Astronomy Teacher Training Programs In Chile

Talk
Astronomy education research on the role of astronomy in schools
4th Shaw-IAU Workshop
Tuesday Nov. 15, 2022
UTC: 8:25 p.m. - 8:35 p.m.
Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022
UTC: 12:25 p.m. - 12:35 p.m.

In this talk, we show the main results of a questionary characterizing the professional development programs offered to K12 teachers in Chile in the last five years. Leaders from 16 programs answered on aspects of their planning, implementation, and evaluation, allowing us to outline a profile. We contrast the results with the literature on teachers' professional development programs' effectiveness and discuss the Chilean programs' strengths and aspects to improve. We highlight that most of them accomplish focusing on curricular topics and offering hands-on activities. However, not many programs evaluate their effectiveness, and almost none follow up with the participant teachers in their subsequent professional practice.

About Lara Rodrigues

Lara is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Astronomy Education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, with research interests in teacher training programs, primary and secondary education, and school curriculum. She holds an MSc in Astrophysics and a BA in Physics Education from the same university. Her former experience includes stellar astrophysics research, teaching physics in secondary school, and working on astronomy outreach programs for teachers, children, and the general public.

Watch a recording of this talk (external link)