AAS Education

Three intersecting Venn diagram circles of Knowledge, Time, and Motivation with center intersect including "Convening meetings", intersect of Knowledge and Motivation including "Communal Sensemaking", intersect of Motivation and Time including "Making this work a high priority", and intersect of Time and Knowledge including "Supporting the mitigation of obstacles". Knowledge only section of circle includes "Sharing resources/data (referential or human) & Problem solving", Motivation only section of circle includes "Building community, Internal motivation, Financial compensation, Formal recognition (awards), Positive reinforcement/validation", Time only section of circle includes "Time buyouts, Lowering barriers: Ensuring logistical or tedious work is as low a lift as possible"

The post outlines some key interventions to support faculty through institutional changes under these three key components. Check it out at aas.org/education/blog!

Figure title says Chasteen-Lau diagram for successful Physics Teacher Education (PTE) over three circles with arrows. Left circle says "Motivated People who leverage opportunities and mitigate threats & who know about PTE" with an arrow labeled "Develop and enhance" pointing right towards right circle, which says "Cultures & Structures that support PTE" with arrow pointing back left labeled "support and increase number of". Both top circles are enclosed in a grey box with arrow at bottom with text "leads to" pointing to third circle that is labeled "Educating large numbers of qualified physics teachers" with an arrow that points back to right side circle and is labeled "reinforces".

Their work shows "that building a physics teacher education program requires three key components: motivated people with knowledge about teacher education structures that support teacher education and cultures that encourage teacher education.”

Check out our contributed AAS Education Blog from January in which PhysTEC staff describe their work to help faculty make the organizational change necessary to build streamlined valued and sustainable programs.

SURGE’s report on the Landscape of Undergraduate Degrees in Astronomy and Astrophysics is available on the arXiv.

arxiv.org/abs/2602.03959

@aas_education • Milkshake Website Builder Education Committee of the American Astronomical Society

Navigate to msha.ke/aas_educatio... for Educator Highlights at the AAS Meeting! Limited slots remain available for our a few of our EPD supported education workshops!

Other highlights include the Educator’s Reception and an exciting public engagement event that is still looking for more volunteers!

🚀 Still time to register for #AAS247 workshops! 🚀

Don’t miss the chance to gain valuable tools for your professional growth.

🔹 Building Thriving Departments & Programs🌱
🔹 Teaching Strategies that Work 🧑‍🏫
🔹 Neurodiversity in STEM 🧠
🔹 Just & Inclusive Classrooms 🏫

For the best information we have on this effect in astronomy PhD recruiting - the @education.aas.org committee has surveyed departments, and published this list: aas.org/posts/news/2... 🔭👩‍🔬

🌟 Shoutout to some of the amazing 2024–25 Shapley Lecturers—Dr. Hart, Dr. Masiero, Dr. Leisawitz, & Nathan McGregor—who lit up communities with the wonders of astronomy! 💫 Want a visit in 2026? Apply to be a host site by Oct. 31! 🚀 aas.org/education/sh... #AstronomyForAll @astronomy.blue

🌌 The AAS proudly celebrates the 12 astronomers of the 2024–2025 Harlow Shapley Visiting Lecturers cohort!

🎉 These scientists traveled across the U.S. to share the wonders of the universe.

🚀 Want to get involved? Apply now to be a 2026 Lecturer or host site: aas.org/education/sh...

Astrophysics Education and Public Outreach Materials Survey and Preservation Form In light of an uncertain future for certain NASA online resources, help us at the AAS Education Committee understand how you use astronomy-related education and public outreach (EPO) materials. We wel...

🚀 How do you use NASA & other federal EPO materials? The AAS Education Committee wants to know!

📚 Take our survey + share with colleagues: forms.gle/uXdHsz7rBQ4n...

We’re working to archive these valuable resources—help us by 30 Sept 2025! #AstronomyEd #EPO #SciComm

See the recent AAS Education blog post featuring New Data-Driven Investigations from @vrubinobs.bsky.social. Students use visualization and analysis tools to interact with real #data as they explore #astronomy concepts from exploding stars to star clusters. aas.org/posts/news/2...

📣 #AAS247 LAST CALL FOR PROPOSALS!
Today is the last day to submit your Special Session, Workshop, and Town Hall proposals. Submission site closes at 11:59 pm ET: ow.ly/38Wq50Wrez1 🔭

Sharing this over to the #astroeducation feed!

Read all about it here: aas.org/posts/news/2...

Through these interactives, students can explore the electromagnetic spectrum, do exoplanet categorization, and more! This blog post outlines some key ways you can integrate this into your classroom.

Our most recent AAS Education blog post from @stsci.edu introduces ViewSpace, an awesome multi-wavelength #astronomy exploration tool you may want to utilize in your upcoming classes!

The American Astronomical Society,
bsky.app/profile/seti..., and the NASA Community College Network have teamed up to provide an exciting and impactful program that brings top #astronomy researchers into the classrooms of community colleges around the United States. aas.org/press/new-aa... 🔭

Check out the latest AAS Education Blog Post to learn how to preserve and recover web content using the Wayback Machine and more. Don’t let vital resources vanish—take action today! 🌌📁 aas.org/posts/news/2... #AstronomyEd #WebArchiving #DataRescue

🌌 Heading to #AAS246? Check out the astronomy education sessions and events, including a Mon night social + Tues outreach at the Anchorage Museum! 🔭☀️ Full details in our latest blog post: aas.org/posts/news/2...

AAS Journal Author Series: Meredith MacGregor on 2025ApJ...982...43B YouTube video by AAS

AAS JOURNALS AUTHOR SERIES

Meredith MacGregor @mmacgreg.bsky.social (Johns Hopkins University) chats with Frank Timmes about her article on Proxima Centauri: youtu.be/sf_hA1u0fUE

This series connects authors with their article, their human story & the larger #astronomy community. #TheGoodStuff 🔭

🚨Just told you’re teaching #astronomy this fall? New to #teaching astronomy? Don’t panic — prepare! Start with the Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Astronomy, an online 4-part summer workshop series designed for YOU! 🧪 🔭
Core topics ✅
Classroom-tested activities ✅
Peer community ✅
Sign up: bit.ly/43al0ts

Join us May 15 at 1pm ET for COCOA! 🎓 Shaul Hanany shares insights from the National Academies’ report on grad STEM ed, followed by Kate Meredith on mentoring students through tough times. Open discussion to follow. Don’t miss it! 💬🔗 #STEMed #Mentorship tinyurl.com/a9nc457b

Reminder to register for the upcoming FTI workshop by May 16th!

(2) Donate to SceneryStack to support further development of these vital resources giveto.colorado.edu/phet-scenery...
(3) Try out SceneryStack yourself – contribute your development expertise & join the community!

We’re posting this information here to amplify their call to action and for support of PhET – ways you can support are to (1) spread the word about how much PhET sims and NSF support improve our resources and facilitate learning in our community!

AAS members utilize PhET simulations in their classrooms to make physics and astronomy concepts come to life within courses of all kinds.

📣Call to Action 📣
The NSF has terminated a major grant supporting a teaching tool for Science, Math, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Statistics, Biology, and more! This grant (Pathways to Open Source Ecosystems Phase II) was advancing PhET’s SceneryStack open-source platform. bit.ly/PhETNSF2025

Check out the new ✨Blog Post✨ highlighting our AAS Education Committee resource guides!

Read this post and more at aas.org/education/blog

Featured here are the Undergraduate and Graduate Resource Guides!

📣 Calling all AAS members! Want to support education & mentoring in our community? Submit a Letter of Intent for the 2025–2026 AAS-EPD Mini-Grant Program by May 9 to fund your professional development initiative. Details & submission: aas.org/posts/news/2...

🚨 Registration is open for the June 2025 Faculty Teaching Institute! Join us June 25–28 in College Park, MD to build your teaching toolkit, connect with peers & get support for new faculty life. Info & registration 👉 www.physport.org/FTI/events/J...