ED040-02
A New Vision for Summer Schools: Moving the Heliophysics Summer School to a Remote Model

Monday, 14 December 2020: 16:07
Virtual
Nicholas A Gross, Boston University, Physics, Boston, MA, United States, Amitava Bhattacharjee, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States, Kendra Greb, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Visiting Scientist Programs, Boulder, CO, United States, Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States, Dana Longcope, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States and Karel Schrijver, Lockheed Martin Adv Techn Ctr, Palo Alto, CA, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Since 2007 the NASA/LWS Heliophysics Summer School has been organized by UCAR and held in person at Boulder. Each summer between 30 and 35 participants from across the nation and around the world are invited to travel to Boulder and attend for 8 days. Students participate in expert lectures, lab exercises using state of the art data and simulation results, and professional development activities. Participants also have networking opportunities that allow them to build professional and personal connections.

The goals of the Summer School are:

  • Increase participants’ broad knowledge of Heliophysics and space physics.
  • Provide lectures by experts in the field.
  • Use research quality data and simulation results to explore concepts.
  • Provide participants with professional development activities and networking opportunities with peers and experts in the field.
  • Build community among the participants which will support them throughout their careers.

During the Summer of 2020 the summer school could not be held in person, so the organizers implemented a remote version. This remote version was designed to support all of the summer school goals listed above. Without the natural interactions that occur during an in person meeting, the organizers were more intentional about planning sessions and the interactions the participants would have. Formats used during the summer school included:

  • Traditional lectures with extra emphasis on student questions.
  • Flipped classroom sessions where participants work in small groups on activities assigned the day before.
  • Use lab exercises and advanced text activities to drive student group discussion.
  • Small groups organized according to time zones of the students to work on activities. Students from 7 different time zones were part of the school.
  • Professional development opportunities including:
    elevator speech exercise, short student talks, and a career panel discussion.
  • Programmed “Office hours” that allow for interactions with the instructors.

Participant evaluations along with organizers' observations show evidence that the remote summer school succeeded in meeting its goals, but also point to room for improvement. This presentation will describe the implementation of the summer school, the lessons learned from the experience, and areas for improving the implementation.

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