INTRODUCTION

THE PROGRAM

RESULTSRESULTS

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Initial Goals of the PSC :Initial Goals of the PSC :• Advance high school science teachers’ and students’ understanding of the nature of science and the relationship between science and technology. • Prepare teachers to implement authentic research with students. • Increase student interest in and awareness of

STEM career pathways.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in partnership with West Virginia University has been engaging high school students and their teachers in radio astronomy research through the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC), an NSF ITEST grant. The aim of the PSC is to stimulate student interest in STEM related careers by involving high school students in authentic research—to analyze data for the purpose of discovering new pulsars. Here, we examine the evaluation data collected to determine if initial goals were met, and if in fact, the initial goals were the right ones.

The PSC is part formal education program and part after school “club”. Teachers and high school students participate in residential summer institutes each summer at the NRAO in Green Bank, WV where they form research teams, and work with astronomers to learn the skills and attitudes necessary to become research scientists.

Back at their home schools, they recruit more students to join the “club”. PSC members gain access to over 50 terabytes of raw data collected by the GBT. They work independently at school, home or at public internet access points to analyze this data. They meet regularly with their team members after school to discuss their findings. They have substantial access to research astronomers who meet with them virtually and through visits to their school.

Annual 2.5 -day Capstone Seminar at WVUAnnual 2.5 -day Capstone Seminar at WVU. . Active PSC members are invited to the Capstone Seminar at WVU where they present their research, meet astronomers, tour the STEM colleges, and interact with other teams.

So Far:So Far:• 84 Teachers from 12 states have participated in PSC professional development;• 1250 students have participated in the program; •555 students have become full PSC members joining astronomers in analyzing new data collected by the GBT; • Four new pulsars and one rotating radio transient have been discovered.

Involving High School Students in Astronomy Research: What's the goal?

S.A. Heatherly, S. Scoles1, M. McLaughlin, D. Lorimer,2, 1NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY, 2WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, 3UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

DISCUSSIONDISCUSSION

DATA COLLECTIONDATA COLLECTION

Fig.2. Location of PSC Schools

Fig.1. Students from 3 different school co-discovered a pulsar- seen here in the GBT control room during the confirmation observations

We evaluated teachers, students who participated in our summer programs, and active PSC members who attended Capstone through a host (!) of pre-post self-assessments and Likert-style instruments.

Two instruments of note include:Research Self Assessment (Developed by NRAO in 1996)•Chronbach’s Alpha Reliability – 0.9•gauges self efficacy and confidence in one’s ability to conduct research, ability to work with others, and identifying with science research; that it is worthwhile. •Two slightly different forms for teachers and studentsStudent Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry (LL Liang, et.al. 2006)•Chronbach’s Alpha Reliability – 0.7•Gauges understanding of 7 aspects of science•Based on “Views of Nature of Science” instruments (Lederman et.al. 2002).

REFERENCESREFERENCES

Table 2. RSA: Teachers Pre-Post Gains, P<0.05 ( N= 52) All Male Female

Self-Efficacy

I’m comfortable using the telescope. x   x

I am scared. x x x

I don’t have the background needed. x x x

I’m afraid of making a fool of myself. x   x

I know how to answer a research problem x   x

I feel like I don't know anything. x   x

I’m worried about getting project completed.     x

I feel confident about doing research.     x

Perception of Scientists      

Scientists will help me when I need it. x x  

Enthusiasm for STEM work      

I am exhilarated.     x

I am overwhelmed. x   x

Group Confidence      

My teammates know more than I do.     x

I don't like depending on other people.     x

I know I could do it better myself. x   x

Nature of Science      

I'll be able to apply this research to other areas of science. x x x

Using the scientific method is essential.     x

Getting the right answer is important. x x  

Does the PSC Increase student interest in STEM career Does the PSC Increase student interest in STEM career pathways?pathways?For those who participate in the institute and the Capstone, the PSC significantly (p<0.05) increases student interest in becoming a scientist, electrical engineer, and software developer., but not in mechanical engineering. The Capstone experience also affects student interest in engineering and science careers.

Table 1. Self reported interest in careers before and after participating in 2010 institute.

Pre-Institute Mean

Post-Institute Mean

Paired One-sided t

p <

Scientist 2.92 3.19 2.94 0.0030

Electrical Engineer 1.86 2.59 5.30 0.0000

Software Developer 2.05 2.30 2.31 0.0150

Mechanical Engineer 2.03 2.19 0.85 0.2007

Does the PSC prepare teachers to implement authentic Does the PSC prepare teachers to implement authentic research with students?research with students?All teachers

•experienced significant gains in confidence regarding their own knowledge base and their ability to do research. •were less overwhelmed after the training.•saw more benefit to working in groups.•were less concerned with simply getting the right answer.•felt that their experiences would be applicable to other

scientific work.Female teachers

• initially ranked themselves as less comfortable, more scared, less confident, and less knowledgeable than the male teachers did.•showed self-efficacy and confidence improvements that

were more significant than the male teachers.

Does the PSC advance high school science teachers’ and Does the PSC advance high school science teachers’ and students’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS)?students’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS)?

Lederman, N. G., Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R. L., & Schwartz, R. S. (2002). Views of nature of science questionnaire: Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learners’ conceptions of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 497–521

Liang L. L., Chen S., Chen X., Kaya O. N., Adams A. D., Macklin M., & Ebenezer J. (2006). Student understanding of science and scientific inquiry: revision and further validation of an assessment instrument. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).

Analysis of the Student RSA reveals significant pre-post gains (p<0.05) on the total scale and on the following statements. After participating in the PSC, students feel:• More like they have the background they need for research;•Less like their teammates knew more than they did;•More exhilarated;•Less overwhelmed;•Less afraid of making a fool out of themselves;•More convinced that scientists will help them;•More like a valuable member of a team;•More like they know how to answer a research question;•More comfortable using scientific instruments;•Less afraid to ask the scientist questions;•More invested in making an important discovery.

Chi-square analysis of each question to showed significant ( p< .05) and differences in the distribution of responses between boys and girls and found enhanced pre-post gains in girls particularly self-efficacy. As a result of participating in the PSC, girls, show greater gains in confidence and seeing themselves as scientists.

Results analyzed to date do NOT show a marked increase in teachers or students’ knowledge of the NOS, as measured by the SUSSI instrument. Only on two aspects of science, tentativeness, and creativity do we see pre/post gains in students. We asked NRAO scientists to complete the survey as well. A comparison of teachers, students and scientists aspect are shown below.

Figure 3. Pre-post Gains on “We will be doing Valuable Research”

The PSC seems to prepare teachers to help their students do authentic research because they themselves are more confident in doing so. Female teachers experienced more significant changes in their confidence and comfort with scientific work.

Even though teachers and students are thrust into an authentic research experience, mentored by scientists, there is little shift in their understanding of NOS. We wonder: is the SUSSI asking the right questions if scientists are not scoring much better than students? Would you like to take the survey? https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SUSSI

Self-efficacy and identification with STEM activities seem to be a key in motivating teachers and students.

TThe Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) project is funded in large part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.