Bringing Space into School Science
Professor Martin Barstow, University of Leicester
A report commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership October 2005
Published by PPARC on behalf of the British National Space Centre Partnership Bringing Space into School Science
Contents
Executive Summary 1
Key Recommendations 2
1 Introduction – background 3
2 Description of consultations 6
2.1 Seminars 6
2.2 Teacher survey 8
2.3 Individual meetings 8
2.4 Survey of existing projects 8
2.5 Steering group meetings 8
3 Results of consultations 9
3.1 Seminars 9
3.2 Teacher survey 11
3.3 Results of Individual consultations 14
3.4 Steering Group Contributions 17
3.5 Project Survey 18
4 Conclusions and Recommendations 18
5 Cost estimates for a possible future programme 23
5.1 Adopting space nationally as a flagship topic 23
5.2 Network of ASTs and Beacon teachers 23
5.3 Evaluation of existing programmes by teachers 23
5.4 Coordination of future programmes 23
Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science
5.5 UK Space Office 24
5.6 CPD bursary scheme 24
5.7 Academic research programme 24
5.8 Recommendations on Schoolspace proposal 24
Appendix A - Evidence base on the value of space education in schools 25
Appendix B – BNSC partner organisations 26
Appendix C - National Space Education Initiative Briefing Note 27
Appendix D – List of participants who took part in the consultation process 29
Steering Committee Members 29
July 1st Seminar Attendees 29
July 7th Seminar Attendees 30
Teachers Surveyed 30
One-to-one Consultations 30
Appendix E – Teacher survey questionnaire 31
Appendix F - Space and astronomy-related educational projects and contacts 32
Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science
Executive Summary
The British National Space Centre partnership has recognised for some time that Space and Astronomy are particularly attractive subjects for school students and that including these in the science curriculum can have a positive effect on student interest in science.
Drivers are that the number of young people studying science and engineering subjects at A-level and beyond is declining; young people should have an understanding of the importance of science and technology to the world around them; and that UK space industry (including technology, engineering, space science, Earth observation science) must renew itself.
A plan has emerged to develop a National Space Education Initiative (NSEI) with aims of:
I inspiring young people to study and achieve in science, maths and technology.
I giving teachers the skills, knowledge and resources to deliver exciting lessons and raise standards, especially in (English curriculum) Key Stages 3 and 4.
I developing UK capability so there are clear mechanisms for schools to benefit from local, national, and European initiatives and resources.
The first phase of the NSEI has been to engage in an extensive consultation exercise with groups of stakeholders. This report, commissioned by the BNSC partnership and made to those partners is the result of the consultation. Consultation mechanisms included two space education seminars, a teacher questionnaire and a number of one-to-one consultations.
The accumulated evidence base demonstrates that space and astronomy topics are of major importance in stimulating young people to enjoy science and to encourage more participation in science subjects. While there are many projects available for teachers to use, the take-up of these is very patchy and more needs to be done to make better use of the existing resources.
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There are no strong demands for new resources on any particular topic, but the scope of those available in individual projects needs examining to ensure that teacher needs are met. In addition, it is still important to develop new projects around future missions to take advantage of their excitement and topicality.
A key issue here is the availability of resources in terms of time and financial support to enable teachers to adopt new ways of teaching science. There is a large gap that needs to be bridged.
Ten key recommendations for action have been made (see page 4).
Key Recommendations
Ten key recommendations for action: 1. Space should be adopted nationally as a flagship topic to enhance science teaching in general. 2. A single advisory body should coordinate space education in the UK. 3. A “One-Stop-Shop” web site should be created to coordinate and showcase space education resources. 4. A UK “Space Education Office” should be created to act as a central point of contact and organise the advisory body and manage the web site. 5. A bursary scheme should be made available to allow teachers to attend relevant CPD courses in the absence of other support. 6. There should be a network of Science Advanced Skills and Beacon teachers.
7. Space should be enshrined in the teaching specifications. 8. Best-practice from regional/local initiatives and projects should be adopted and rolled-out on a UK-wide basis. 9. Information on space careers and prospects should be improved. 10. Funding should be made available for independent evaluation of space education programmes.
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1 Introduction – background
It has been recognised for some time that Space and Astronomy are particularly attractive subjects for school students and that including these in the science curriculum can have a positive effect on student interest in science. While a lot of the evidence for this is anecdotal, surveys such as the ‘Pupil’s and Parent’s views of the Science Curriculum’ report support this view, stating that “The one topic (amongst the sciences) that generated universal enthusiasm was any study of astronomy and space” (Osborne and Collins, 2000).
More recently, academic studies have been carried out following cohorts of schools students through space education programmes at the National Space Centre in Leicester, measuring their attitudes to science beforehand and at intervals following a visit. Jarvis and Pell (2002, 2005) demonstrate a clear positive influence on pupils, but one which decays with time. Further support is found in other publications and a complete summary of the evidence can be found in Appendix A.
On of the major drivers for needing to change attitudes is that the number of young people studying science and engineering subjects at A-level and beyond is declining in the face of competition from subjects that might be perceived to be easier and/or more interesting. Without a pool of trained people, it will not be possible for technology based industries to renew themselves. In the USA, the National Science Foundation has highlighted a need to replace ~50,000-70,000 scientist and engineers in the space programme, as people retire over the next decade or so and similar problems will occur in Europe and in the UK space industry (including technology, engineering, space science, Earth observation science). Furthermore, in a society that is heavily dependent on technology, even those young people who do not go on to study science should have an understanding of the importance of science and technology to the world around them.
Following Charles Clarke’s proposal that the UK could do more to link space with schools’ education, the British National Space Centre (BNSC1) partnership has worked with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) over a period of around 18 months to develop
1 The BNSC is a voluntary partnership currently comprising a number of public bodies with an interest in civil space. A list of these can be found in appendix B.
Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership 3 Bringing Space into School Science this idea. In December 2004, the DfES also became a BNSC partner which will help embed space education in the partnership’s portfolio at policy and strategic level. From this work a plan has emerged for a National Space Education Initiative (NSEI – see briefing note in Appendix C) with aims of:
I inspiring young people to study and achieve in science, maths, technology, etc.
I giving teachers the skills, knowledge and resources to deliver exciting lessons and raise standards, especially in (English curriculum) Key Stages 3 and 4.
I developing UK capability so there are clear mechanisms for schools to benefit from local, national, and European initiatives and resources.
Joint work so far has resulted in educational materials linking Beagle2, Mars Express and Cassini-Huygens to the schools’ curricula, all launched by Ministers. In addition, a NSEI Project manager/consultant was appointed (the author of this report) on a 6-month contract, reporting to a Steering Group with representatives from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), DfES, Council for the Central Laboratory for the Research Councils (CCLRC), BNSC HQ and the Institute of Physics.
The NSEI should concentrate on UK added value with a focus on the 11-16 age range, plus the primary-secondary transition. The aim is not just to deal with those areas of the curriculum that are explicitly Space/Astronomy related but to use these as a context for teaching the wider science curriculum.
A new development of relevance to education in the future is the ESA Aurora programme of planetary exploration, focussed on Mars. Although the detailed plans are not yet certain and the level of UK involvement is still being decided, it is clear, from the excitement generated by Beagle2 and other recent Mars missions, that a programme of Mars exploration will be particularly inspiring from an educational point of view. In addition, the plan for sustained development through a series of robotic missions, ultimately leading to human exploration of Mars, has the potential for supplying necessary periodic injections of excitement into the science curriculum.
Some good examples of teacher and curriculum support can be found in projects developed by BNSC and the PPARC public engagement awards. For example, PPARC
4 Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science alone has invested approximately £750,000 in educational projects since its large awards scheme began. However, there are a great variety of projects available and many different sources of information and modes of delivery. Despite good reviews of the materials produced, take-up of the various projects is patchy and many teachers are unaware of what is available or do not feel equipped to make use of what is on offer. This highlights a particular problem in linking resources to those who would want/need to use them.
The main aim of this phase of the NSEI is to carry out a survey of what space and astronomy related support is available and work out how best to deliver these projects in a coordinated way. It is hoped to make access much easier for teachers and so increase the use of the various programmes and the impact of the money that has already been spent on them. Also, it will seek to identify any gaps in the provision that might need to be filled by further development work.
An important element of the project has been to bring together the main stake holders (project providers, teachers, science advisors, curriculum experts etc.) to agree a common approach. The main deliverables during this initial 6 month phase of the project (March - September 2005) were to
I Develop partnerships with other stakeholders to improve the scope and outreach of space education initiatives.
I Make recommendations on developing a sustainable overall framework or initiative, including costed options for programme elements.
I Co-ordinate and manage projects on space activities which can improve the quality of science teaching and learning.
Within these broad aims the specific tasks were to:
I Research and review of existing projects, mapping onto curricula.
I Generate lists of stakeholders, culminating in consultation meetings.
I Address needs of various groups - Teachers - Proxies (e.g. advisors)
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- Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), Ofsted, etc - Learners
I Evaluate the existing idea of a “One-stop-shop” plan.
I Consider mainly ages 11-14 (English Key Stage 3), but include some 7-11 (KS2) and 14-16 (KS4), particularly at the boundaries.
I Identify gaps and overlaps in current provision.
I Generate an output vision in the form of a proposal/report.
This document reports on the results of this 6 month research and consultation phase of the National Space Education Initiative. In particular it outlines the results of the seminars and individual consultations, gathering together the key themes that have emerged from the process and makes recommendations for future development of the NSEI.
2 Description of consultations
2.1 Seminars Two seminars were held on July 1st and July 7th 2005 to seek the views of the various likely stakeholders in the NSEI. Selected individuals and representatives of key organisations were invited to these.
The main aims of the July 1st seminar were to seek the views of national providers and main stakeholders on what is required to improve the provision of space-related activities in schools, and for the BNSC to develop partnerships in this with other key players. Introductions to the NSEI were given by Robin Clegg (PPARC) and Martin Barstow (NSEI Manager). Robin Clegg explained the role of BNSC and outlined the aims of the seminar, while Martin Barstow discussed the problems in science education, the importance of space-related topics and briefly reviewed what already exists in space education.
Initial results from the teacher survey were presented to stimulate discussion. The role and operation of the Science Learning Centres was outlined by Tina Jarvis. A
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A representative view of the problem of using space topics in science education was given from the perspective of a practising teacher by Jo Besford, an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST). Approximately half the seminar was given over to discussion of a number of key points and questions:
Key points:
I Not enough people know about what already exists
I Not enough of those that do actually use the materials
I Probably not enough coordination of what is going on: - Risk of duplication of effort - Potential for leaving important gaps
Key questions:
I Is there a need for coordination of space/astronomy education provision?
I What are the key problems to address?
I What level of support is required?
I What partnerships of national agencies are needed? - E.g. Specialist schools, the BA, SLCs, Ecsite UK, QCA
I Consideration of possible mechanisms. - Would a web-based one-stop-shop approach be useful? - What use can be made of the existing networks?
The second seminar followed on by consulting with existing education projects and providers of curriculum materials to discuss how all the various activities might be coordinated to provide wider access and more support for teachers.
The list of participants for each seminar can be found in Appendix D.
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2.2 Teacher survey Possibly the most important group in the context of the NSEI are teachers. They are clearly on the front line in delivering the science curriculum and their needs must be fully taken into account in any recommendations made by this study. Within the limited 6-month timescale of this phase, it was not possible to carry out a complete general survey of science teachers. Instead a more targeted survey was initiated, focussing on a group of teachers who already have a track record in some space education elements or are known to have an interest in this area. The survey was designed to measure the teachers’ awareness of existing space education projects, find out which (if any) they actually use and assess the need for a one-stop-shop approach. In addition, the opportunity was given for teachers to provide further general comments on space education issues. The survey was carried out by email and sent to 30 teachers, achieving a response rate of around 55%. The questionnaire is included in Appendix E. The briefing note in Appendix C was also sent to teachers.
2.3 Individual meetings Inevitably, not all invitees were able to attend the seminars and additional individuals or groups were identified following these. Therefore, a series of face-to-face meetings were held in various locations to ensure that the consultation process was as complete as possible. The participants in these meetings are listed in Appendix D.
2.4 Survey of existing projects There is already a significant volume of relevant activity going on around the UK, with a wide variety of initiatives in both formal and informal education. A very valuable survey had been produced by Anita Heward (Royal Astronomical Society), prior to the beginning of the NSEI consultation, covering all aspects of space education, which was made freely available to the project. Since the scope of NSEI is mostly in the formal education sector, involving the delivery of space education in schools, only a subset of the Heward survey is relevant here. The projects listed in Appendix F have been included here because they have an element of direct curriculum support. The original Heward list has also been supplemented with information gained through the NSEI exercise.
2.5 Steering group meetings A steering group, comprising representatives of those BNSC partners most interested in space education and one person from the Institute of Physics (see Appendix D for
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list of members), was formed to oversee the consultation phase of the NSEI project and provide advice to the project manager on how to proceed. As each member of the committee also had considerable personal expertise in areas of education and outreach, they also provided a valuable additional input into the overall consultation process. Three steering group meetings were held along with a number of email and telephone discussions.
3 Results of consultations
3.1 Seminars Many useful points emerged from the July 1st seminar. It was clear from the round table discussion that there are pockets of activity which need to plug into an overall framework, endorsing the idea that a key aim of NSEI should be to provide coordination. However, there was a strong view that the programme should focus clearly on space rather than try to cover whole of science. It was noted that the ASE already has a one-stop-shop that could provide a ready-made vehicle for NSEI but there were reservations about the availability of this to non-members.
The difficulties teachers face was a common theme addressed by several people. It is important to enable teachers by giving them training and hands-on experience. However, teachers need time away from the classroom and are finding it difficult to obtain this to attend relevant training courses. While schools in principle have the resources for teacher training, they are often limited. Furthermore, “space education” is not a particular priority when ranked against demands for training to support specific government targets.
The situation is expected to worsen from September 2005, as there will be less teacher cover available in schools, and a resulting need for more supply cover for absent teachers, increasing the overall costs of attending courses. It was suggested that an independent source of bursaries for teachers would help to alleviate the problem.
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The role of the National and Regional Science Learning Centres is a potentially important one in helping teachers make effective use of space education materials, but in some cases teachers are not allowed to use them for resource or school policy reasons. There are also perceived problems in the range of charges for apparently similar courses. An alternative to getting teachers out of the classroom for training might be to make use of ASTs to go into schools. One difficulty here is the absence of a national list of science ASTs and patchiness in the coverage of science, which is dictated by the priorities of individual LEAs.
It might be possible to increase the priority given to space education by linking into particular themes that schools have to tackle, such as numeracy, ICT, gifted and talented strands. Also, there would be a benefit in getting space education resources into course specifications. The QCA and examination boards might help with this.
One issue that is rarely addressed in understanding why students lose interest in science is that subject choices are often based on perceived vocational outcome. The message that career prospects are good in science is not being delivered and students are tending to choose subjects where they think that the opportunities for good salaries are best.
Among many useful points raised in the seminar, four key conclusions can be drawn.
I There is strong support for a coordination activity.
I There is a need for a UK Space Office which teachers can contact for advice and help with curriculum materials.
I It is extremely important to try to solve the issues for teachers to have any chance of success.
I Having space enshrined in teaching specifications is particularly important.
The July 7th seminar was affected by the events in London on that day, which prevented about half the expected number of participants from attending. Nevertheless, several project providers were represented.
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There was a general positive view of the enrichment value of space education in schools and that more coordination was desirable, perhaps with local or regional offices. On the other hand, concern was expressed at the large number of organisations involved in space education and that DfES may have a problem knowing who to talk to.
One possible option would be make use of the Association for Astronomy Education as a coordinating body. However, only a relatively small number of teachers belong to this organisation. ‘Regional’ delivery could perhaps be achieved via the IoP, ASE regional officers, or maybe the SETPOINTS. Support might also be available from local Education-Business partnerships.
A number of general points were made in the discussions. A one-stop-shop website should follow the BECTA guidelines for educational Websites and should be searchable by National Curriculum references. There should be support for ‘beacon’ teachers, who may not necessarily be ASTs. There was some support for a ‘special offer’ to selected schools as well as the general support available to all.
3.2 Teacher survey Although the group of teachers surveyed were already interested in space education, their awareness of the available space educational projects was patchy. Around 85% of teacher had made use of some resources but individuals knew of very different combinations of websites and projects, with NASA resources dominating.
ESA, BNSC and PPARC materials were also used, but at a significantly lower level than NASA. However, NASA websites are mostly used as sources of information and pictures for teachers to use in the classroom rather than for ready-made lesson plans. Awareness of other projects tended to be regional or local, teachers know of those that had been generated in their area. Teachers’ use of space and astronomy materials followed a similar pattern.
Support for a one-stop-shop approach to giving teachers access to resources was overwhelming, 100% of respondents requesting this, provided it did not lead to a proliferation of such facilities. However, opinions on what this web-site should contain were varied. There were four general themes with which most respondents were in agreement: any worksheets/schemes of work should be produced by
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teachers; there should be clear links to the National Curriculum and an indication of the appropriate Key Stages; the site should be student friendly; there should be an ability for teachers to comment on and review resources for their usefulness, perhaps with a “star” rating scheme. An important adjunct to these main points is that whatever is provided by the one-stop-shop should add to what is already available from NASA or ESA, rather than just replicate these resources.
A number of detailed pointers were given by teachers concerning the kind of materials they would like to see made available through a one-stop-shop, or any other medium. These include: up-to-date news (aimed at a student level); live feeds from current events; contacts for schools (i.e. real people to whom teachers/students can talk); “slot-in” activities that can be adopted within existing schemes of work; an on-line library of pictures/animations/video clips; school-friendly data that can be used in lessons; information on the relevance of space to real life, including “spin- offs” from space programmes. There were mixed feelings on whether all resources should be located on the one-stop-shop site or linked from there to their host sites. However, if the latter approach were adopted, there must be clear information on the one-stop-shop site to allow teachers to evaluate the relevance and usefulness of the materials
Teachers also identified several current problems that echo those reported in the seminars. Within the current school environment, with many requirements placed on teachers, time is a serious issue. It is very difficult for teachers to find spare time to deal with new things and there is a strong inclination to continue with tried and tested resources, even if these are not the most exciting and inspiring. More than one teacher teacher commented, “My main difficulty is finding space in the teaching year to fit in any of these materials. It is rather pointless having great resources and then having an overlarge specification which is impossible to teach and leave no time to use the fun stuff!”
One important consideration is that teachers of physics, for whom space education resources may be most useful, are not always physics specialists. Therefore, it is important that sufficient help is given to non-specialist teachers to make use of the resources.
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Although the main target for the current initiative is secondary schools several teachers expressed a strong desire to see the upper years of primary school addressed as well, based on the view that enthusing students with space and astronomy at this age would have a knock-on effect in secondary school.
Astronomy in primary school is in some schools non existent, because in the English KS2 SATs, children only have to know facts about the orbits of the Earth/Sun/Moon system. There was not even a question about Earth/Sun/Moon in the 2003/2004 SAT, possibly making it a topic that some teachers might perceive as irrelevant and, even though it is a QCA unit taught in year 5, that it does not need too much attention. This contrasts with the fact that Earth, Sun and Moon is one of the most popular topics for children during the primary years. It is also an area that has many cross curricular links and clearly allows ‘Enjoyment and Enrichment’ of the curriculum. One teacher reported that his astronomy based projects within primary school have all been well supported by both children, regardless of gender, and parents.
One of the biggest problems identified for the penetration of resources into the classroom is that unless teachers can plug a resource directly into a lesson they will reach very few children. Materials need to address knowledge or skills that are directly tested at the end of key stage assessments. Material that is not directly tested will not be viewed as essential by most teachers and will not get used as much as we would like. On the other hand the resources that teach, e.g. the life cycles of stars is much easier to sell to teachers because it directly addresses knowledge that is tested in GCSE exams.
A suggested solution to the problem would be if research councils such as PPARC were each asked by the QCA to give details of the most exciting research going on each year and what the scientists working on it were doing. The KS3 SATS and GCSEs could then ask questions about those case studies. It is an interesting contrast that the new South African science national curriculum mentions the Southern African Large Telescope by name.
This year the KS3 SAT had about 10% of its marks based on space science. However, little of it celebrated UK space science research. A little national pride, whilst at the same time showing the international nature of science and technology,
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would improve the perception of space and astronomy in schools. For example, there was a question about forces based on an Astronaut in space. A little imagination could have mentioned that the most experienced current NASA astronaut is a UK born Astrophysicist - “We need to get away from the impression the UK curriculum gives of science as something done by dead, white blokes!”
3.3 Results of Individual consultations Although the group of teachers surveyed were already interested in space education, their awareness of the available space educational projects was patchy. Around 85% of teacher had made use of some resources but individuals knew of very different combinations of websites and projects, with NASA resources dominating.
3.3.1 QCA The QCA develop qualifications, monitor the curriculum, advise ministers, develop new curricula, accredit new qualifications and provide quality assurance. The QCA’s advice is to think about what will be going in schools about 3 years hence and then plan on this timescale. For example, new criteria are at different stages of development for KS3 and post-16, with the latter aiming at a target date of 2008 for implementation.
It is important to develop contemporary and contextual materials. However, there might also be a role for new awards, e.g. GCSE or AS in Space Science. Development of such an award would need to be carried out in conjunction with an awarding body (one of the examination boards), but would be supported by the QCA. Creation of materials to support a programme of study is not a function of the QCA, but advice on what constitutes a programme of study can be offered.
3.3.2 SunTrek Project PPARC has been an important source of support for space scientists in attempting to bring contemporary research into schools. However, long term support is limited and there is a need for continued support for successful projects. Beyond this, better communication with schools needs to be developed. One way forward might be a specific PPARC schools website, where materials are quality checked and curriculum relevance is clear. More support for project providers would be welcome, perhaps through PPARC sponsored workshops. In addition, development of a teacher list and teacher network, into which project providers could tap, would be beneficial. A teacher panel could be drawn from the network to evaluate space education resources.
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3.3.3 SETNET SETNET is a national organisation, covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are also responsible for operating the Science and Engineering Ambassadors scheme which links industry and higher education with schools. Some SETPOINTS are already active in delivering space material to schools. However, the individual contributions are highly disparate and there is no obvious coordination of schemes across the areas. Recently a scheme to bring more structure to SETNET activities is being put in place through the appointment of regional coordinators, with and intention of basing these in the Science Learning Centres. This will create an important link between the new learning centre network and the SETPOINTS. SETNET could provide a delivery organisation for NSEI, if coordination across the regions could be demonstrated.
3.3.4 Abington Partners (incorporating ScienceScope) Contact was made with the British Education Suppliers Association and the Publishers Association Education Group. However, only one of their affiliated organisations, Abington Partners, responded to the consultation exercise.
The company supplies data collection hardware and software to schools. Approximately 50% of schools use the software with ~40% purchasing hardware. Resource packs have been created to support these, but take up has been disappointing. Part of the reason, as seen by the company, is that teachers are too focussed on getting through the curriculum.
The way the examination system handles issues of data presentation is also a problem, with a requirement for graphs to be hand-drawn (for coursework).
There is also too much concentration on data presentation and not enough emphasis on interpretation, which is much more important. It was suggested that the system should move more towards data collection-based science. It is strongly believed that the biggest single factor that would help science education is to change the exam system.
How can the NSEI engage with education companies? Companies do have good education contacts, which could be helpful in dissemination of resources, and marketing expertise. However, most large science suppliers are not interested in
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education. More technically oriented, smaller companies are likely to be much more interested. Finally, it was felt that there are too many people/groups trying to organise things. There needs to be a single forum that brings everyone together across science education and perhaps a champion to encourage publishers to make use of space as a context in the materials they produce.
3.3.5 Scottish Space School Many valuable educational projects have been identified by the NSEI consultation exercise. Scottish Space School has a particular importance, as it is the only one that is clearly organised to operate throughout a whole country. As such, it can provide an exemplar as to how other existing schemes, or new ones, could be rolled out more widely.
Scottish Space School is run by Careers Scotland, part of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, in partnership with the Scottish Executive. The rationale for the Space School is that science and technology are important for the Scottish economy and that space is an important vehicle for inspiring the next generation to pursue science related courses and consider careers in science and technology.
The Space School offers a broad range of services covering ages from 5 to 18. Each year approximately 3000 students from the Scottish S4 cohort (studying for Standard Grade examinations) take part in a series of space workshops after completion of a series of academic modules (carried out in the students’ free time). Out of these 50 are selected to attend a Space Camp in Houston and up to 200 more attend a summer school supported by NASA astronauts and scientists at the University of Strathclyde.
Underpinning the Space School is a vibrant programme of schools visits from NASA astronauts and scientists. These target S1 (age 11-12) pupils and aim to inspire them to select two science subjects for study at Standard Grade. The visit programme is linked into the 5-14 Curriculum Earth and Space topic and is backed up by support materials for teachers and pupils, located on the Scottish Science and Technology Network web site. Approximately 25,000 pupils attend one of these events.
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The number of students reached by the Scottish programme is an interesting contrast to Space School UK, founded at Brunel University and now operated by the University of Leicester. Space School UK receives modest industrial sponsorship and attracts around 200 students every year. This is successful within its operational framework, but numbers are certainly limited by the costs that have to be passed onto students.
A key element in the success of the Scottish Space School is the adoption of “space” as a clear national framework for improving science education in general and the availability of the programme to all LEAs and schools within Scotland. This is underpinned by core financial support from the Scottish Executive that allows the project to continue on an annual basis.
3.4 Steering Group Contributions Through the meetings and discussions, steering group members raise a number of key points that need to be built into the recommendations of this NSEI report. It was noted that the current culture of devolution of responsibilities to schools coupled with the problems of overload make it a difficult environment in which to begin a national project. Therefore, encouragement of teacher involvement through bursaries for CPD and by coordination of ASTs and other beacon teachers is going to be important. However, the DfES could help in communication and marketing of the programme.
There is a perception that school science departments are over managed and that people do not take risks. They also feel constrained to stick rigidly to core science leaving no time for broadening of the curriculum. This is a cultural issue that has built up over some time and will be hard to address. One avenue may be to target schools governors via QCA guidance that enrichment of the curriculum and broadening beyond the core, using exciting contexts (such as space), should be encouraged as good practice.
The Institute of Physics is planning a one-stop-shop web site for physics. This will be physics only initially, but might later be extended to other science topics with support from the relevant subject bodies. It is intended to link resources and statements/schemes of work to a searchable list of statements and phrases about physics. The IoP has approximately 1300 affiliated schools, which is around 1/3 the total number of secondary schools. Therefore, this could act as a pilot and perhaps (later) a host for the space one-stop-shop.
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Google is extending the range of services it offers and seems keen to work with others. It might be worthwhile contacting Google as a possible partner in a one-stop-shop.
Future NSEI projects should have clear targets. For example, one aim could be to ensure that 20% of teachers are aware of and use space-related resources in their science teaching. It is important to link any NSEI targets with government targets and the National Skills Agenda and also place these in the context of the 10 year Science and Innovation Framework.
3.5 Project Survey Many areas of the national curriculum are addressed by the existing programmes. While coverage is not complete, there are no immediately obvious gaps in provision in terms of subject matter. Certainly, there is scope for new programmes to be developed that can expand the existing coverage, but, at the moment, the issue of improving the take-up of existing materials is more important than generating new ones. However, there will always be a need for materials associated with specific events and space missions to be developed (or possibly adapted from existing resources), as the element of topicality is particularly important in stimulating student interest.
One area of weakness in the current projects is in the range of resources provided. In the teacher survey, strong interest was expressed in the availability of certain elements that have not been routinely available. In particular, there is a desire for access to real data that students can analyse as part of their work. For example, data is available in the Classroom Space and Faulkes Telescope Projects but not in any others. Requests were also made for a variety of other things such as ready-made powerpoint presentations, interactive white board resources and video clips.
4 Conclusions and Recommendations
The existing evidence base demonstrates that space and astronomy topics are of major importance in stimulating young people to enjoy science and to encourage more participation in science subjects. While there are many projects available for teachers to
18 Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science use, the take-up of these is very patchy and more needs to be done to make better use of the existing resources. There are no strong demands for new resources on any particular topic, but the scope of those available in individual projects needs examining to ensure that teacher needs are met. In addition, it is still important to develop new projects around future missions to take advantage of their excitement and topicality.
A key issue here is the availability of resources in terms of time and financial support to enable teachers to adopt new ways of teaching science. There is a large gap that needs to be bridged. The Science Learning Centres are developing relevant CPD programmes for teachers, but they are not being used because schools are not using their CPD budgets in this area. Since a number of factors are at play here, several different approaches will need to be adopted to find a solution. Additional financial support in the form of NSEI bursaries will help increase the attendance of teachers on relevant courses; networks of teachers can support others in schools; enshrining space in schemes of work will increase its importance and make it a higher priority in allocation of school resources.
The key recommendations for action are given below, along with a brief commentary indicating how they might be realised and an indication of the most appropriate organisation to take this forward.
1. Space should be adopted nationally as a flagship topic to enhance science teaching in general: The approach has been very successful in Scotland, with their Space School, a project that reaches out to all students and even into remote and difficult to access areas. The high profile given to space ensures that it is given priority as a vehicle for improving engagement in science across the education system. A central DfES lead and identification of a “space champion” would be important elements of the strategy. (Key agency – DfES)
2. A single advisory body should coordinate space education programmes in the UK: At the moment there are many agencies engaged in space education, but little coordination of activity. Any coordination group should be of sufficient stature to have influence within government and should be independent of special interest groups. At the moment, the BNSC partnership is well placed to take on the organisational role, but it could be devolved to one of the leading BNSC partners such as PPARC, DfES or CCLRC. Membership of the group should also include representatives of key stakeholders such as project providers, teachers, learned
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bodies, science visitor centres, QCA, examination boards, SETNET and the Science Learning Centres. The coordination group chair should be selected from the membership and there should be an element of salary support for this individual. (Key agency - BNSC partnership)
3. A “One-Stop-Shop” web site should be created to coordinate and showcase space education resources: This is probably the most widely requested resource in the NSEI consultation. It will be important to avoid falling into the trap of a proliferation of one-stop-shops. Key things that must be included are clear links to the National Curriculum and evaluation/“star-rating” of the educational resources on the site. The Institute of Physics is planning such a scheme for Physics and the Faulkes Telescope Project is in the process of setting up a one-stop-shop for astronomy. These schemes should be evaluated to see whether or not they could be expanded to support space education and compared with other potential locations (e.g. BNSC, PPARC, SETNET, National Science Learning Centre, National Space Centre web sites) in terms of cost-effectiveness and quality of service. It will be necessary to market the one-stop-shop to teachers through their various networks and organisations (e.g. IoP, ASE) and their endorsement will be a key element in establishing the web site’s identity. (Key agency – BNSC partnership)
4. A UK “Space Education Office” should be created: It is important of have a single point of contact for space education. A UK office, based in a location that would be widely recognised and accepted by the space education community, would fulfil this need. In addition, the office would be the most appropriate agency to organise the advisory body and to manage the “One-Stop-Shop” website. In addition, there is a need for better dissemination of ESA activities and resources to UK teachers and communicators, which could be carried out through this national office. A good model for determining the location would be an open tendering process along the lines of that carried out to established the Near Earth Object Information Centre. (Key agency – BNSC partnership
5. A bursary scheme should be made available to allow teachers to attend relevant CPD courses in the absence of other support: It is very hard to get teachers out of their classrooms and onto training courses. While a number of space education courses exist, they are not well-attended. A major factor is that the Science Learning Centres are unable to pay the cost of teacher cover and schools may not see these
20 Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science
courses as a high priority when allocating their own resources for CPD. Some discretionary support needs to be available to fill the gap in provision. Administration needs to be simple, to minimise costs, and it would be easiest to attach this support to those organisations delivering space-related CPD courses. It may not be realistic to have a bursary scheme just for space and a general science scheme might be more appropriate. (Key agencies – DfES, PPARC; BNSC should approach IoP for assistance)
6. There should be a network of Science Advanced Skills and Beacon teachers: Financial support for CPD is not sufficient on its own. Many teachers, particularly non-specialists, will need additional assistance and a network of teachers who are already experts in this area will be particularly valuable. ASTs will already have some provision in their timetables to support this kind of activity, but additional support will be needed for Beacon teachers who are not already ASTs. National leadership in this area could be provided by the DfES in conjunction with the Institute of Physics, who already have an extensive teacher network. The Regional Science Learning Centres and SETPOINTs would provide a useful forum for coordination of the teacher network in the regions. (Key agency – DfES; BNSC should approach IoP for assistance)
7. Space should be enshrined in the teaching specifications: With the current culture of teaching very closely to the specific schemes of work, teachers are naturally nervous about branching out into areas that are not obviously relevant. This is particularly the case when topics are being taught by non-specialist teachers, a situation increasingly common in physics. Inclusion of more space and astronomy- related examples in the schemes offered by the various examination boards should be encouraged. It is also important to become more imaginative in setting examination questions that exploit these, since material that is not tested is that most likely to be ignored when time is short. The emphasis should be on how space can be moulded to pick up key points in the National Curriculum, but there is probably some scope for introducing new qualifications (e.g. “Space” GCSE or AS-level) which incorporate elements of the current science syllabi and encourage more students to do some science. (Key agency DfES; BNSC partnership should engage with QCA to move this forward)
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8. Best-practice from regional/local initiatives and projects should be adopted and rolled-out on a UK-wide basis: While coordination of the whole space education programme is needed, it is also important to recognise the strength and breadth of the projects that are already being carried on a (mainly) regional or local basis. Space education should not be just top-down but engage with the community who are active in the field. Projects that are proven to be successful should be adopted by the coordination group and made available (if appropriate) at least through the one- stop-shop. More importantly, relevant teacher training courses will need to be duplicated and shared with other regions. The network of Regional Science Learning Centres would be the most appropriate route for this. (key agencies – BNSC partnership and DfES in particular who should engage with RSLCs)
9. Information on space careers and prospects should be improved: Engaging student interest in science is important but choices of later study are not just linked to enjoyment of a subject but also to perceived career prospects. Information on science careers is in general rather limited but information on space-related jobs is almost non-existent. Along with curriculum support it is important to help students understand the UK does have space industry and that front-line space activities are carried out by universities, industrial companies and government laboratories, to carry the message that space is not just NASA. In particular, we need to establish role models among our younger scientists to whom school students can look when considering their futures. The Science Council has recognised that there is a general problem with careers advice and is developing a website for pupils and teachers. It is important to make sure that there is a space element to this, but it will also be necessary to make this information available on the space “one-stop-shop”. (Key agency – BNSC partnership who should seek assistance from IoP and the Science Council)
10. Funding should be made available for independent evaluation of space education programmes: The most cost effective way of obtaining high quality evaluations is through academic research. Statistics can be collected quite easily, but are not very informative unless supported by some measurement of added value. Ultimate goals, such as increases in numbers of A-level and University students will be many years downstream and, since there are many competing effects in the marketplace, will become decoupled from the original education programmes. Research which can follow a cohort of students and measure their changing attitudes (such as that
22 Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Bringing Space into School Science
carried out by Jarvis and Pell on the Leicester Challenger Centre) can deliver useful results in a relatively short period. A designated programme involving 1-2 academics supported by research students would be appropriate. (Key agencies – DfES and PPARC).
5 Cost estimates for a possible future programme
5.1 Adopting space nationally as a flagship topic Cost £0.
5.2 Network of ASTs and Beacon teachers Some administration costs will be needed to support the organisation of meetings plus some costs for replacement teacher time. A viable support network will require ~400 teachers (in England), providing approximately one person per ten schools. Again, this should start as a regional pilot with ~20 teachers. Cost of pilot £4,000 over one year.
5.3 Evaluation of existing programmes by teachers Set up a small panel (~6 people) of teachers and buy out a fraction of their time to carry out an educational evaluation of projects for the one-stop-shop. The buy out would cover the time needed to prepare the project materials for use in the teachers’ own lessons. Cost £6,000 over one year.
5.4 Coordination of future programmes Costs here are mainly for organising meetings and travel/subsistence for participants. This panel should meet regularly 3-4 times per year. Cost £10,000 per year. One-stop-shop
This will be a full time task for someone to carry out a technical survey of the various projects and design a scheme for putting them on a single web-site. Detailed technical web programming will be an important but not very large element of the overall project and could be obtained from in-house expertise or through an external contract. Total cost £50,000 in the first year, could be maintained at a reduced level (~£20,000) in subsequent years.
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5.5 UK Space Office This office will need to be hosted by an appropriate organisation and staffed by at least two full-time staff or an equivalent number of part-time staff to give full-time support. There would be some cost saving benefit in locating the office where there was an existing related activity, where more flexibility of cover could reduce the number of staff needed. Estimated cost would be between £25,000 and £50,000 per year depending mostly on the staff requirement..
5.6 CPD bursary scheme This would be dominated by the cover costs for teachers and simply scales by the number of teachers we want to get to. The best way forward would be to carry out a regional pilot in those areas where space CPD is already available. The pilot should aim to involve ~100 teachers for ~3 days CPD. Cost of pilot £50,000 over one year.
5.7 Academic research programme Full funding for two PhD-level students would run at ~£32,000 per year, total of £96,000 for a 3 year study.
5.8 Recommendations on Schoolspace proposal The Schoolspace project was a draft proposal produced during an earlier cycle of consultation with the DfES on a way of bringing space into schools. It was based on the extension of current projects to provide real space data from current missions for use by teachers and pupils as part of science lessons. Use of these data sources will be supported by relevant resources for teachers and pupils. There were also strong elements of team working built into the programme, though videoconference and shared on-line workspace. However, the longer term viability of this programme involves using the so-called “computer grid” (an extension of the world-wide web) to coordinate the space education projects, enable their delivery in the classroom and to make the links between schools and scientists. While this is certainly a good way forward for the future, I think it will only be successful if the fundamental issues highlighted in this report are addressed first. Furthermore, there needs to be a significant investment in external ICT (i.e. the “Classroom of the Future”) before this project is possible. Schoolspace should be brought back once the first phase of the above projects is completed.
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Appendix A - Evidence base on the value of space education in schools
Jarvis, T., & Pell, A., 2002, Journal of Research on Science Teaching, Vol 39, p 979
Jarvis, T., & Pell, A., 2005, Journal of Research on Science Teaching, Vol 42, p 53
Osborne, J. and Collins, S. “Pupils’ & Parents’ Views of the School Science Curriculum”, (Kings College London), January 2000.
Haste, H., “Science in my Future”, Nestlé Social Research Programme, Report 1, July 2004.
Russell, P., “1995 survey of new physics graduates”, PPARC, 2005.
Sadler, W., “Evaluating the short and long-term impact of an interactive science show”, MSc dissertation, Open University, September 2004.
SET For Success: Roberts Review of Skilled Manpower Needs to HM Treasury, 2001
UKSpace: Black Sky Thinking (Demos ThinkTank, 2003) concluded that Space, which should be visible as a leading creative industry in the UK, is largely invisible
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Appendix B – BNSC partner organisations
BNSC - British National Space Centre (Headquarters in London SW1)
CCLRC - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
DEFRA - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
DfES - Department for Education and Skills
DfT - Department for Transport
DTI - Department of Trade and Industry
FCO - Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Meteorological Office
MOD - Ministry of Defence
NERC - Natural Environment Research Council
OST - Office of Science and Technology
PPARC - Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
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Appendix C - National Space Education Initiative Briefing Note
Introduction The BNSC partnership has recognised for some time that Space and Astronomy are particularly attractive subjects for school students and including these in the science curriculum can have a positive effect on student interest in science. Following Charles Clarke’s proposal that the UK could do more to link space with schools’education, the BNSC partnership has worked with the DfES over a period of around 18 months to develop this idea. Recently (December 2004), the DfES has also become a BNSC partner which should help embed space education in the partnership’s portfolio at policy and strategic level.
Drivers are that the number of young people studying science and engineering subjects at A- level and beyond is declining; young people should have an understanding of the importance of science and technology to the world around them; and that UK space industry (including technology, engineering, space science, Earth observation science) must renew itself.
A plan has emerged to develop a National Space Education Initiative (NSEI) with aims of:
I inspiring young people to study and achieve in science, maths, technology, etc.
I giving teachers the skills, knowledge and resources to deliver exciting lessons and raise standards, especially in (English curriculum) Key Stages 3 and 4
I developing UK capability so there are clear mechanisms for schools to benefit from local, national, and European initiatives and resources.
Current Activities Joint work so far has resulted in educational materials linking Beagle2, Mars Express and Cassini-Huygens to schools’curriculum, all launched by Ministers. Professor Martin Barstow been appointed as NSEI Project manager/consultant on a 6-month contract, reporting to a Steering Group with representatives from PPARC, DfES, CCLRC, BNSC HQ and the Institute of Physics. The NSEI should concentrate on UK added value. It will concentrate on the 11-16 age range, plus the primary-secondary transition. The aim of NSEI is not just to deal with those areas of the curriculum that are explicitly Space/Astronomy related but to use these as a context for teaching the wider science curriculum.
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Some good examples of this can be found in the teacher and curriculum support provided by projects developed by BNSC and the PPARC PUST awards. For example, PPARC alone has invested approximately £750,000 in educational projects since its large awards scheme began. However, there are a great variety of projects available and many different sources of information and modes of delivery. Despite good reviews of the materials produced, take-up of the various projects is patchy and many teachers are unaware of what is available or do not feel equipped to make use of what is on offer.
The main aim of NSEI is to carry out a survey of what space and astronomy related support is available and work out how best to deliver these projects in a coordinated way. We hope to make access much easier for teachers and so increase the use of the various programmes and the impact of the money that has already been spent on them. We will also seek to identify any gaps in the provision that might need to be filled by further development work.
An important element of the project is to bring together the main stake holders (project providers, teachers, science advisors, curriculum experts etc.) to agree a common approach. The main deliverables during this initial 6 month phase of the project (ending September 2005) are to:
I develop partnerships with other stakeholders to improve the scope and outreach of space education initiatives
I make recommendations on developing a sustainable overall framework or initiative, including costed options for programme elements
I co-ordinate and manage projects on space activities which can improve the quality of science teaching and learning
Martin Barstow 6th June 2005
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Appendix D – List of participants who took part in the consultation process
Steering Committee Members Martin Barstow – NSEI Manager, University of Leicester Robin Clegg – Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Jeremy Curtis – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Thomas Man – Department for Education and Skills Andrew Morrison –Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Daniel Sandford-Smith – Institute of Physics Steve Warren – British National Space Centre
July 1st Seminar Attendees Martin Barstow – NSEI Manager, University of Leicester Richard Beare – University of Warwick Jo Besford – Advanced Skills Teacher, Claremont High School Anne Brumfitt – European Space Agency Martyn Chesters – Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency Robin Clegg – Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Jeremy Curtis – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Mark Curtis – Chiltern University Tina Jarvis – Science Learning Centre East Midlands Ian Jones – Orbit Research Julien King – Royal Astronomical Society Malcolm Oakes – Association of Science Educators Alison Redmore – Science Learning Centre East Rosalind Roberts – National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth Paul Roche – Faulkes Telescope Carol Vaughan – Orbit Research Fred Young – Scottish Schools Equipment Research Centre
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July 7th Seminar Attendees Robin Clegg - Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Jeremy Curtis - Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Martin Cumper - Meteorological Office, Exeter Lucie Green - broadcaster and MSSL Outreach Officer Paul Roche - Faulkes Telescope Rod Stevenson - East Anglia educational consultant Norman White - Spacelink Foundation
Teachers Surveyed P. Bell – King’s School, Grantham J. Besford – Claremont High School S. Carson – Norton College J. Cook – Lenzie Academy M. Cripps – Neatherd School H. Darwin – John Leggott College J. Dooris – Rift House Primary School, Hartlepool D. Gault – Dalraida Grammar School G. Harper – Warsop S. Hughes – Droitwich Spa High School A. Kinchin – King’s School, Peterborough K. Norfolk – Education Consultant M. Shaw – Burntwood School D. Smith – Highgate School M. Wardle – Ashby Grammar School M. Wood – St Gregory’s RC Science College K. Zetie – St Paul’s School
One-to-one Consultations David Crelling – Abington Partners Helen Mason – University of Cambridge Gordon McVie – Scottish Space School/Careers Scotland Mark Orrow-Whiting – Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) Elizabeth Willcox – SETNET
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Appendix E – Teacher survey questionnaire
1) Are you aware of any projects that bring space and/or astronomy topics into the classroom (say which ones)?
2) Do you use any of these (say which)?
3) Do you use any web-based on-stop-shop resources to help your teaching (say which)?
4) Would a one-stop-shop approach to providing access to space and astronomy resources be useful to you?
5) If the answer to 5) is yes, how should the site be constructed?
a) Is it sufficient to provide an overview of what is available and links to the resources?
b) Should the site actually contain a complete copy of all the relevant material?
c) Is it important/useful to provide example schemes of work that make use of the resources on the website?
d) What else (if anything) do you think the site should provide?
6) Do you have any further comments or suggestions?
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Appendix F - Space and astronomy-related educational projects and contacts
Name (organisation/ Web Address Contact individual/project)
Classroom Space www.classroomspace.org.uk Prof Martin Barstow
National Schools Observatory www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk Dr Mike Simcoe
Faulkes Telescopes www.faulkes-telescope.com Dr Paul Roche
Telescopes in Education www.le.ac.uk/slcem, www.nssc.co.uk Dr Tina Jarvis, Dr Sarah Rusholme
Suntrek www.suntrek.org Dr Helen Mason
Mars in the Classroom www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/MITC/ Dr Wendy Kirk
Messages from Space www.ph.surrey.ac.uk/satellites/main/ Dr Paul Sellin index.html
From fundamental particles www.dur.ac.uk/physics.outreach/ Dr Pete Edwards to galaxies and the Universe index.html
Science Journeys Dr Dominic Dickson
BNSC Learning Zone www.bnsc.gov.uk Fiona Hatton
Association for Science www.scienceonestop.com Rebecca Dixon-Watmough Education ScienceOneStop
Association for Astronomy www.aae.org.uk Alan Pickwick Education
Trump Astrophysics Resources www.york.ac.uk/org/seg/trump/astres.htm Nancy Newton
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory www.cclrc.ac.uk/Activity/Schools Janet Haylett Learning Zone (CCLRC)
Met Office Satellite poster set www.met-office.gov.uk/education/ resources/satellite_posters.html
Met Office Satellite www.met-office.gov.uk/education/ information pages curriculum/leaflets/satellites.html
UPD8 www.upd8.org.uk Tony Sherborne
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Name (organisation/ Web Address Contact individual/project)
Globe Programme http://www.globe.org.uk/
Advancing Physics http://advancingphysics.iop.org/student/ index.html
Institute of Physics http://teachingphysics.iop.org/resources/ Daniel Sandford-Smith online_resources/index.html
Mr Pilbeam’s Laboratory http://www.pilbeamslab.co.uk/ Trevor Sproston
The Satellite Centre http://www.satproj.org.uk/index.html
Spacelink Learning Foundation http://www.spacelink.org/ index.shtml
Qualifications and Curriculum www.qca.org.uk Mark Orrow-Whiting Authority
Edexcel exam board www.edexcel.org.uk/home/ John Crew
OCR exam board www.ocr.org.uk/OCR/Website/ docroot/index.jsp
AQA exam board www.aqa.org.uk/
Researchers in http://extra.shu.ac.uk/ Ken Mannion Residence/Sheffield Hallam Centre for Science Education
Space Education Council www.secuk.org Dr Chris Welch
Biology and Biological www.bbsrc.ac.uk Maggie Leggett Sciences Research Council
Natural and Environmental www.nerc.ac.uk Owen Gaffney/Ruth Welter Reseach Council
Particle Physics and Astronomy www.pparc.ac.uk Robin Clegg Research Council
Engineering and Physical www.epsrc.ac.uk Rachel Bishop Sciences Research Council
Specialist Schools Trust www.specialistschools.org.uk Annette Montague
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Name (organisation/ Web Address Contact individual/project)
National Academy of Gifted www.warwick.ac.uk/gifted Ken Sloan and Talented Youth
National Science Learning www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/ Prof John Holman Centre national
Science Learning Centre www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/em Tina Jarvis East Midlands
Science Learning Centre www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/se Prof Mary Radcliffe South East
Science Learning Centre www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/ Alison Redmore East of England eastengland ecsite UK www.ecsite-uk.net/index.php Melanie Quin
Orbit Research www.orbitresearch.co.uk Ian Jones
National Space Centre www.spacecentre.co.uk Sarah Rusholme
Thinktank www.thinktank.ac/news/
Glasgow Science Centre www.glasgowsciencecentre.org
Royal Observatory Edinburgh www.roe.ac.uk/vc Dan Hillier Visitor Centre
W5 Belfast www.w5online.co.uk Sally Montgomery
Armagh www.armaghplanet.com
Science Museum www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Natural History Museum www.nhm.ac.uk
Royal Observatory Greenwich www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/ Robin Catchpole (National Maritime Museum)
Royal Astronomical Society www.ras.org.uk Alan Pickwick
Mullard Space Science Lab. www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk Lucie Green
34 Commissioned by the British National Space Centre partnership Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
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