1. Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (November 2017)
Programmatics
PI/Institution: Dana Backman / SETI Institute (Mountain View, CA) PI
Total Value: $1.45 M (3 years) Period of Performance: CY
Summary Description: The Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program is aimed to measurably enhance student STEM engagement and achievement in selected school districts via professional development for high school science teachers consisting of: (1) STEM training in astrophysics & planetary science content and pedagogy delivered via webinars & in-person workshops; (2) a week-long STEM immersion experience at NASA’s science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California, including participation in research flights on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA); (3) follow-through webinars fostering reflection plus connections with astrophysics & planetary science subject matter experts. Impact on student STEM learning & engagement will be evaluated via a controlled protocol
Science Focus: Astrophysics, Planetary Science Audience(s): (1) 2000 students of C5 teacher participants; (2) teacher Region(s) Served: N. & S California participants (high school physics & physical science teachers).
(during current pilot / research phase) Website:
Current Partnerships:
- SOFIA Program (NASA Ames & Armstrong)
- Seven school districts with signed MOUs:
Santa Clara USD, Vista USD (San Diego County),
East Side Union HSD (San Jose), Antelope Valley USD,
Campbell UHSD (Santa Clara County), Manteca USD (C. Valley),
William S. Hart UHSD (L.A. County), Anaheim UHSD
Team Members and Institutions:
Dana Backman
Coral Clark
Pamela Harman
(all at the SETI Institute)

2. Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (November 2017) cont.
Evaluator(s) Opportunities
WestEd (
Cross-collaboration with informal education partners;
Improved awareness of NASA education infrastructure;
Access to new NASA science education products and services growing from the Cooperative Agreement.
Access to school districts already working with other CA recipients for eventual expansion of AAA geographic footprint.
Risks/Areas of Concern Measurable Achievement
Timing set by SOFIA science flight schedule means there will be opportunity for only one cycle of evaluating AAA impact & effectiveness before the end of our current 3-year cooperative agreement (end of CY18).
Will 23 teachers (~ 2000 students) in the ‘treatment’ group and 15 teachers (~ 1500 students) in the ‘control’ group be sufficient to discern the signal of AAA impact?
Significant increase in STEM achievement & engagement by students of teacher participants. To be measured via instruments & protocols developed with the help of external evaluator.
DATA AVAILABE AT END OF CY 2018:
* Student outcome measures:
Assessment of learning in relation to California
Science Framework / NGSS
Assessment of interests in STEM, STEM learning,
STEM majors, STEM careers
* Teacher views of student engagement & learning
* Documentation of teaching implementation

3. Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (November 2017) cont’
Need(s) or Areas to Watch Updates / Changes
Hope for an indication ASAP of opportunity to extend the AAA program beyond CY 2018, enabling planning for expansion of currently limited geographic footprint / recruitment of more school districts from which to draw teachers for SOFIA Cycles 7+.
Organizational changes at the SETI Institute resulting from Edna DeVore’s imminent retirement will lead Co-Investigator Pamela Harman to cut back to 0.1 FTEs on the AAA program starting Nov. 1, As a result, Co-Investigator Coral Clark and Principal Investigator Dana Backman will increase their time on the AAA project to 0.75 FTEs each.
Look Ahead Cross-Collaboration Status
Oct.’17 – Feb.’18: C5 cohort members administer student pre-assessments, teach the AAA IR curriculum, maintain teaching implementation logs, and administer student post-assessments.
Dec.’17: AAA presentation in AGU education special session.
Mar.-Jun.’18: WestEd analysis of Randomized Control Trial assessing AAA impact on students; report to be made available to SciAct consortium as soon as practical.
Sep.-Nov.’18: C6 teacher flights.
Continued communicating & planning with the S.F. Exploratorium & CA PI Robert Semper in regards public engagement downlinks from SOFIA in flight.