Sharing the Universe

April 1st, 2007 - September 30th, 2012 | PROJECT

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation, will implement "Sharing the Universe." This research and implementation project is designed to include both a comprehensive, two-phased research component, as well as a large-scale national dissemination. The intended impacts are to improve the quality and effectiveness of informal science education activities provided by amateur astronomers; increase the frequency of public engagements in astronomy; and broaden the variety of events and diversity of the outreach to include underserved and underrepresented audiences. The project will create a community of practice using club leaders to improve astronomy clubs nationwide through research tools, training and outreach skills. Project deliverables include Phase I research which is designed to gain an understanding of how outreach-orientated clubs function and identify strategies that make successful clubs effective. Phase II will examine a core group of 20 clubs in detail to further understand the outreach culture while using interventions developed from the Phase I results such as a training DVD, Online Resource Library, Outreach Toolkit and a robust community of practice. The final deliverable will be the dissemination of proven strategies and best practices revealed by the research to 200 diverse astronomy clubs across the country. Strategic impact will be realized in increased outreach capacity among amateur astronomers and a strong model for astronomy clubs with proven best practices and resources. It is anticipated this project will reach more than 4,400 amateur astronomers and indirectly impact more than one million Americans in astronomy clubs in four years. Inverness Research will conduct the summative evaluation of the project.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Project Products

http://www.astrosociety.org/stu/index.html
Sharing the Universe Summative Evalaution Report

Team Members

James Manning, Principal Investigator, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Martin Storksdieck, Co-Principal Investigator, Institute for Learning Innovation
Eric Jones, Co-Principal Investigator, Institute for Learning Innovation
Michael Bennett, Former Principal Investigator, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Greg Schultz, Co-Principal Investigator, Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0638873
Funding Amount: 1605220

Tags

Audience: General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Education and learning science | Space science
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Citizen Science Programs | Community Outreach Programs | Professional Development | Conferences | Networks | Professional Development and Workshops | Public Programs