Discovery-Based Student Learning with the Haystack 37-m Radio Telescope

该项目将通过亲身接触世界级天文仪器来支持国家本科STEM教育计划的发展。该计划将通过直接参与现实世界的研究，让学生接触到广泛的核心科学和工程主题和技术。好奇心驱动型学习的潜力将被用来教育和激励未来的研究人员和学生，他们的职业生涯依赖于STEM的核心能力。该项目资助了一项为期两年的试点研究，在麻省理工学院干草堆天文台的37米射电望远镜上实施学生研究项目。在这一试验期间，将开发和测试一种具有成本效益的天线远程观测能力，向来自高等教育机构的不同群体的学生开放使用望远镜的机会。参与这项计划将使学生和教师接触到天文学和天体物理学中的当前问题，并允许在基础物理、数学和工程概念之间建立联系，并将它们应用于解决现实世界的问题。将根据学生和参与课程的教师的反馈，开发和改进教程、教学材料和数据简化工具。在该计划下进行的学生研究将产生能够促进天体物理学各个领域的科学数据，包括天体化学、恒星形成和恒星演化。具体项目主题的例子包括氢复合线光谱和天文脉泽。该计划将为广泛的学生提供开展原创性研究的途径，包括目前无法获得此类机会的两年制学院和非研究型大学的学生。它还将为学院和大学教师提供一种创新手段，将基于发现的研究纳入STEM课程。从发展和测试阶段开始，招募了代表人数不足的群体的教育工作者参加。在该项目下开展的开发工作将为STEM学生提供参加本科生研究体验计划的机会。

This project will support the development of a national program of undergraduate STEM education through hands-on access to a world-class astronomical instrument. The program will expose students to a broad range of core science and engineering topics and techniques by means of direct participation in real-world research. The potency of curiosity-driven learning will be exploited to educate and motivate both future researchers and students destined for careers in industries that depend on core STEM competencies.This project funds a 2-year pilot study to implement student research projects at the 37-meter radio telescope of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Haystack Observatory. During this pilot, a cost-effective remote observing capability for the antenna will be developed and tested, opening up access to the telescope to a diverse body of students from institutes of higher learning. Participation in this program will expose students and instructors to current problems in astronomy and astrophysics and allow the establishment of linkages between basic physics, mathematics, and engineering concepts and their application to solving real-world problems. Tutorials, instructional materials, and data reduction tools will be developed and improved with feedback from students and participating instructors. The student research carried out under this program will produce scientific data capable of advancing diverse areas of astrophysics, including astrochemistry, star formation, and stellar evolution. Examples of specific project topics include hydrogen recombination line spectra and astronomical masers. This program will provide an avenue to carry out original research to a wide range of students, including those at two-year colleges and non-research universities who do not presently have access to such opportunities. It will also provide an innovative means for college and university instructors to incorporate discovery-based research into STEM curricula. Educators of underrepresented groups have been recruited to participate, starting with the development and testing stages. Development work carried out under this project will provide opportunities for STEM students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program.