Center for Astronomy EducationNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
The Center for Astronomy Education (CAE), directed by Ed Prather and Gina Brissenden (Univ. of Arizona), is devoted to improving teaching and learning in general education, college-level Earth, Astronomy and Space Science (Astro 101) by conducting fundamental research on student beliefs and reasoning difficulties related to astronomy, and instructor implementation difficulties related to teaching astronomy. We use the results of our research to inform the development of research-validated curriculum and assessment materials for use in the Astro 101 classroom. These research-validated curricula & assessment materials frame our professional development CAE Teaching Excellence Workshops for Earth, Astronomy and Space Science instructors. The goal of these professional development workshops is to increase the pedagogical content knowledge of Earth, Astronomy and Space Science instructors and improve implementation of these curricula and assessment materials.