REPORT OF THE CASCA EDUCATION COMMITTEE

                      June 4, 1997

This report deals with key issues identified by the Board and the
Education Committee within the last year.


"The Universe In The Classroom"

Background

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) publishes a quarterly
newsletter for elementary and high school teachers, in which each issue
deals with a specific astronomical concept.  "The Universe In The
Classroom" and its backissues are all available by post or electronically
on the ASP World Wide Web site at www.aspsky.org.  Subscriptions are free.
There are currently almost 30 backissues available, on topics ranging from
constellations to a rational discussion of the `Face On Mars'.
Translations in some other languages are available, although only a few
backissues have been translated into French.  (There is a French version of
the latest issue on cosmology.)  Each issue can be photocopied for
classroom use.

CASCA currently contributes US$1200 per year to the ASP for publication of
"The Universe In The Classroom", and we are duly acknowledged on the ASP
Web page as one of ten sponsors or grant sources.  (CASCA and the
International Planetarium Society are the only non-American sponsors.)

Effectiveness

This is an excellent service and the quality of the scientific content is
generally quite high. Some of the issues have been written by Canadian
astronomers.  The main problem is a woeful lack of effective advertising
aimed at the Canadian target audience which justifies CASCA sponsorship.

Based on the personal experience of Committee members, there is a genuine
demand for this type of resource among Canadian elementary and secondary
school science teachers, but most of them are unaware of its existence.
Those that do learn of it do so only after contacting a local astronomy
department, and there is no guarantee the astronomer they contact will be
aware of the "Universe In The Classroom" programme or how to become a
subscriber.

George Musser (Editor of The Universe In The Classroom) at San Francisco
State University has agreed to provide the Committee with Canadian
subscriber statistics.  These should be available in time for the CASCA`97
AGM and will be appended to this report.

Unless these statistics strongly suggest a different course of action, we
make the following recommendations to the Board:

                        Recommendations

* CASCA should continue to support "The Universe In The Classroom" for at
least one more year while we implement better advertising strategies.

* Those strategies would include: (a) Letters/e-mail announcing the
programme to major urban and provincial science teachers' associations, as
well as the Faculties of Education at Canadian Universities. (b) Requesting
that Canadian science and astronomy information sites on the Web include
obvious links to the "Universe In The Classroom" subscription site and the
CASCA home page.  (c) An article about the programme and CASCA's other
efforts (like CASCATrust) in the Canadian popular astronomy magazine Sky
News.  The ASP may also be able to help with some of these strategies.

* CASCA should request that a portion of our annual grant be directed
towards funding French translations of the newsletter to address the large
Queb\'ec school audience.  (Note: ASP already provides Spanish translations
of almost all the issues, reaching out to the large Spanish-speaking school
population in the United States.)

Media relations

The Committee has solicited participants for the Media Contact List
described in our last report.  There are about 40 people from across the
country (and at least two from outside) who have already responded
positively, often enthusiastically.  More responses are arriving daily.  I
will prepare a version of the list (categorised geographically) suitable
for use by Canadian news organisations.  I am also compiling a mailing list
of such organisations (major newspapers, TV and radio networks, news and
science magazines and wire services).  Hopefully, the CASCA Astronomy News
Contact List will be distributed before the next bright comet or planet
discovery.

Educational resources for astronomy

We would like to provide a CASCA Education Web Page which could direct
astronomy educators to software and other resources useful for their
classes and labs.  We should take advantage of what individual university
departments have already done and use the CASCA site as a central hub to
connect to appropriate Web Sites.  A Web discussion group site might also
attract interest, but we must identify a site manager.

As for assembling a respository of astronomy lab manuals, guides and other
educational resources, Russell Robb has agreed to act as the `curator' of
such a collection. The Education Committee, in consultation with Russ, will
solicit contributions to this collection.  If a budget could be found, the
printed material could be scanned and made available electronically.  A
cheaper option would be to have the `curator' supply contact addresses of
the resource authors, who could be contacted directly to obtain copies of
their material.

Education Session at the AGM

The Committee Chair has consulted with the Local Organising Committee of
CASCA`97 (in particular, Brian Martin and Doug Hube) on the implementation
of the Education Session at the Edmonton meeting.  Everyone agreed that the
Session should be an integral part of the meeting and has been scheduled in
the regular body of the meeting as two one-hour sessions.  There were not
enough contributions to fill both sessions, and one is being devoted to a
discussion of astronomy education strategies.

While there is support for an Education Session in principle, actual
participation is often modest.  We must ensure that the Session is relevant
to CASCA members, offering them real information they can apply in their
home institutions, or a forum to promote their own successful strategies.

Recommendations

* The LOC and Education Committee should invite one prominent speaker on
astronomy education issues/technology to provide a focal point for the AGM
Education Session.

* The LOC should endeavour to have computers with ethernet links and
Netscape installed on or near the AGM site for practical demonstrations of
astronomy lab and education software.


CASCA Lectureship

While the Committee is enthusiastic about the concept, we have made little
progress in developing it, mainly due to lack of activity by the Chair.  I
intend to use the forum of the AGM Education Session to obtain suggestions
from the membership for the format (since they will represent the pool of
potential speakers).  To make this more than a ceremonial lectureship which
reaches a wide audience in different parts of the nation, CASCA should seek
out one or more partners or sponsors.


Jaymie M. Matthews