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Cosmos in the Classroom: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Introductory Astronomy

Sunday evening, August 1 through Wednesday afternoon, August 4

Symposium Overview

We will consider how we can do a better job with introductory astronomy, planetary science, and astrobiology courses, and learn from some of the outstanding astronomy and space science teachers and educational researchers in the country. Much of the symposium will be in the format of small-group sessions, where we will practice effective techniques for reaching students. Poster papers, panels, special interest group meetings, and a share-a-thon will also be part of the program.

Conference participants will include community and small-college instructors, university professors, part-timers and adjuncts, graduate students and post-docs just about to teach their first solo course, advanced high school teachers, and anyone who may be facing a group of non-science majors in the future. We will have sessions of interest to those new to teaching as well as to veteran instructors.

Click here for instructions to register for the symposium.

Symposium Overview

The symposium will feature one-hour hands-on workshops, special interest group discussion on topics of particular interest to those teaching Astronomy 101, and a wide range of poster papers, on display for all three days. Click here to see a program preview.

In addition, there will be a share-a-thon room set aside for those who just want to bring a syllabus, activity, or other material to share with participants without doing a formal paper. No abstract is required; just bring 200 copies with you.

The Cosmos program committee is arranging a number of plenary talks or panels to complement the above sessions.

The program overview of the last Cosmos symposium (in 2007) can still be seen on the ASP web site as a PDF file, and may help give you ideas of the kind of sessions you could propose.

Proceedings

While the Cosmos conferences do not publish formal proceedings, we will put together a compilation of handouts, curriculum sheets, and poster-paper text from the meeting. These will be organized by topic and put on a CD or DVD-ROM. The disk will be available through the non-profit educational online store of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. All participants are invited to submit materials and instructions will be sent to registered attendees.

Scholarships

Thanks to the generosity of a number of meeting co-sponsors, a limited number of $750 scholarships will be available to meeting participants who certify that they have no other source of funding to attend. Preference will be given to instructors from institutions that enroll a significant number of under-served minorities. (Only those who currently teach, are U.S. citizens, and register for the Cosmos symposium (as opposed to the EPO symposium) are eligible to apply.) Click here for the forms and instructions needed to apply for a scholarship.

Any questions? Please direct them to: 2010meeting {at} astrosociety.org