Skynet Junior Scholars

Graphical Abstract

Skynet Junior Scholars (SJS) is an online astronomy program that allows youth to conduct inquiry-based investigations. This article describes the SJS professional development model (SJS PD) that helps nonschool educators to work in the formal school environment. The model uses a modified Technological Pedagogical Content (TPACK) framework to characterize the professional development training. Included are adaptations and lessons learned, as well as three case studies that illustrate how the SJS PD prepared nonschool educators to develop pathways to bridge in-school and out-of-school STEM learning.

Abstract

Informal learning opportunities are increasingly being recognized as important for youth participation in authentic experiences at the intersection of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) (Dorsen, Carlson, and Goodyear 2006). These experiences may involve specialized equipment and dedicated time for learners to gain familiarity with the relevant scientific and engineering practices (i.e., designing experiments on their own, struggling to make sense of data, learning from their own mistakes and the results of peers), which often go beyond the classroom. However, the educators who guide the implementation of these informal efforts may need specific training, and they may need to be creative in designing learning experiences under their setting’s unique constraints. Best practices for professional development for classroom teachers include active inquiry opportunities and an emphasis on content and its relevance to the classroom, extended over a long period of time (Birman et al. 2000; Abell and Lee 2008; Darling-Hammond et al. 2009). However, the extant literature on teacher professional development tends to focus only on formal educators. This article draws on our experiences developing a program called Skynet Junior Scholars (SJS) to document how our professional development model engages both informal and formal educators with a range of skill sets. We describe how three SJS educators creatively forged new educational pathways between in-school and out-of-school STEM learning, and we provide lessons learned and recommendations for others.

Keywords:

• Informal Education

Acknowledgments

Skynet Junior Scholars is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers 1223687, 1223235, and 1223345 as a collaborative effort of the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and 4-H. We would like to thank the SJS educators for sharing their ideas and work though surveys, interviews, “Action Plans,” and the SJS web portal, particularly those who are represented in our case studies. We would also like to thank the article reviewers, whose thoughtful comments improved the quality of this manuscript.

Author Contributions

Kathryn Williamson ([email protected]) is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Sue Ann Heatherly ([email protected]) is the senior education officer at the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia.

Vivian Hoette ([email protected]) is the director of special projects at the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Eva Erdosne Toth ([email protected]) is a research consultant.

David Beer ([email protected]) is the senior research and evaluation specialist at Panorama Innovation in Chicago, Illinois.

Supplementary data

Notes

1 Skynet Junior Scholars also complies with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to ensure child safety and privacy.

2 SJS’s hands-on activities were originally developed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to provide informal science educators at science centers, nature centers, museums, and other informal education venues with new and innovative ways to communicate astronomy content to their visitors; however, the activities can easily be done in a typical classroom setting.

3 The form of the survey changed during different iterations of SJS PD workshops, so only the two most recent cohorts of educators answered the same questions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathryn Williamson

Kathryn Williamson ([email protected]) is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Sue Ann Heatherly

Sue Ann Heatherly ([email protected]) is the senior education officer at the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia.

Vivian Hoette

Vivian Hoette ([email protected]) is the director of special projects at the University of Chicago Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Eva Erdosne Toth

Eva Erdosne Toth ([email protected]) is a research consultant.

David Beer

David Beer ([email protected]) is the senior research and evaluation specialist at Panorama Innovation in Chicago, Illinois.