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The Astronomical Society of the Pacific developed the "Confidence & Curiosity: Girls at the Telescope" series of workshops. We trained more than 300 amateur astronomers in depth on best practices in interacting with girls and Girl Scouts to support the Space Science Badges. A total of eight in-person workshops and 12 online workshops covered techniques to make astronomy clubs and events more welcoming.
From the workshop content, we created five videos designed for amateur astronomers, museum educators and others who want to make their public engagement more girl-friendly and inclusive. Each video corresponds with one of these welcoming concepts: Growth Mindset, Micromesssages and Bias, Diverse Storytelling, Questioning Techniques and Dealing with Misconceptions. An active cohort of past participants continue a community of practice on Facebook.
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thank you for viewing our video! My name is Theresa Summer and I am the Astronomy Educator at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. I created the "Confidence and Curiosity: Girls at the Telescope" workshop, along with other members of the Reaching for the Stars: NASA Science for Girl Scouts team. Please view our videos series and/or share your thoughts with us here.
We'd love to hear about your welcoming techniques in public engagement and how you share them with others in your field. Thanks for joining the conversation.
Shannon Schmoll
This is a great project. This is such important work to make sure we make science inclusive and I can see this being important in so many different ways!
Carol Tang
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks so much, Shannon. We appreciate your feedback and hope you can use the videos for your needs.
Renae Kerrigan
I think this is really worthwhile project. I have watched two of the videos you created and plan to watch them all. Using growth mindset language is a skill I want to continue to practice, for myself and in my teaching. Than you for these resources!
Vivian White
Theresa Summer
Carol Tang
Carol Tang
Executive Director
thank you! I have to practice all the time as well--that's growth mindset in action! ;-)
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
thanks for viewing the videos! We are happy you are finding them useful.
Chris Cesare
The tips in the video series are a great distillation of some rules of thumb I've learned by participating in outreach events. For others, I wanted to emphasize that these tips are useful in general for science communication and not limited to astronomy.
Theresa Summer
Carol Tang
Carol Tang
Executive Director
Thank you--yes for science communication but also in almost all interactions with all kids! (I try to use growth mindset at home as well)
Theresa Summer
Chris Cesare
Vivian White
Director of Free Choice Learning
Totally, Chris and Carol! And also, they don't just work for girls and women. They're great welcoming techniques for anyone who might not immediately feel welcome in science.
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Good point Chris. We made the videos for amateur astronomers and museum educators, but we are hoping these videos are useful for anyone who engages with the public.
Theresa Summer
patrick honner
Teacher
This project really highlights to me that connecting students with the right organizations / mentors / outreach is just the first step. You also have to make sure the adults are ready and willing to work with students in the right ways. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought and work into making sure that's happening
Gabriele Haynes
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks so much for your feedback, Patrick. We did do a lot of research into the best practices of welcoming public engagement. Sometimes good intentions need supportive techniques, too.
patrick honner
Rebecca Vieyra
Associate Director of Global Initiatives
Dear Theresa and team,
I'm really impressed by this work. I'll be honest--I cried a little! I am a former Girl Scout participant (having started as a Brownie), a mother to a Brownie, and a co-troop leader. My father was a planetarium director, and I became a physics educator who understands the struggle that can come not just from misunderstandings of the general public about science, but also working with amateur astronomers to communicate effectively with the general public. Your videos really tackle these in a concise way. So, it hit home for me.
I have a few questions:
patrick honner
Theresa Summer
Pamela Harman
Director of Education
Hello Rebecca,
Thank you for your interest.
GSUSA was a Co-I in the project, that included development of the space science badges. The badges were released in 2018 and 2019. GSUSA established the template and format for the badge requirements. Several of the team, subject matter experts, informal education specialists, and GS council staff contributed to the development and review. Additionally, Girl Scout troops participated in local pilot test and 2 rounds of national field test.
The program also offered training for GS Volunteers and service unit staff. GSUSA used monthly e-newsletters and webinars to communicate with Councils.
During the pilot test and national filed test of the badge development, during the GS Astronomy Club Training, GS Destination Camps, and Volunteer Training, the evaluation team collected survey data and anecdotal data. The GS shared many positive comments. The evaluators did not collect data at each star party, though we have heard many positive outcomes.
Regards, Pamela
Rebecca Vieyra
Theresa Summer
Jean Fahy
Math Teacher and Academic Coach
I am a proud member of the Reaching for the Stars: NASA Science for Girl Scouts team and was Program Director of STEM for Girl Scouts of Northern California during this project. At one Girl Scout star party that my then 15 year old daughter attended to help with astronomy activities, she was given the opportunity by one of the recently trained amateur astronomers to set up her telescope. The astronomer engaged my daughter during the entire set up time. Because of the positive interaction with the astronomer, when the younger Girl Scouts came to look through the telescope, my daughter had the confidence to share her new knowledge with them. 3 years later, my daughter still shares this as a memorable Girl Scout astronomy experience.
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
@Rebecca, Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments and questions. We are glad the videos moved you <3
I wanted to add to Pamela's wonderful responses. In regards to your second question, I want to mention that in the playlist are three webinars (at about an hour length) with information about the badges and techniques for specific levels of Girl Scouts. They are broken down into Daisy and Brownie badges, then Junior and Cadette badges, and lastly Senior and Ambassador. We gave these webinars for Girl Scout leaders, and included them in the YouTube playlist specifically for people who wanted information about the badges themselves, as well as techniques to present them virtually.
As to your last question, we do have a lot of anecdotal information about the Girl Scouts responses to astronomers using these welcoming techniques. We hope to get a new grant specifically focusing on how using welcoming techniques improve outcomes and retention with public engagement.
Rebecca Vieyra
Alexander Rudolph
Professor
Great video and great project! As a former Board member of the ASP, I am familiar with the girl scout project generally but I am very pleased and excited about your training videos for the amateur astronomers to help them creating a welcoming and inclusive environment at their outreach events. This type of training is critical in all educational settings (formal, informal, etc.) and levels (including my own, the university level). Great job!
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks, Alexander! Good to hear from you. I'm so glad you enjoyed the videos. We are thinking of offering the workshop to university staff, among others, so please keep in touch.
Janet Stramel
Thank you! I am excited to view your videos. This is a great project not only for Girl Scouts, but for all girls I am wondering if you are considering using this in settings other than Girl Scouts?
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks for your comments Janet. That is a great question. Part of the reason we are participating in the showcase is to share the videos with anyone who would like to use them.
Rebecca Vieyra
Associate Director of Global Initiatives
Also, does Scouts BSA have an equivalent set of badges? (I realize your project is focused on girls. I imagine other kinds of scouts / youth programs could benefit, too!)
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks Rebecca. I am not sure about BSA badges. But I agree that the welcoming techniques discussed in the videos work for boys, girls or anyone who has felt excluded from science.
Jean Fahy
Math Teacher and Academic Coach
I agree with Theresa. These videos have valuable inclusion techniques which can be used in many teaching situations - formal and informal- and not just when working with girls, though that was our target. Please let us know what groups you work with that would benefit from these training videos.
Theresa Summer
Carlos Malca Reyes
The Wonderful initiative of inclusion that you have to bring science, in this case, astronomy, to women, congratulations, and I hope your community grows every day. You can leave your page here to be able to follow it
Theresa Summer
Vivian White
Director of Free Choice Learning
Hi Carlos, You can find the videos and more here: https://astrosociety.org/education-outreach/ama... We hope they can be useful to your public engagement and beyond!
Theresa Summer
Julia Plummer
Thanks so much for creating these videos! I am planning on using the "Representation Matters" video with my college students this fall. I am teaching "Introduction to Astronomy for Educators" - most of the students are preservice elementary teachers. I think this video will fit in well with my goal to expand their understanding of who does astronomy and what counts as doing astronomy.
Theresa Summer
Theresa Summer
Astronomy Educator / Diversity Coordinator
Thanks for your comment Julia. Sharing the videos with your preservice teachers is a wonderful idea! Please let us know how it goes.