Workshops for scientists and engineers on education and public outreach

Abstract

Funding agencies like NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are increasingly requiring the participation of their funded scientists and engineers in education and public outreach (EPO). The Space Science Institute (SSI) of Boulder, Colorado, designs and implements workshops to help scientists and engineers become better partners and supporters of professionals in formal and informal science education. This paper describes the background and motivation for these workshops, presents the elements of SSI’s annual 4-day workshops, discusses lessons learned from our eight years of experience, and concludes with mention of other workshops being derived from our 4-day version. Evaluation data clearly indicate that our workshops are providing vital opportunities for scientists and engineers, especially those in space and earth science-related disciplines, to become more effective EPO partners and contributors.