October 16-20, 2024

The Medıterranean regıonal Shaw-ıau workshop on astronomy for educatıon

Istanbul / TÜRKİYE

The Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on ASTronomy for EDucation (MASTED) will be held between 16 – 20 October 2024 in person at Istanbul Kültür University in Istanbul, Türkiye. The workshop is being organised by the NAEC Türkiye Team, Turkish Astronomical Society and Istanbul Kultur University in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) and The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE), with generous funding from the Shaw Prize Foundation, The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE) and Istanbul Kültür University.

A FIVE-day summit of talks, activities, and workshops

The Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED) will be a 5 day event where we will build new bonds among the participants and NAECs in the Mediterranean area, share our experiences on astronomy education, work together on designing new activities, discuss new proposals and opportunities for the future projects, gain fresh and innovative teaching approaches and participate in different hands-on activities. We will also discover the history and science in the 8000 year old city of Istanbul as it is the bridge between the East and the West.

The National Astronomy Education Coordinators NAECs, science educators, teachers and researchers working in astronomy education from countries in the Mediterranean basin with its diverse culture are welcome to participate. (Mediterranean basin countries include Portugal, Spain France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Gibraltar) The application will be open for every country within the region who aspires to participate in the workshop.

The program of the meeting will consist of best practices in teaching methods using astronomy activities inside and outside the classroom; challenges in astronomy education and curriculum examples from Mediterranean countries; co-design activities sessions to produce and test some resources. A special session on equity, inclusion and diversity will be included as a lunch meeting.

This workshop will focus on the following topics:

Best practices in astronomy education.
Main challenges of astronomy education, specific needs of NAECs, teachers, science educators of each country in the Mediterranean basin.
Programs, fundings and international projects to enhance the knowledge, skills and expertise of NAECs, teachers, science educators focused on astronomy education.
Innovative techniques for teaching astronomy in formal and informal education; Inquiry-based learning activities, game based and playful learning activities in astronomy.
Codesign of educational resources on astronomy.

ThIS WORKSHOP aims to bring together National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs), teachers and science communicators from all around the Mediterranean basin with its diverse culture.

The Mediterranean Regional SHAW-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education (MASTED) is a continuation of The STEAM-Med Project by and The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education Center Italy (I-OAE) creating a collaborative environment and a permanent community which includes almost all the countries of the Mediterranean area (https://edu.inaf.it/oae_italia/mirto-steam-med-co-design-process/). First in-person workshop was held in Lampedusa (Sicily, Italy) between 3-9 July 2022. (https://edu.inaf.it/oae_italia/mirto-steam-med-co-design-process/workshop/). A total of 23 National representatives attended the workshop, while 14 Mediterranean countries shared the whole process: Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Syria, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey, Montenegro, and Greece. The second in-person workshop of STEM Med project was held in Ifrane, Morocco between 21 - 27 June, 2023 with 45 participants from 13 Mediterranean countries. (https://sites.google.com/view/sam2s/home?authuser=0)

This workshop values and honors the unique and intersecting identities of each country around the Mediterranean culture. As partners of this project we are committed to development of an environment in astronomy education that enables the full and active participation of any participant regardless of such factors as age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural or linguistic background, geo- graphical location, neurological or physical ability, religious or political beliefs, or their socio-economic or immigrant status.