EUDOXOS

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EUDOXOS TSRT Teaching Science with a Robotic
Telescope Project 2002-4085/001-001
EDU-ELEARN
George Fanourakis
Demokritos Greek National Center for Scientific
Research Institute of Nuclear Physics
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Tele-Education / Tele-Research
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Scope Use the magic of Astronomy and the
capabilities of the Internet in order to improve
and enrich the quality of the learning and
teaching process in science and technology by
transforming the classroom into a research
laboratory.

• Partners
• NSCR Demokritos -- Greece
• Ellinogermaniki Agogi -- Greece
• University of Athens -- Greece
• Univ of Cadiz -- Spain
• MCI -- Austria
• 4 high schools (Bolonia-Spain,
  Schwechat-Austria,
• Pininfarina-Italy, EA-Greece)

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Kefallinia island
Eudoxos Observatory
mountain Ainos
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National Eudoxos Observatory
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The Andreas Michalitsianos telescope and dome
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TAM close-up
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Apollon telescope and dome
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Karatheodory dome
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Education with Eudoxos

• A Research grade Physical Sciences Lab accessible
  to every European school with internet access.
• Bringing advanced technology to classroom.
• Interdisciplinary approach to teaching science.
• Real experiments Real measurements.
• No poor / rural district school excluded.
• Bringing to schools a new and innovative
  educational environment.
• Experience authentic research environment.
• Develop research mentality.
• Enhancing creativity free experimentation of
  teachers / students.

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• Encouraging the communication and the exchange
  of
• scientific / technological information among
  European
• schools.
• The students are taught to
• Make astronomical observations
• Collect and analyze the data.
• Discuss the results with students, teachers and
• researchers.
• Present their results.
• Students are motivated and learn the involved
  scientific ideas in the process.

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Realisation

• Developed Educational Platform User Interface
• Developed Pedagogical Framework - Lesson Plans
• Developed Evaluation Strategy
• Trained teachers
• Repeatedly implement/evaluate/refine
• Conduct final evaluation of the technology and
  the
• learning capacity and efficiency of the
  methodology

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Implementation Progress

• Design / Implement Pedagogical Content User
  Interface
• Develop Educational Platform, Evaluation Scheme

March-June 2003
October 2002
Test Run
September 2003
Redesign of prototypes
Final Run / Final Improvements
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Study of Lunar craters
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Asteroid Rotation
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Sun rotational speed
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Teachers comments
Strengths Use of a robotic telescope, use of PC
software, scientific research approach,
collaborative group learning, e-learning
approach, flexibility of the Eudoxos User
Interface. The introduction of PC and the user
interface widened the participation of the
students who were more than usual attracted by
the work. The learning structure worked in small
groups of the target persons. This structure
provides a high level of interest and activity
but needs much help of the teaching person. The
flexibility of the user interface is a focus
point for the project. The activity can be
adjusted such as at higher difficulty level it
provides a challenge to the good students and at
low difficulty level it provides a motivated
environment for the usually-not-motivated
students. The typical 20-30 of motivated to
learn students increased to 80 !
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Weaknesses Limited availability of the telescope
because of weather issues, long time duration of
each activity. The impossibility to achieve
immediate results to our submission had been a
didactical limit. However students could be
taught that researchers need patience and they
learn to wait for the results. National
curricula cannot be adapted as intended by the
project different structures of participating
schools and different intentions/needs, make it
difficult to find a common starting
point. Interface would still need further
improvements. Challenges Students are benefited
from such learning activities. Therefore, we
believe that this project should cover more
topics in the future. However, we suggest that
the lesson activities should be designed in a way
that certain tasks will be feasible in shorter
periods of time. Dissemination will remain an
important issue in order to making aware of
innovative potentials given for Science education
in European schools.
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Evaluation process

• Evaluation of students learning
• Evaluation of the pedagogical framework
• Ethnographic evaluation

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Evaluation process
The evaluation is based on the participation in
the evaluation process of the active
participants the students and teachers. The
evaluation strategies and tools proposed are the
ones required by global, qualitative evaluation.
The main tools proposed are the teachers
diaries and the Students portfolios. The
teachers diary is a tool for the collection
and analysis of information that allows the
teacher to analyse thoroughly and systematically
what happens in the classroom. The Students
Portfolio constitutes a fundamental tool with
which each student monitors the learning process
systematically and thoroughly and becomes aware
of the usefulness of the content they are working
on. One more tool for the collection and analysis
of data the Inter-School Collaboration Journal.
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Future Prospects of Eudoxos

• Create worldwide network of remotely controlled
  telescopes for education.
• Establish Satellite connection with Institutes
  housing the interface.
• Apply to higher education (Universities).