The Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) and Our NSF CCLI Phase-III Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program: Our Community-Based Model for Astronomy Education Research

摘要

The Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) has been devoted to improving teaching and learning in Astro 101 by creating research-validated curriculum and assessment instruments for use in Astro 101 and by providing Astro 101 instructors professional development opportunities to increase their pedagogical content, knowledge, and instructional skills at implementing these curricula and assessment materials. To create sustainability and further expand this work, CAE, in collaboration with other national leaders in astronomy education and research, developed the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program. The primary goals of CATS are to: 1) increase the number of Astro 101 instructors conducting fundamental research in astronomy education; 2) increase the amount of research-validated curriculum and assessment instruments available for use in Astro 101; and 3) increase the number of people prepared to develop and conduct their own CAE Teaching Excellence Workshops. Following are descriptions of our primary research projects.