Author: Ruth Paglierani

Dec 18 2015

Teacher Professional Development—What Do Teachers Want and Need from NASA? Posted by Ruth Paglierani

[This is one of a series of blog posts about our six-year involvement leading the NASA Heliophysics Science Education and Public Outreach Forum. ]

We often ask ourselves, “What do educators really want when it comes to their own professional development (PD)?” In order to get beyond what we think they want, the NASA SMD K-12 working group carried out a national survey of over 1,000 formal and informal educators in the summer of 2012. We sent out our survey through NASA and national education networks so we could get a sense of:

1. Who was using NASA resources
2. What educators were looking for when using NASA resources
3. What attracted them to NASA workshops and other educational opportunities

Here is a summary of what we heard back… It's well worth a read if you are thinking about creating professional development opportunities for educators in your area!

learn more...



Tags: educators NASA professional development teachers
Categories: Helio Forum

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Apr 30 2015

Taking a New Look at the Sun Posted by Ruth Paglierani

[This week's blog post contributed by our own Ruth Paglierani, reporting on last month's workshop for informal educators.]

We held a very cool workshop for Informal Heliophysics Educator Ambassadors (IHEA) in early February, 2015. Nineteen informal educators from around the country met with us in chilly Chicago to practice using an exciting collection of NASA educational resources. They also had lots of time to talk with mission subject matter experts, peer through solar telescopes and experience the sky in a portable planetarium. Mission collaborators for the workshop included the ICON, IBEX, THEMIS, MMS, SDO, and Van Allen Probes missions, and cross-division collaborators, as well from Astrophysics. It was a full week indeed!  learn more...



Categories: In-Focus

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Mar 20 2014

Bulldogs Have Their Eyes on the Sky! (Energy from the Sun workshop in L.A.) Posted by Ruth Paglierani

We just wrapped up a great Teacher Workshop at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory—Energy from the Sun. The workshop focused on solar science and solar energy, and it coincided with one of the stormiest, wettest weekends in Los Angeles in a very long time. We are beginning to think that our solar workshops may actually have the power to bring rain! learn more...



Tags: energy hands-on activities librarian Sun teachers

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