Teaching the Teachers – 18 years of the QAEC

Session details: Sunday, 2012-04-08 03:30:00, TBA

Abstract

The Brisbane Astronomical Society has been convening the Queensland Astronomy Education Conference (also known as the Southern Star Conference) since 1994. The concept was born from the palatable lack of basic knowledge and resources for the southern hemisphere in schools when members were assisting with Education Field Nights. The conference has always had a hands-on focus, with participants leaving with a range of teaching activities and techniques they can immediately use in the classroom. This year’s conference held on the 25th of February and was for educators who wanted to expand their knowledge of the ‘Space Sciences’ section of the ‘Earth and Space Sciences’ component of the new Australian Science Curriculum.

Biography

Tony Surma-Hawes has been a member of the Brisbane Astronomical Society since 1992, and almost from the start has been elbow deep (and deeper) in his involvement in the Society’s executive. This inevitably extended into being part of the organisation teams of the Queensland Astronomy Education Conference and the Queensland Astrofest. Being neither teacher nor professional conference organiser, and knowing nothing about how to convene an event such as the QAEC, why would he take on such a task? Actually this question didn’t occur to Tony and the rest of the seven teams who took on this task… The question was “Why wouldn’t you?” Tony and his wife Anne-Louise Have been recognised with the Combined Astronomical Societies 2001 Achievement Award for their work co-Convening the QAEC.