Under Prof. Seth Redfield, students train in the use of the portable planetarium, and on the presentations appropriate for the facility and the intended audience. The final class period will include a discussion of our experiences using the portable planetarium in order to identify strategies that did or did not work to effectively convey astronomical concepts. We are fortunate to have several astronomical education and public outreach experts scheduled to give guest lectures. These will occur during the middle of the semester. The remaining seminars will be class presentations and discussions, lead by enrolled students. These talks will summarize the results of a recent pedagogical research paper (e.g., from the Astronomy Education Review or equivalent source). A keen discussion will likely follow, including follow-up questions of the speaker.
The service learning component includes use of a portable planetarium and taking the planetarium to a local elementary school and/or running it in conjunction with a Wednesday evening public viewing program. Pairs of students give two planetarium presentations as part of the class work.
MacDonough School (Middletown, CT) was among the participants and mentions the Planetarium visit on their blog.
