Conference: Broadening Participation in an Astrosociology Curriculum

会议：扩大天体社会学课程的参与

• 批准号: 2320886
• 负责人: Gerhard Sonnert
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2320886&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Conference; Broadening; Participation; Astrosociology; Curriculum

This project aims to serve the national interest by organizing a conference on broadening participation in an astrosociology curriculum and by producing a White Book of the findings, as part of the NSF IUSE: EDU Engaged Student Learning Track, Level 1. At the dawn of a second Golden Age of space exploration in which humanity is poised to interact with the cosmos in varied and novel ways (e.g., Moon and Mars missions, space tourism, asteroid mining, satellites with enhanced capabilities), space exploration is a fast-growing scientific, technological, and economic sector in U.S. society, creating the need for a rapidly expanding skilled and knowledgeable workforce of a variety of backgrounds. The technical and astronomical challenges of these endeavors will be daunting, but so will the host of social and moral issues raised by them. Awareness of these issues is crucial for both future professionals in astronomy and space exploration and the citizenry as a whole. On the one hand, young people from diverse underserved backgrounds will benefit from developing a critical understanding of space-related issues that might affect them and their communities. On the other, the curriculum is intended to facilitate their entry into this sector of the workforce, which could enable it to become more diverse and inclusive. Moreover, the curriculum focuses on helping students of all majors understand the complex interrelationship between society and astronomy and space exploration, while honing their general skills in thinking rationally through unusual scenarios. The benefits of this practice will extend beyond the course and are intended to positively impact students’ lives. There is a dearth of astronomy courses that systematically integrate the humanities and social sciences, and this conference lays the groundwork for propagating such a curriculum throughout higher education.Recruited with the help of the Quality Education for Minorities Network, participants in this online conference will be educational professionals from all corners of the American higher education landscape. The conference will cover three major topics: (1) an introduction to astrosociology and the astrosociology curriculum; (2) how to infuse the curriculum with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for diverse communities; and (3) the support faculty would need or want to successfully adopt the curriculum. This endeavor has the advantage of building on an existing unique course at Harvard University, which has already demonstrated its feasibility. But to implement the curriculum more widely across American institutions of higher education, a necessary first step is to examine, through this conference, how the curriculum may optimally function in a wide variety of institutional environments when designed with diverse students’ experiences at the core, and how it might be further revised to increase its relevance to multiple communities, especially those traditionally underrepresented in science pursuits. In the long run, the goal is a national scale-up of the curriculum in all different institutional types of higher education. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在通过组织一次关于扩大天体社会学课程参与的会议并制作一本研究结果白皮书来服务于国家利益，作为 NSF IUSE 的一部分：EDU 参与学生学习轨道，第 1 级。太空探索的第二个黄金时代，人类准备以各种新颖的方式与宇宙互动（例如月球和火星任务、太空旅游、小行星采矿、能力增强的卫星），太空探索是一个快速发展的领域美国社会科学、技术和经济部门的发展，需要迅速扩大的、具有各种背景的熟练和知识丰富的劳动力，这些努力的技术和天文挑战将是艰巨的，但许多社会和道德问题也将是艰巨的。对这些问题的认识对于天文学和太空探索领域的未来专业人士以及整个公民身份至关重要。一方面，来自不同贫困背景的年轻人将受益于对太空相关问题的批判性理解。可能会影响另一方面，该课程旨在促进他们进入这一劳动力领域，从而使其变得更加多样化和包容性。此外，该课程的重点是帮助所有专业的学生理解复杂的相互关系。社会与天文学和太空探索之间的联系，同时通过不寻常的方式磨练他们理性思考的一般技能，这种做法的好处将超出课程范围，旨在对学生的生活产生积极影响。目前缺乏系统地整合场景的天文学课程。人文与社会此次在线会议的参与者将涵盖来自美国高等教育界各个角落的教育专业人士。三个主要主题：（1）天体社会学和天体社会学课程简介；（2）如何为不同社区注入多样性、公平性、包容性和可及性；（3）教师需要或想要的支持；成功采用该课程的优势在于哈佛大学现有的独特课程，该课程已经证明了其可行性，但要在美国高等教育机构中更广泛地实施该课程，必要的第一步是检查，通过这次会议，当设计以不同学生的经历为核心时，最佳课程如何在各种机构环境中发挥作用，以及如何进一步修改课程以增加其与多个社区的相关性，特别是传统上在科学追求中代表性不足的社区从长远来看，目标是全国。 NSF IUSE：EDU 计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持。通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。