Teaching Science with a Robotic Telescope

1. Teaching Science with a Robotic Telescope 4th International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education Samos Island, 03 – 05 July 2003 Dr. Sofoklis Sotiriou ELLINOGERMANIKI AGOGI

2. EUDOXOS • Partnership • Project’s description • Aims and Objectives • User’s Interface • Project’s Run • Educational Activities • Evaluation • Future plans

3. The Partnership • NCSR, "Demokritos“, Coordinator, Greece • Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece • University of Athens, Pedagogical Department, Greece • University of Cadiz, Spain • Management Center Innsbruck, Austria • 4 European High Schools, Greece, Austria, Italy, Spain

4. Project’s description The Eudoxos project utilizes a 60cm Cassegrain type remotely controlled robotic telescope with large-format CCD camera, in order to develop a framework to teach science subjects to High School students through an interdisciplinary approach, spanning through the areas of mathematics, statistics, chemistry, physics etc. and of course astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. Students and teachers from 4 European schools are involved in extended trials in the framework of the their normal school curriculum. The robotic telescope is installed in the Eudoxos National Observatory on the Ainos mountain of Kefallinia Island (Ionian Sea), Greece.

5. Kefallinia Island, Greece

6. Eudoxos Observatory

7. Andreas Michalitsianos Telescope

8. Aims and Objectives The development of a pedagogical framework that will allow successful application of the emerging technology in everyday learning enhancement of a constructivist approach in science teaching development of a new educational tool and learning environment development of a concrete evaluation scheme of educational and technological aspects

9. User Interface

11. Project’s run Development of Lesson plans Teachers training Two cycles of school-centered work in real school environments Evaluation of the educational and technological aspects

12. Educational Activities The students have the opportunity: • To make astronomical observations • To collect data • To analyze the astronomical data • To exchange opinions • To communicate their results

13. Measuring the height of the lunar craters

14. Asteroids’ Rotation Periods

15. Does the Sun Rotate?

16. Evaluation of the project Evaluation of the pedagogical framework Evaluation of the student’s learning Ethnographic evaluation

17. Experimental Group Control Group TIMSS II TIMSS II ICT ICT Phase A Tests Monitoring ΤΙMSS Tests Phase B TIMSS III TIMSS III ICT ICT Evaluation framework pre-test Running post-test

18. Future plans The development of network of telescopes for educational use (collaboration with the University of San Diego, Chile) The addition of new exercises to the lesson plans to cover more scientific topics as possible Using satellite channel to optimize the internet connection of the telescope

19. The Eudoxos Project is partly financed by the European Commission in the framework of the program eLearning Action Plan - Preparatory and innovative actions

20. www.ellinogermaniki.gr/ep/eudoxos