science didactics to trainee primary school teachers. In June 2020, I partially moved to the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) to take up the position of Education Manager. Our education projects operate on a national level and include a group of inflatable mobile planetariums which visit around 300 of schools each year. I also continue to work at the AUAS on a number of science didactics research projects.

Watch a recording of this talk (external link)