Abstract
Pre-service teachers, particularly those focusing on early childhood and elementary education, consistently view science as one of the disciplines they felt the least comfortable teaching. Connecting students, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers with STEM experts, such as astronauts, through downlinks or other virtual visits, creates invaluable learning opportunities in and out of the classroom. In February 2017, pre-service teachers at UHD connected with Astronaut Joseph Acaba while he was on the International Space Station through an Educational Downlink. It was an opportunity for pre-service teachers to learn first-hand about living and working in space, what life is like for an astronaut, and how to translate the research happening in space into their everyday lives and classrooms. The experience of interacting with Acaba had a profound short- and long-term impacts for the pre-service teachers directly involved in the downlink and shaped how they approach teaching, science education, and NASA-related opportunities for their students.
TopIntroduction
“Station, this is the University of Houston-Downtown. How do you hear me?” A hush fell over the crowd as astronaut Joseph (Joe) Acaba responded, confirming the connection. Suddenly, the crowd erupted with thunderous applause as teacher candidates in Houston, Texas, spoke live with the International Space Station, the culmination of the past semester's activities.
Sometimes, the stars do align to connect students with scientists. Starting in Fall 2017, teacher candidates enrolled at the University of Houston-Downtown's (UHD) teacher preparation program was linked with Education Specialists from NASA's STEM on Station activity. This connection kicked off a semester full of interactions, including hands-on workshops featuring NASA content, the development of experiments for astronauts to perform on the space station, and the ultimate science connection - a downlink with an astronaut.
An in-flight education downlink, or downlink, is an exciting way to connect students of all ages with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. A downlink has the power to change and shape the lives of everyone involved. This chapter explores the steps we, the leads at our respective institutions, took to prepare and engage the teacher candidates in a downlink hosted at the university. We explain the rationale that guided the processes and the challenges faced along the way while sharing the short- and long-term benefits directly from the student participants themselves. It is our hope this chapter will inspire and guide others to pursue similar activities at their institutions.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Space Station: The International Space Station is a modular space station in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
Scientist: An individual who engages in the scientific process.
Educational Downlink: In-flight education downlinks, or downlinks, are opportunities for students and educators to interact. with astronauts aboard the International Space Station during a live, 20-minute question-and-answer session.
NASA: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Pre-Service Teachers: A pre-service teacher is a college student who is pursuing a teacher certification.
STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Science: The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
Teacher Preparation: A teacher preparation program is designed to prepare both undergraduate and graduate students to become licensed teachers.