The document outlines the Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU) network, which connects over 20,000-40,000 teachers in over 100 nations. GHOU provides curriculum, activities, and teacher workshops that allow students to analyze real astronomical data using tools like robotic telescopes. Some accomplishments include activities being adopted into official curriculums in France and Bavaria. Future plans include expanding access to modeling instruction workshops, collaborating on new telescope projects, and using internet video conferences to reach more teachers globally.

1. Outline of Talk :
• What is GHOU (Global Hands-On Universe)
• Review of a some GHOU Accomplishments
• Steps to Unifying Astronomy with Modeling
Instruction – both a theory of learning and a robust
dissemination network!

2. Thanks and Acknowledgements!
:
• • Thank you to the Organizers! Thilina, Bonnie
Thurber, and Kuffner Observatory Colleauges
• Thanks to the IAU
• Inspired and eager to work with many of the
great folks here!

3. Welcome –
19th Year of GHOU Workshops!
:
•
• Thanks to all who have come!
• We have had some successes this year
• I hope we can all explore and plane for ways
to reach more teachers with various methods

4. Some amazing New Opportunities
• Potential Fullbright Fellowships for teachers from some
nations to come to the US and take a 3-week Modeling
Instruction Astronomy HOU workshop
• Global Hands-On Oceans (GHOO) Go Norway!
• IASC-GTTP-GHOU Collaboration
• LCO/FTN And lots of Telescope Time and 50 Hours
Project
• Starting to expand upon Internet-video conferences –
we had a very successful one last year for Uganda
• Other methods to reach teachers!
• Let us try to support teachers from Austria!

5. What is GHOU:
 A network of many teachers (20,000 to 40,000 around the
world in >100 nations – thanks to GTTP and Rosa Doran!)
 Scientists/educators who like to build bridges between
modern astronomy research/technology and traditional
classroom education ~100 of us
 Network Intra-communications
 Many students(must be millions or so) who have benefitted
from their teachers engagement in GHOU
 Curriculum/activities
 Effective teacher workshops but soon to get much better

6. Some GHOU Accomplishments:
 Amazing Curricula/activities – still growing!!
 HOU-inspired activities are part of French and Bavarian
official curriulum
 Built up a resilient core of collaborators who are eager to
hold workshops around the world
 Able to form collaborative bonds to make GHOU even
better
 Amazing Curriculum/activities
 Modeling Instruction Collaboration in the United States, and
we hope we can share it around the world!

7. What is GHOU (cont):
• Robotic Telescopes
• Existing Data Archives
(which may be updated
continuously
• , Existing and future
(LSST!) Data Pipelines,
• Satellites
• Smart Phones
Data (others)!
• Teacher/leader Training
• Produce amazing Activities, and
Curriculum
• Image processing software Salsa
J and JS9
• Front ends/guides for data bases,
• On-going teacher support and
networks
• GHOU tries to gently match and
collaborate with Data folks and
teachers/students
GHOU
Audiences
• Classrooms- teachers
and students,
• After School leaders,
sometimes museums and
planetariums, •
• networks of teachers
(Modeling Instructors and
American Association of
Physics Teachers,
• Earth Science
Teachers
• College Faculty and
students

8. What GHOU Does/Wants to Do!
 GHOU wants to help students do what an astronomer does!

9. Exemplary GHOU Activities:
• Discover/measure the mass of the Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way
• Discover and analyze images of objects in the Universe.
• Measure the mass of Jupiter by measuring moons.
• Measure the amount of dark matter around a nearby galaxy
• Make a scale model of the solar system, including playdoh (middle school too)
All use Salsa J image processing, real data, measurement, model
building, great pedagogy, ratios, proportions, linear and other
equations and other math.

10. What GHOU Does/Wants to Do!
 Improve students math and science skills and performance
 Help them do a bit better on test scores/conceptual understanding, etc.! – at the
end of the day, non-astronomy people will want these types of results – not that
hard to get, and we need to consolidate these findings)
• Middle School GHOU Example (“ASAMI After School Science and
Math Integration”):
• ASAMI Published Results (refereed journal and repeated in three
classes)
• 6 week ASAMI, two hours twice a week led to 43% improvement on
Common Core Math Assessment Items.
• 12 week ASAMI led to 93% improvement on Common Core test
items.
• Control group had half the gain.

11. What GHOU Does/Wants to Do!
 Enable teachers and students to collect, analyze, and use
digital astronomical data (robotic telescopes, data archives,
shared data sets) – prepare for the LSST!
 Continue Great Collaborations with impressive groups
such as ASP, Faulkes Telescopes Network, LCOGT,,
Harvard/SAO-MicroObservatory, Three Rivers Foundation
and Commanche Springs Astronomy Campus, Western
Kentucky University, Nuclio, MONET, Russ/Rachel, and
many others!

12. 1 learn science by doing science
problems incorporating discovery and
and experiment design, analysis, and
reporting
topics that are motivating
meaningful use of computers
① 2
① 3
① 4
Exemplary Aspects of GHOU

13. Some HOU/Berkeley Supernova Search Milestones
 US HOU has reached about 1200 US teachers and eager
to reach many more! (proposals in preparation)
 GHOU
 A GHOU teacher helped collect data for the discovery of
the Accelerating Universe (Isaac Newton Tel.->Nobel Prize)

14. Some HOU/Berkeley Supernova Search Milestones
 First (or nearly the first regular) student based asteroid discoveries –>IASC)
 First student based supernova discoveries
:

15. Science & Engineering Practices and US
New Science Standards (NGSS)
 Asking questions and defining problems
 Developing and using models
 Planning and carrying out investigations
 Analyzing and interpreting data
 Using mathematics / computational thinking
 Construct explanations / design solutions
(the word “model”s appears ~ 150 times in US Science Standards
NGSS)
 Engaging in argument from evidence
 Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

16.  IASC- International Asteroid Search Campaign: Based at Hardin
Simmons Univ, Abilene Texas Discoveries below:
# of MBAs = 1500 main belt asteroids discovered
(six have names of High Schools)
# of TNOs(Trans-Neptunian Objects) = 6
# of Comets = 1
# of NEO (Near Earth Objects) Measurements =
2,000 per year
# of NEO Discoveries = 20 including 1 PHA (2009
BD81)
# of Students = 5,000 per year
# of Schools = 1000 per year
# of Countries = 85

17. Asteroid Madisonville High:

18. Thinking a Bit about the Market and
How to Reach Them!
 After School
 K-12 Formal (classroom) education
 Astronomy Classes (~500-4000 ???) in United States – largely decimated by
“standards movement” and a former President who did not believe in the Big
Bang (“Fake News”?)
 Earth and Space Science Classes – substantial potential here
 Modeling Instruction Collaboration – 8500 teachers, and about 1800 physics
teachers. They run self-sustaining teacher workshops!

19. Modeling Instruction
 Students usually learn about 50% to 100% more in Modeling
Pedagogy than with normal pedagogy.
 Astronomy is a fantastic method to learn a lot of science, kids
are engaged, and if with Modeling Pedagogy, they will learn
a significant amount more than many other ways of
teaching and learning.
 We must make the case with administrators, parents,
government!!
 8500 Modelers, 13% of US Physics Teachers are Modelers…
Amazing network!

20. What is Modeling Instruction?
A research-based, proven effective teaching method that
focuses on the construction, validation and application of
the handful of Conceptual Models that form the content
core of the discipline
The Modeling Cycle
 Build the model
 Test the model
 Apply the model
Student-to-student communication is the key element of the
learning environment

21. Why do they continue using Modeling
instead of moving on to the next
“educational flavor of the month??”
A community of practice
 AMTA – a teacher-created, teacher-led
community, founded by teachers, for teachers in
2005.

22. Results of Modeling-HOU Workshop
2 weeks this June 2016 and 2 weeks in 2017:
Goal: discover the Fundamental Principles of
Astronomy
 Elucidated “Fundamental Models of Astronomy” (“basis
vector set”?) Concerning a Modeling Astronomy-Hands-
On Universe Course – such models use many Fundamental
Models of Physics – four guiding questions/units, now in
development and pilot!
 Units are based on NGSS elements for high school (& some
middle school)

23. Future Plans and Action for Modeling Astronomy:
 Build on alliances and networks and
Earthlings from this conference!
 Two proposals in process – one on Modeling-
HOU Unification, one on DESI (Dark Energy
Spectroscopic Instrument) – Adopt one of
30M measured galaxies!
 2nd Pilot of the Modeling units this school year
 Piloting with new teachers 2018-2019
 More workshops for many moons following

24. GHOU Future Plans and Action:
• Work on recruiting and proposing for potential
Fullbright Fellowships for teachers from some nations to
come to the US and take a 3-week Modeling
Instruction Astronomy HOU workshop
• Global Hands-On Oceans (GHOO) Go Norway!
 • IASC-GTTP-GHOU Collaboration
 • LCO/FTN And lots of Telescope Time and 50 Hours
Project – 80 Hours for 80 Nations
• Starting to expand upon Internet-video conferences –
we had a very successful one last year for Uganda
• Other methods to reach teachers!