Project-Based Learning in the Secondary Classroom: Shefali Mehta at the OAE’s 4th Shaw-IAU Workshop
0Title: Project-Based Learning in the secondary classroom.
This was a talk given at the 4th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE, http//astro4edu.org).
Project-Based Learning (PBL) has been growing in popularity in the educational setting. By introducing well-planned projects, they can serve to motivate and drive students to learn new content, collaborate in teams and be creative. However, it can be difficult to find authentic projects that capture all students’interest. This contribution introduces several projects that have been successfully implemented at the high school level that can easily be implemented into any classroom for students of all ages.
About Shefali Mehta:
Shefali Mehta is a high school teacher at Princeton High School in New Jersey, USA, where she currently teaches Planetary Science and Chemistry to students in Grades 10-12. She has taught science for over 18 years, however her most rewarding experiences have been centered around teaching astronomy in the classroom and in a Planetarium. In the classroom, her curriculum is focused on collaborative and project-based learning that helps to drive student engagement and understanding.
About the 4th Shaw-IAU Workshop:
The topic for this year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education is ‘Leveraging the potential of astronomy in formal education’ and is scheduled to run 15 to 17 November 2022 as a fully virtual event on Hopin as in previous years. This year’s Shaw-IAU Workshop focuses on the role of astronomy in the core regions of formal, primary and secondary, education: How do we teach astronomy as its own subject? What is the role of astronomy in teaching physics or chemistry – or in communicating such a central future topic as climate change? In sessions marked with a * we aim to hear specifically from teachers. We also address the question of how to approach those who set the framework for teaching: How can you get your administration, or at a much higher level: your education ministry, to listen to you? Last but not least we look at how to bridge the divide between the fundamentals that are commonly taught in school and results from cutting-edge research, which tend to be fascinating to students and the general public alike. he workshop was organised by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (http://astro4edu.org). More details can be found on: https://astro4edu.org/shaw-iau/4th-shaw-iau-workshop/
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