It’s quiet and dark, the glow of the computer shines on his face. A few keystrokes and then thousands of kilometres away, a telescope starts to shift.

For centuries, humans have looked to the night sky for inspiration. Dr Saeed Salimpour, from Deakin University’s Centre for Research for Educational Impact is no different.

Saeed became an astronomer because he loved the stars. He became a Physics teacher because of his passion for education. And, as a naturally curious and creative person, the obvious choice was to combine the two.

He was determined to bring the stars to his students and confident that cosmology could be a tool to teach the concepts from the curriculum in an interesting way.

In the age of the internet, with so many distractions competing for the attention of young people, it is critical to develop new strategies to engage them.

‘For a lot of sciences, to bring a real instrument that a scientist would use into the classroom is often challenging and expensive.

‘For astronomers, it is not. The technology is available and the data is completely free. We always say that you can’t roll a particle physics accelerator into the classroom, but you can give students access to a robotic telescope,’ said Dr Salimpour.

Working when the stars come out

At night, Saeed works to set everything up for the students to use during the day – he writes code, calibrates telescopes around the globe and connects with international colleagues.

The telescopes in Australia are all automated, but like any technology, they will occasionally break down. Saeed helps to get them back on track so that they can capture the data for the students overnight.

His research combines the technical aspects of astronomy, including data analysis and telescope calibration, with the educational aspect of teaching concepts to students. His aim is to turn the students into cosmopolitans – citizens of the cosmos.

Cosmology in the classroom

‘Picture this, a teacher is trying to teach the concept of light to a year eight class. One of the fundamental things astronomers study is light from objects. How do you collect the light? With telescopes.

‘What are telescopes made of? Lenses. You immediately have a real-life context for what might seem like an abstract concept.

‘They’re not being shown a watered-down version of what the science is. They do the real thing. They use real telescopes. They’re collecting their own data. They’re using the same software because it’s Photoshop.

‘There is this sense of ownership that they’re doing something real rather than just a subject at school about light. And at the end they get to make a colour image of something astronomical that is often very beautiful.’

Saeed says it can be used at different levels and complexities, depending on how much time the teacher has and what the goal is.

‘We’re trying not to overburden the teachers to do something extra, instead giving them the tools to teach the existing curriculum and concepts.

‘There are challenges because not all teachers are confident with it. It’s very important for teachers not to have to create everything from scratch. We want to help provide the resources.

“We’re trying to empirically show that students can engage with science through astronomy and this can grab their attention and shape their perceptions and attitudes towards science and education in general.’

The next generation

So, does Saeed hope to train more scientists?

‘No, we want to train more people who appreciate science, arts and their connections. I’ve heard students in a math classroom say, ‘Why do we need to know about angles? I’m not going to be an engineer.’

‘Well, you might not become an engineer, but if you’d like to be an artist, then you might need to understand angles to create dimension within your art.

‘We’re trying to teach them a broad skill set – data literacy, how to be comfortable with technology, analysis and deciphering information. We want students to appreciate that speculation is part of science.’

Saeed’s goal isn’t to add astronomy in the curriculum.

‘You don’t need to have a subject called astronomy because you have subjects called chemistry and arts. Even in humanities, you can teach a range of cultural stories of the night sky from all over the world. I have yet to meet a culture that has no connection to the night sky.

‘My research is more than just getting students and teachers to do astronomy. It’s what will happen in the next 20 years when all these students become politicians. What understanding will they have of science, society and how to solve the challenges of the time?

‘The bigger picture is really a broad understanding and appreciation of knowledge in society and using astronomy as a vehicle to do that. And that’s what I hope my research will achieve beyond just getting students to use telescopes.’

Next time you take a pretty photo of the night sky, remember that the stars have so much to teach us, if we’re willing to learn.

 

This article was originally published on Deakin’s research news webpage.

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