Join us for a Two-Day Workshop on
Undergraduate Astronomy Teaching at AfAS 2025!
Apply here as part of your registration for the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) Conference 2025.
Application deadline: Monday, January 20, 2025
We will hold a workshop on undergraduate astronomy teaching and professional development at the AfAS 2025 Conference, as part of our funded project, “Developing astronomy teaching capacity for university educators in Africa.” The workshop will be designed and facilitated by Dr. Linda Strubbe (contact info below). The project is funded by a Venture Grant from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) through the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Workshop information
Who : This workshop is for any African lecturer or early-career scientist who is currently teaching undergraduate-level astronomy, or intends to teach undergraduate astronomy in the future. This includes teaching full astronomy courses, as well as teaching astronomy topics within physics, mathematics, or other courses. We welcome early-career scientists such as Master’s and Ph.D. students and post-doctoral researchers who teach or are interested in undergraduate teaching, as well as senior lecturers and astronomers. We aim to have participants who will also be attending the AfAS 2025 Conference.
When & Where : March 22-23, 2025. In person at the AfAS 2025 Conference at UNISA, South Africa.
What : The purpose of this workshop is to support participants in learning and incorporating interactive and inclusive strategies for teaching undergraduate astronomy. The workshop format will be interactive and collaborative with many facilitated discussions between participants, and include activity design and/or teaching practice. Discussions will frame astronomy education from an African perspective, for participants’ teaching contexts, and include a focus on building community among participants. The workshop will be held in English.
Workshop topics will include:
Strategies for interactive teaching in astronomy, including inquiry
Research-based principles of effective teaching from “How Learning Works” (Lovett et al. 2023)
Teaching to promote equity and inclusion
Case studies of teaching scenarios from participants’ experiences
Prior to the workshop, we are conducting a survey to learn about teaching needs and interests across the African astronomy higher education community, and tailor the workshop content to these. (To complete the survey, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UGAstroAfrica.) Workshop participants will gain familiarity with the fundamental principles of teaching and learning, and experience with several interactive strategies for teaching undergraduate astronomy and readiness to try these in their courses. We hope that participants will also feel increased confidence, motivation, and community around university astronomy teaching.
Following the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to participate in a semester-long online learning community, to continue teaching discussions, share ideas, deepen understanding, etc.
Apply here as part of your registration for the African Astronomical Society Conference 2025.
Please share with others who may be interested.
We hope to see you there!
BLUEshift Africa Project team
This workshop will be designed and facilitated by:
Additional support and liaison with AAS by:
We also appreciate early contributions to the BLUEshift Africa project by Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela (IAU OAE, MPIA, UCT).
Download the workshop poster
