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發表於 2008-5-20 01:25:45
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Thanks for everyone's kind words. I am sure that we all have success and unsuccessful stories to share. My students have taught me that what we think students like may not be really true, and it is nice to have an understanding audience here to hear my stories.
Thanks for ambcyli's comments. I agree with what you've raised particularly on photography, but I have something to add to your comments on point 4.
I've mentioned above that thank god my students do not go to star-gazing due to (4). While acknowledging that my students is probably a minority and most students are not like this, would this be also related to HOW the star-gazing activity is arranged? My (probably) off-putting tricks are:
1. I never go to pre-booked over-night camp. So people looking for a wild night out will not come. Also, disappointment from poor weather is minimised.
2. I never arrange BBQ or food party before star-gazing. They just have a quick dinner, usually at a near-by fast food restaurant. So people won't come for nice food.
The main goal is to convey the message to participants that star-gazing is not dessert, it is the main course. In fact, why do we need other activities to attract students? Does this imply that we also believe that star-gazing itself is not interesting enough? If we, as organisers, also treat star-gazing as dessert and attract students by saying 'we will stay overnight at some camp site where there are LOTS of amenities, and we'll have BBQ!', then the participants will also treat star-gazing as dessert. I sell star-gazing activities by telling them examples of objects and features they can see, what they have never noticed but will see, what instruments they will be using, etc.
I've run this in a band 1 school and a band 3 school. The disadvantage is that only about 10-20 people will come, sometimes even less. But those who come will be rewarded with things that can never be achieved with mass programme: short waiting time, lots of viewing experiences (low to high magnification viewing, use of binoviewer, photography, perhaps even observing the same things with different scopes, etc.), lots of conversation on what we've seen rather than unrelated gossips.
To promote astronomy to new-comers, I set up scopes for students to see the sun during lunch time or after school if some nice prominence or sunspot appear. Some will then ask about the school astronomy club and seem interested, but most will not.
Last Tuesday, I watched the moon with an ex-student near my home with C8, and two of us spent 1 hour just enjoying it visually with no photography. Afterwards, my student joked that if I have 10 students, I need either 4 more scopes or 4 more hours, just on the moon!
To see how (2) and (3) can be done in my opinion, let me share an expereince in an astronomy outreach programme and how I think it can be improved. The scopes were set up, some directed at the moon and some at Mars. The public were looking at them, but no one told them what to look for and what they could focus on. The stunning Apennines were in the eyepiece. Why not say a bit about its formation? Alpine Valley was there, but if no one mentioned it, who would have paid attention? Mars was in the eyepiece but most did not know that they could look for surface markings. Most just saw a bland orange-red disc. Why not tell them that if they try harder, they could see that, for example, the top half was darker than the bottom half?
When I watched Saturn in the mini-sidewalk I mentioned before, I directed the 3 people to see the Cassini division, counted the number of observable satellites, noticed the different colours on the globe, and the shadow of the globe on the ring. I think all these can be done to complete new-comers. Once they see so much details, they started asking detailed questions like why is there a Cassini division. Even if it is just a simple 'wow, that's nice' after seeing all these details, I think this 'wow' involves a very deep appreciation on the beauty of Saturn. This is how I think (2) and (3) can really be achieved.
People also like challenges even if I know that some are rather imposssible for certain instruments. When M42 trapezium was in the eyepiece, why not challenge them if they see the 5th star? When seeing Plato, why not ask them to count the number of craterlets? Praise them if they see Hortensius Domes. Say that they are really good observers if they can see this and that. They love it.
Oh, I've not mentioned photography at all!
I look forward to hear more outreach stories and tricks. Both successful and unsuccessful ones are very much welcomed! |
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發表於 2008-5-19 22:37:35
