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Report of the Pane' on Education and Society
SUMMARY 213
5.1 INTRODUCTION 214
5.2 NATIONAL NEEDS 215
ATechnicallyTrained and Increasingly Diverse Workforce 215
A Scientifical Iy Literate Citizenry 21 7
The Need for Space Sciences 218
5.3 THE ROLE OF SOLAR AN D SPACE PHYSICS 218
A Motivator for the General Publ ic 218
Providing Educational Resources for K-1 6 Education 219
Providing Opportunities for Undergraduate Research 219
5.4 SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 219
Historical Background 219
Some Issues in Undergraduate and Graduate Science Education 220
5.5 K-1 2 SCI ENCE EDUCATION AN D PU BLIC OUTREACH 224
Science Education Reform, the National Standards, and Solar and Space Physics 224
NASA Education and Public Outreach and the Connection to NSF Education Initiatives
Museums, the Web, Newspapers, and Other Outreach 230
5.6 ADDRESSING THE NEEDS: MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSION 232
211
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PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
SUMMARY
When considering the status and future of solar and
space physics, we must also take into account the role
of these disciplines in education at all levels. Solar and
space physics is by no means unique in this all areas
of science have a responsibility to contribute to educa-
tion. This responsibility is part of a new post-Cold War
social contract between science and society, and it
represents a considerable change for scientific commu-
nities that had not seen this broader responsibility as
part of their core mission. In fact, in the past decade
there has been a remarkable increase in educational
activities by the solar and space physics community
because of funding from the NSF and, especially, NASA,
both of which have tried to involve the scientific com-
munity in science education.
However, efforts by the solar and space physics
community to enhance science education do not take
place in a vacuum. There is increasing recognition of
our nation's need for a technically trained workforce
and for a scientifically literate citizenry, and in particu-
lar for professionals trained in solar and space physics
who will be capable of leading our efforts to under-
stand, monitor, and respond to changes in Earth's space
environment. Meeting this broad educational challenge
requires all scientific communities to examine how they
can contribute to meeting national goals in precollege,
undergraduate, and graduate science education.
Large-scale efforts in K-12 science education reform
have been and are being funded by the NSF. Moreover,
there is a national movement to improve science educa-
tion, the so-called "standards" movement, with which
solar and space physics K-12 science education efforts
must be aligned if we are to have an impact commensu-
rate with the investment. Finally, there is a national need
to recruit more students from populations that have
historically not been a source of science students. His-
pan ics, African-Americans, and Native Americans al I are
becoming an increasing fraction of the undergraduate
population, and we as a society need more of them to
choose science careers.
Several national reports call for larger numbers of
graduates in science and engineering fields, as well as
for increased science literacy among nonscience ma-
jors. This requires changes in undergraduate science
education. Solar and space physics can, and should,
help improve general undergraduate science education,
especially in gateway courses such as introductory phys-
ics or general education courses such as introductory
213
astronomy. Moreover, by provid i ng u ndergraduates i n-
creased opportu n ities to do mean i ngfu I and exciti ng re-
search, solar and space physics can contribute to re-
cruiting and retaining science and engineering majors.
Solar and space physics also needs to recruit and retain
excellent students for graduate study as well, since there
is a need for more individuals with graduate science
degrees in general, as well as a next generation of solar
and space physicists, particularly as issues such as space
weather become more i mportant to ou r society.
Based on these considerations and on information
gathered at several meetings with leaders in education,
policy, and science, and with members of the solar and
space physics community, the panel decided on four
recommendations to help guide the community's next
decade of education efforts. These recommendations, as
well as the supporting arguments, are not necessarily
unique to solar and space physics. In fact, much of what
is contained in this document applies to other areas of
science, since the problem that the panel is attempting
to address here is systemic and of broad societal import.
There are, of course, many areas of uniqueness, such as
the tremendous effort made in the past decade by
NASA's Office of Space Science (OSS) to significantly
improve and expand the contribution of space science
to general education. Where possible, the panel tries to
point out the unique links to solar and space physics, or
examples of how the community can contribute given
its particular set of resources, one of the greatest being
the enduring public fascination with space.
Recommendation 1. A program of "bridged positions"
should be established that provides partial salary sup-
port, startup funding, and limited research support for
four new faculty members per year for 5 years, yielding
20 new faculty lines in solar and space physics at U.S.
universities over the next decade. This should be
matched with an increased emphasis on solar and space
physics research and hardware development at colleges
and universities.
It is at the college and university level that research
and teaching in solar and space physics can have the
greatest and most direct impact over the next decade. In
order to both increase the awareness of the importance
of Earth's space environment among the next generation
of the nation's leaders and foster a stronger national
cadre of young and expert solar and space scientists, the
panel recommends the establishment of a program of
"bridged positions" facu Ity positions that are partial Iy
supported by outside agencies for 5 years as an incen-
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214
five for colleges and universities to strengthen (or ini-
tiate) programs in these fields. Moreover, agencies
should seek ways to support the university research com-
munity, particularly those groups that build hardware,
so as to maintain a strong link between the academic
community, education, and research.
Recommendation 2. Federal agencies that fund solar
and space physics should set aside funds to support
undergraduate research in solar and space physics, ei-
ther as a supplement to existing grants or as stand-
alone programs.
Involving undergraduates in research has proven to
be a positive factor in enhancing recruitment and reten-
tion of talented science students. Experiential educa-
tion, which has its roots in the academic science labora-
tory, is now recognized to play a critical role in the
development of both student expertise and confidence
in nearly all academic fields. Such research experiences
are available in solar and space physics, and resources
to i ncrease the abi I ity of facu Ity to provide research op-
portunities for students are essential.
Recommendation 3. Three resource development
groups should be funded over the next decade to de-
velop educational resources (especially at the under-
graduate level) needed by the solar and space physics
community, to disseminate those resources, and to pro-
vide other services to the community.
Solar and space physics research projects already
provide numerous images and informal educational op-
portunities for a wide audience in the media, in muse-
ums, via the World Wide Web, and to some extent at the
K-12 level. As they are relatively new fields, however,
relatively few applications or examples from solar and
space physics currently appear in textbooks or in supple-
mentary materials, particularly at the undergraduate
level. But with sufficient support the popular fascination
with space can be used to facilitate a nationwide ad-
vance in scientific literacy.
Recommendation 4. Current K-12 education and pub-
lic outreach (EPO) efforts should be continued. How-
ever, there should be a careful evaluation of lessons
learned over the past few years, particularly regarding
the involvement of scientists in EPO activities, as well
as increased coordination of NASA EPO efforts with
other large projects in science education reform, espe-
cially NSF initiatives.
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
During the past few years NASA's OSS has begun to
commit significant resources to education and public
outreach. At the same time, efforts to revitalize and
reform K-1 2 science education are wel I under way in
several states, often with su pport from I arge federal pro-
grams, and particularly those funded by NSF. As the
NASA efforts mature, the panel encourages closer coop-
eration and synergy with other existing programs.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
The relationship between science and society and
the role of the scientific establishment in science educa-
tion have undergone considerable evolution over the
past 50 years, with a contribution to science education
now being viewed as an essential commitment for the
nation's science community. That period was also a time
of huge growth in and the coming of age for the solar
and space physics community. In charting its course for
the next decade, it is important that the solar and space
physics community consider how it can participate ac-
tively in education and outreach at all levels.
After World War 11 the importance of science was
clear to all, since scientific and technical advances had
been crucial to victory. There was also a broadly shared
feeling that by advancing science, society as a whole
would prosper.This idea was atthe core of Vannevar
Bush's seminal report Science—The Endless Frontier,
which in essence laid out a social contract between
science and society.4 Science in general, and physics in
particular, would expand and prosper, and the result of
all the basic research would be the security of the nation
abroad and increasing prosperity at home. This pivotal
document did mention education in Section 4.0, "Re-
newal of Our Scientific Talent," although it did not call
for the active involvement of the scientific research com-
munity in science education beyond training graduate
students.
During the Cold War, and particularly after the
launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1 957 an event that
looms large in the history of space physics federal,
state, and private support of basic research in universi-
ties and colleges, industry, and national laboratories
flourished. The launch of Sputnik also precipitated a
~Vannevar Bush. 1945. Science—The Endless Frontier, A Report to
the President. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
science education
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
national effort to improve science education. Scientists,
especially physicists, played a seminal role in science
education reform in the 1960s and early 1970s, but it
was not then widely believed that scientists and the
scientific community should be involved in precollege
science education reform.2 Solar and, especially, space
physics were in their infancy in the 1 960s, and there is
no record of solar and space physicists or their commu-
nity being significantly involved in science education at
that time.
The end of the Cold War brought the recognition
that the security and economic well-being of our nation
are based on successful competition in the global
economy, where tech nology, knowledge creation, and
international cooperation are the engines of wealth.
These issues were captured in the landmark book
Science for All Americans, which laid out what a scien-
tifically literate person should know and be able to do.3
However, numerous reports, such as the Third Inter-
national Mathematics and Science Study, have demon-
strated that our educational system has not yet met the
goal of imparting to our students an adequate level of
scientific literacy.
With the growing importance of science education
as a national priority, the scientific research community
has been asked to play an important role in science
education at all levels. The National Academy of Sci-
ences and the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science have defined the features of a quality
science education widely referred to as "standards-
based" (see Box 5.1) in the reports Benchmarks for
Science Literacy4 and National Science Education Stan-
dards.5 The standards have received support from scien-
tific societies, including the American Geophysical
Union, the scientific society with which most space sci-
entists are associated.6 It is now recognized that, in addi-
tion to performing basic research, practitioners in all
2R.E. Lopez and T. Schultz. 2001. Two revolutions in K-8 science
education, Physics Today, September, pp. 44-49.
3F. James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren. 1989. Science for A//
Americans. American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Project 2061. Oxford University Press, Cary, N.C.
4American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1993.
Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061. Oxford University
Press, Cary, N.C.
5 N RC. 1 995. National Science Education Standards. N ational Acad-
emy Press, Washington, D.C.
6American Geophysical Union (AGU). 2001. Importance of the
Earth and Space Sciences in Primary and Secondary Education: An
Endorsement of the AAAS Benchmarks and NRC Standards. Adopted
by AGU Council December 2001. Available online at
216
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
One of the most significant developments in science education in recent years has been the emergence of science
education standards at the national and state levels.The effort to establish science standards was spearheaded by scien-
tific organizations, namely the National Research Council (NRC) and the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS).The AAAS established Project 2061 to produce a series of documents, including Benchmarks for Science
Literacy (1993),3 which outlines what students should be studying at various grade levels in order to achieve science
literacy.The NRC then published the National Science Education Standards (1995),2 which outlines not only what students
should know and be able to do (content standards), but also provides standards for teaching, assessment, schools, and
systems.
These documents, collectively known as the"standards,"form the basis of what is referred to as the standards-based
movement, in which science education programs are aligned with the goals and methods set forth in the standards. States
also have created individual state standards, which are often used as the basis for statewide testing of students. While
many of the state standards are closely aligned with the national standards, some deviate significantly from the national
recommendations. However, all state standards have been influenced by the national documents.
In general,the standards call for a more active, participatory approach to science education.The NRC report states that
". . . science is something students do, not something that is done to them."This is very much in line with the results of
cognitive research.3 Also implicit in the standards is the notion that reform is systemic;that it is necessary to take a global,
systems view of science education if the promise of science literacy for all is to be achieved.
~ American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1 993. Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Project 2061. Oxford U Diversity Press, Cary, N.C.
2NRC. 1995. NationalScience Education Standards. National Academy Press,Washington, D.C.
3For example, NRC, 2000, How People Learn: Brain,Mind,Experience, andSchool, Expanded Edition, National Academy Press,Washington, D.C.
ences i n i ntroductory science cl asses.7 Approxi mately
300,000 students take introductory physics courses each
year. The topics taught in those classes (mechanics, elec-
tricity, and magnetism) include topics that relate directly
to many aspects of solar and space physics. However,
traditional presentation of these subjects has not drawn
on solar and space physics phenomena to provide a
real-world context for the physics.
Graduate enrollments in science and engineering
decreased during the early 1 990s, but increased some-
what toward the end of the decade. However, the Na-
tional Science Foundation pointed out as follows: "With
current retirement patterns, the total number of retire-
ments among science and engineering degreed workers
will dramatically increase over the next 10-15 years.
This will be particularly true for Ph.D. holders because
of the steepness of their age profile."8 The projections
are that unless we significantly increase the numbers of
science graduates, the shortfalls already experienced by
industry will only worsen.
7E. Seymour and N.M. Hewitt. 1997. Talking About Leaving: Why
Undergraduates Leave the Sciences. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo.
~National Science Board, National Science Foundation. 2000. Sci-
ence and Engineering Indicators—2000, NSB-00-1 . U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
When considering the need to increase enrollments
in science we must also be concerned with the need to
increase diversity in science. Total enrollments in all
postsecondary education institutions rose from
10,985,000 in 1976 to 14,345,000 in 1997, and a dis-
proportionate part of th is growth came from i ncreases i n
minority groups going to college. While white, non-
Hispanic enrollment went from 9,076,000 in 1976 to
10,161,000 in 1997, enrollments of Hispanics, African-
Americans, and Native Americans went from 1,493,000
to 2,872,000.9
Given that an increasing fraction of students is com-
ing from groups that historically have been underrepre-
sensed in science, any attempt to increase the number of
technically trained professionals must grapple with the
issue of fostering greater diversity in science. This is
especially true in states such as Texas and California, in
which there will soon be no majority ethnic group.
Recent diversity initiatives by NASA and the NSF have
focused on using solar and space physics to enhance
science education in minority-serving institutions and to
recruit underrepresented students for science careers
(see Box 5.2~.
9Nationa~ Center for Education Statistics. 2001. Digest of Education
Statistics—2000, NCES-2001-034. U.S. Department of Education,
Washington, D.C.
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
217
The need to increase diversity in science has become increasingly recognized as a priority for federal agencies.Those
agencies responsible for solar and space physics are no exception, and NSF, NASA, and NOAA have in recent years launched
diversity initiatives that use solar and space physics to attract students into science.
In 1996, NSF held a workshop to examine the issue of diversity in the geosciences in order to make recommendations
for a diversity strategy.This led to the creation of a Diversity Initiative program and grants to a variety of universities and
organizations such the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.While the NSF effort is
aimed at increasing diversity in the geosciences broadly, it does include space physics,which is in the geosciences director-
ate.
At the same time NASA was developing a diversity strategy, and in the summer of 2000, OSS launched its Minority
University Initiative (MUl).The MUI made funds available to minority-serving institutions for a wide range of programs,
such as new space science courses and degree programs and public education and outreach efforts.While both efforts are
in their early phases, both are quite promising and may soon serve as models for increasing diversity in solar and space
physics.
NOAA has also created a diversity initiative aimed at supporting NOAA-related science research,and it issued a request
for proposals in 2002. Like the NASA initiative, the funds are targeted at minority-serving universities. If solar and space
physics does not have a presence in such institutions,then it will not be able to contribute to diversity programs like those
of NOAA and the NSF, which target a wide range of science disciplines.
A SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE CITIZENRY
In addition to the need for technically trained pro-
fessionals, there is also increasing recognition of the
value of a scientifically literate citizenry. Making in-
formed political and economic decisions, and even con-
sumer choices, in a world permeated by science and
technology requires increasingly knowledgeable citi-
zens. Science for All Americans arrived at a consensus
on scientific literacy by examining the technological
society around us and determining what a scientifically
literate citizen should know and be able to do.~°
At the university level, introductory astronomy (As-
tronomy 101) enrolls more students nationwide than
any other science class for nonscience majors. Solar and
space physics topics and resources have not been fully
utilized in introductory astronomy, in part because of
the relative youth of the field. However, as technology
advances, so too must the knowledge base of our citi-
zens. In the future it will become increasingly apparent
that some knowledge of the space environment and how
it can affect humans and our technology is part of sci-
ence literacy. As another case in point, solar physics is
likely to play an increasingly important role in debates
about global cl i mate change.
Education in science begins in elementary school,
and for many of our nation's current and future leaders,
OF. James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren. 1991. Science for A//
Americans. Oxford University Press, NewYork, N.Y.
it continues through the college and university level. As
pointed out above, science literacy also must include
some understanding of our society's current reliance on
space-based monitoring and communications. In this
area, solar and space physics can make substantial con-
tributions. The well-known fascination that space explo-
ration holds for most people provides one avenue for
beginning to educate future citizens in a variety of sci-
ence topics. The challenge is to find the points in the
educational system where the resources and talents of
the solar and space physics community can contribute
most effectively to national goals.
It is important to recognize the key role that under-
graduate education plays in both educating citizens and
preparing future teachers and scientists, including future
solar and space physicists: "It is in college where future
scientists and college faculty are recruited and prepared
for graduate study; where our nation's elementary and
secondary teachers, educators of America's youth, are
equipped; and where tomorrow's leaders gain the back-
ground with which to make critical decisions in a world
permeated by vital issues of science and technology.''
Although undergraduate education has not histori-
.. . . . .. . .
cally been a focus in the solar and space physics com-
munity, the panel believes that the community has much
to offer in this area. Given the comments of many solar
11 Project Kaleidoscope. 1991. What Works: Building Natural Science
Communities, Vol. 1. Project Kaleidoscope, Washington, D.C.
218
and space physicists during the preparation of this re-
port, it also believes that the community will respond
enthusiastically to a call for greater involvement in
undergraduate education, for both science majors and
. .
nonsclence mayors.
THE NEED FOR SPACE SCIENCES
Stepping away from the larger issue of a technically
trained workforce and general science literacy, there is
also the need to ensure that there are sufficient technical
professionals in solar and space physics to meet the
growing national need to understand and monitor the
space envi ran meet, wh ich is of critical i mportance to
our nation's assets, both those in space and those on the
ground. We are becoming increasingly dependent on
orbiting satellites for applications such as communica-
tion networks, global positioning for ship and airline
navigation and for military operations, and monitoring
the Earth system for climate change and weather fore-
casting. Astronauts travel into space on a space shuttle
and now permanently inhabit the International Space
Station. As our dependence on space for economic and
national security increases, so must our public aware-
ness and understanding of the space environment grow.
This includes our ability to monitor and predict condi-
tions in space and to better characterize and understand
possible space weather impacts both in space and on
the ground.
The near-Earth regions of space are driven by the
Sun and vary from minute to minute and day to day
within the 11-year cycle of solar activity. Like seasonal
variations in the terrestrial weather, each stage of the
solar cycle is characterized by its own set of conditions
that affect different sectors of human and technological
activity. During the period of minimum solar activity,
effects such as spacecraft charging and the resultant
abrupt electrical discharges due to energetic electrons
can seriously damage our assets in space. During solar
maxima severe disturbances degrade satellite power sys-
tems, enhance the atmospheric drag on orbiting satel-
lites, damage satellite instrumentation, disrupt electric
power distribution on the ground, interfere with tele-
commun ications, and pose radiation hazards to astro-
nauts.
U n I i ke terrestri al weather, wh ich is man itored rou-
tinely at thousands of locations around the world, the
conditions in space are monitored by only a handful of
space- and grou nd-based faci I ities. Space weather fore-
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
casters are required to specify and to predict conditions
in space with very little guidance from actual measure-
ments. Given this extreme undersampling of the diverse,
coupled regions of space, extending all the way from
the Sun to Earth, computer models that provide continu-
ous quantitative assessment and prediction of the
geospace envi ran ment are req u i red.
Extensive scientific research, modeling, and moni-
toring efforts directed at understanding the space envi-
ronment have produced a broad spectrum of data and
modeling resources. In the United States, various aspects
of this effort have been funded by NASA, the National
Science Fou ndation, NOAA, the Department of Defense,
the Department of Energy, and the Department of the
Interior. An interagency effort has been initiated to fund
research targeted specifically at understanding and pre-
dicting the space environment. This initiative, the
National Space Weather Program (NSWP), stems from
the broad interest in space shared by commercial, edu-
cational, and governmental organizations. A primary
goal of the NSWP is to focus and to build on our existing
resources to produce quantitative predictive models of
the space environment. Research relevant to the NSWP
also benefits from strong international collaboration
among scientists and space weather forecast centers.
Space weather man itori ng and pred iction wi 11 be an
area of growth in the future, and the community must
make certain that professionals are being trained in the
field. As discussed below, there is reason to be con-
cerned about the status of solar and space physics in
colleges and universities, where students are recruited
and trained, and about means for increasing diversity in
solar and space physics, since the field has not tradition-
al Iy had a presence i n mi nority-servi ng i Institutions.
5.3 THE ROLE OF SOLAR AND
SPACE PHYSICS
A MOTIVATOR FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Our society maintains an abiding interest in space
science and exploration. Built upon decades of thrilling
exploration of near-Earth space and the solar system,
public interest in events or activities associated with
space continues at a high level. Indeed, solar and space
physics is one of the few areas of scientific research that
combines the rigors of science with awesome and inspi-
rational natural phenomena (aurorae, sunspots, eclipses)
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
that can sometimes be viewed directly by people on
Earth. It is no wonder, therefore, that the public's fasci-
nation with solar and space physics has continued.
Over the past decade, the solar and space physics
community has become more aware of the importance
of sharing the excitement of space science research with
the public. Numerous scientists have participated in ef-
forts to bring solar and space physics to the public
through various venues and media. Solar and space phys-
ics has in recent years been highlighted by the IMAXfilm
SolarMax and museu m exh i bits I i ke E/e ctric Space. Su n-
Earth Day 2002 al lowed solar and space physicists across
the country to engage in a variety of public outreach
events. And recurring news stories, such as the attention
paid to the January 1997 magnetic storm or the erupting
prominence photographed by SOHO on July 1, 2002,
testify to ongoing public interest in the field. Bringing the
wonder of science to the public is an important part of
the solar and space community's contribution to society.
PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
FOR K-16 EDUCATION
Solar and space physics must also address scientific
literacy through formal science education. Teachers
need the active involvement of the scientific community
to support high-quality science education. They also
need contact with the current science in order to com-
municate relevance to their students. Solar and space
physics can provide an exciting context for science edu-
cation. And while precollege science education is very
important, the community must think beyond K-12,
which is what most scientists think of when speaking of
"education." Specifically, solar and space physics can
contribute substantially to undergraduate education by
provid i ng the context for i Instructional programs i n many
different disciplines.
PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES
FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Undergraduate research experiences are widely rec-
ognized as having a significant impact on the recruit-
ment and retention of science and engineering majors.
The solar and space physics community never viewed
u ndergraduate research as a priority, i n part because the
community has been historically more involved in gov-
ernment laboratories and research centers. Yet many re-
search topics in solar and space physics are quite ame-
nable to undergraduate participation, and the lure of
space research is strong for many students.
219
5.4 SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS
IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Solar and space physics may be described either as
a collection of interdisciplinary fields or as parts of a
newly emerging discipline. Although historical records
reveal curiosity about the Sun and the heavens in many
societies, their scientific study has emerged only since
the dawn of the space age, when satellites and rocket-
borne probes could observe beyond the confines of
Earth's atmosphere.
Recognition of the importance of solar and space
physics is increasing but is still limited. In a sense, the
study of space has come full circle. In ancient Egypt, the
need to predict the date of the annual flood of the Nile
River, which brought the annual supply of precious wa-
ter for the land's crops, led Egyptian astronomer-priests
to study the skies to find a way to give advance warning
of the water's arrival. Their search was successful; they
learned to associate the rising of the Nile with the time
each year when the star Sirius first appeared in the east-
ern sky. Now, 4,000 years later, with our technological
society increasingly affected by streams of particles and
radiation from the Sun, we again must study what is
"above" us in order to protect and benefit our society.
Space physics has roots in several different scien-
tific fields. These include geophysics (from the study of
Earth's magnetic field, the upper atmosphere and iono-
sphere, and the aurora), elementary particle and cosmic
ray physics (from the study of energetic particles and
radiation originating beyond Earth), electrical engineer-
ing (from the study of radio emissions and propagation
above Earth's surface), and, of course, astronomy (the
study of the Sun, planets, asteroids, and other solid
bodies; the solar wind and interplanetary medium; and
the heliosphere and its interaction with local interstellar
gas).
The discipline of solar physics is similarly young,
having come out of the larger field of astronomy. Ad-
vances in instrumentation made possible detai led study
of the physics of our nearest star. Those studies have
led, among other things, to the recent discovery of neu-
trino flavor oscillation. The increasing recognition that
Earth and all other objects in the solar system are bathed
in the solar wind (essentially an extension of the Sun's
atmosphere) and that dynamical and at times explosive
processes originate on and/or inside the Sun has fueled
220
The fields of solar physics and space physics are
now closely coupled. Research satellites and ground-
based instruments monitor the complex trail of varia-
tions in solar energy from their origin within the Sun,
outward through the corona and solar wind, past the
inner planets and Earth, outward throughout the solar
system. The solar system has become a natural labora-
tory for understanding a number of fundamental astro-
physical processes. Furthermore, beyond the long-range
benefits of th is fu ndamental research, su bstanti al i nter-
est is directed toward understanding the impact of these
highly variable processes on Earth's increasingly tech-
nological society.
Many of the programs in solar and space physics at
U.S. universities and colleges were founded with sub-
stantial external support from NASA and other federal
agencies. NASA even built space science centers on
many university campuses in the 1 960s. Over the past
two decades, however, solar and space physics has ex-
perienced decreasing visibility and support on univer-
sity campuses despite still-ample funding for specific
research projects. The long development time lines for
missions have also had a negative impact on graduate
education.
In part because of their relatively short history, and
in part because of the great commercial interest in other
h igh-tech areas i n the past two decades, solar and space
physics as disciplines now have little visibility in either
the K-12 educational system or higher education.
Graduate education in solar or space physics is scat-
tered among a variety of departments, variously within
physics, geophysics, astronomy, and electrical engineer-
ing programs. These disciplines have no presence in
any department at a number of major universities. At
the undergraduate level, only a handful of institutions
offer specific courses, much less minors or majors in
these areas. For example, a survey of solar physics
groups as identified by the Solar Physics Division of the
American Astronomical Society reveals that of the 37
institutions that host solar physics groups, only 13 have
groups of three or more solar physicists. Only one solar
physicist is found at 15 of these institutions. Space phys-
ics has a similar, less-than-robust presence in universi-
ties.
Such an absence from the academic world ensures
that students will have little exposure to solar and space
physics and that the community will not be able to
contribute as well as it could to the national needs dis-
cussed at the outset of this report. Moreover, the rise of
separate, narrowly focused scientific journals and sci-
entific societies for solar and space physics, typical signs
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
of a field's maturity, have ironically also led to a loss of
interaction between the fields and the wider communi-
ties of physicists, astronomers/astrophysicists, and engi-
neers. Thus, faculty at colleges and universities do not
even realize that they could establish an effort in solar
and space physics and that faculty in these areas could
be a significant asset to the educational aims of the
i Institution.
To be sure, introductory college-level astronomy
textbooks now often i ncl ude material on the sol ar wi nd,
the aurora, and the ionosphere. Similarly, many intro-
ductory college-level physics textbooks make reference
to the occurrence of fundamental electromagnetic inter-
actions in space, though such references are cursory. In
addition, although textbooks in electrical engineering
have for many years discussed the impact of the iono-
sphere and its variations on the propagation of radio
waves, more comprehensive treatment is now required.
Our society's accelerating use of satellite-based com-
munications systems in both low Earth orbit and high
geosynchronous orbit have led to a significant emphasis
within the communications industry on space-based
communications and hence to a need for understanding
the environment in which these systems function.
In the past decades, the importance of solar and
space physics within our nation's system of higher edu-
cation has grown, not shrunk. Continued support from
NASA, NSF, and other interested federal agencies is
needed to sustain the vitality and, especially, the visibil-
ity of this field on our campuses. This is especially true
for minority-serving institutions that historically have not
been part of the solar and space physics enterprise. The
field has much to offer such institutions in terms of out-
standing opportunities for students and the excitement
that space science generates.
SOME ISSUES IN UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE
SCIENCE EDUCATION
Access to undergraduate education has grown ex-
plosively in the past 50 years, and access to at least
introductory col lege-level science courses has increased
at a nearly comparable rate. However, the fraction of
undergraduates completing majors in science, math-
ematics, or engineering has not at all kept pace. Increas-
ingly, positions in our graduate schools of science and
engineering, as well as in our industries and research
laboratories, are being filled by students from other na-
tions, if they are being filled at all. When in addition one
considers the ongoing shortage of K-12 teachers with a
science background and the large number of current
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
science teachers scheduled to retire in the next decade,
one cannot but recognize that a renewed focus on un-
dergraduate science education is long overdue.
Today there are fewer physics majors in the United
States than at any time in the past 40 years. At the same
time, there is a larger pool of high school students study-
ing physics than ever before, and the total number of
bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States has
gone up. During the mid-1950s, 10 of every 1,000
bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States were in
physics, whereas today the number is only 3 of every
1,000. The decline is not unique to physics in relative or
absolute terms. In 1998, engineering departments
reported that they awarded their lowest number of bach-
elor's degrees in 17 years. Similarly, the bachelor's
degree class in computer science in 1997 was the small-
est in 1 1 years.4 2 Overal 1, the number of engineering
bachelor's degrees granted decreased by 16 percent
from 1 983 to 1 996.4 3
Just as retention is an issue for undergraduate phys-
ics and other science programs, recruitment is an issue
for graduate programs. The number of first-year gradu-
ate students in physics and astronomy is roughly the
same this year as it was in the late 1 970s, but the propor-
tion who graduated from U.S. and non-U.S. undergradu-
ate programs has changed dramatical Iy. In the late
1970s, more than 2,200 came from U.S. colleges and
universities, while about 800 came from foreign institu-
tions. In 2000 fewer than 1,500 came from U.S. colleges
and universities and slightly more from foreign institu-
tions. Low graduate enrollments lead to further erosion
of undergraduate programs in some departments, be-
cause many universities rely on ever-scarcer graduate
teaching assistants to direct laboratory and tutorial ses-
sions. Recent moves to offer more generous graduate
stipends and fellowships do not address the larger prob-
lem of there being simply too few students who have
maintained an interest in advanced scientific research
through their undergraduate years. Investing additional
funds only at the graduate level will not adequately ad-
dress the shortage of graduate students, because in many
cases decisions to not continue in a scientific field are
made long before specific graduate school offers are
under consideration.
42Kate Kirby, Roman Czujiko, and Patrick Mu~vey. 2001. The phys-
ics job market: From bear to bull in a decade. Physics Today, April,
Vol. 54, p. 40.
43National Science Board, National Science Foundation. 2000. Sci-
ence and Engineering Indicators. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.
221
Other panels, including the Boyer Commission on
Educating Undergraduates, and a recent study by the
National Research Council44 have discussed these is-
sues. For example, although descriptive astronomy
courses continue to play a vital role in imparting general
science I iteracy to undergraduates nationwide, there is
evidence that many introductory undergraduate science
courses, especially introductory physics, continue to
present a daunting and often unattractive perspective on
science.4 5
Clearly, there is a strong national interest in revers-
ing these trends. And fortunately, there are success sto-
ries in recruiting and retaining students. One bright spot
of undergraduate science education undergraduate re-
search is a proven success in motivating and retaining
students in science. For example, University of Texas
system science and engineering students involved in the
Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a pro-
gram funded by the NSF that supports undergraduate
research, have a 90 percent graduation/retention rate.
Solar and space physics can actually be quite amenable
to undergraduate research. For example, undergradu-
ates are quite capable of assisting in software develop-
ment and data analysis for current and past spacecraft or
ground-based data sets. Below the panel suggests several
steps that can be taken by the community to increase
the extent of such research in solar and space physics
and thus contribute to a critical national goal.
Undergraduate Research
The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergradu-
ates has identified a major reason for the crisis in under-
graduate science education as a destructive lack of
con nection at many col loges and u n iversities between
undergraduate study and the creation of future research
faculty.46 In many universities undergraduates are iso-
lated from the challenge and excitement their professors
find in research. Howeverwell presented undergraduate
courses may be, they do not and essentially cannot
expose students to the character of the research world.
Indeed, ". . . many studies have shown that the under-
graduate programs most successfu I at product ng scien-
44National Research Council. 2001. Physics in a New Era. National
Academy Press, Wash i ngton, D.C.
~ 5E. Seymour and N.M. Hewitt. ~ 997. Talking About [caving: Why
Undergraduates [cave the Sciences. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo.
46The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Re-
search Community. 1998. Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A
B/ueprint forAmerica's Research Universities. State University of New
York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, N.Y.
226
TABLE 5.1 Forums
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
TABLE 5.2 Brokersa
Organization Topic
Space Telescope Science Institute Astronomical Searches for
Origins
Goddard Space Flight Center and
Berkeley Space Science Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory
Sun-Earth Connection
Solar System Exploration
Structure and Evolution of the
Universe
were to take the results of space science research and
translate them into materials and resources useful to
educators. They were discipl i ne-based, with one forum
for each of the four science themes in OSS (see Table
5.1), and they were awarded without competition. The
brokers were to facilitate relationships between scien-
tists and educators, using the products of the forums. As
a result, they are geographically based (see Table 5.2
and Figure 5.21. In contrast to the forums, there was an
open competition for the brokers. In 2001 the brokers
were recomputed, leading to the set of brokers listed in
Table 5.2.
This network has had several successes, such as
funding workshops for scientists, making deeper con-
nections with minority professional societies, support-
i ng innovative projects in the i nformal real m, and pro-
ducing quality educational products.
A recent evaluation based on extensive interviews
with a wide range of OSS EPO providers, customers,
and others documents areas where real progress has
been made.26 The support network has established
strong working relationships with informal science cen-
ters around the country, leading to the development of
successful programs and museum exhibits. It has also
produced instructional materials that incorporate recog-
nition of national standards, and it is attempting to re-
view the quality of existing space science educational
materials. Along these lines the support network has
developed a Space Science Education Resource Direc-
tory that allows educators to browse a wide range of
electronic resources. In general, NASA education efforts
26S.B. Cohen and J. Gutbezal. 2001. Office of Space Science, Educa-
tion, and Public Outreach January 2000-May 2001 Fina/ Report. NASA,
Washington, D.C. Available online at
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
.;
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Public Outreach.
develop a local set of clearly defined activities that
would require limited time commitments by scientists,
such as reviewing instructional materials for scientific
accuracy. Such activities do not require scientists to be-
come education experts but do allow valuable scientific
i n put i nto the ed ucation process.
Another issue that should be considered is the need
to better connect the solar and space physics EPO effort
to other large-scale education efforts. There has been
little connection between the NASA support network (or
other solar and space physics education projects) and
the NSF systemic initiatives (as reported to this panel by
NSF program officers). Currently, hundreds of school
systems are engaging in systemic change, as described
in Science for all Children.29 Many of these school sys-
tems have received local systemic change grants from
the NSF or are involved with the various NSF state,
urban, or rural systemic initiatives (see Box 5.3~.
These efforts in systemic change are much broader
than the relatively narrow focus of the solar and space
physics community. Yet new NSF programs, such as
Math and Science Partnerships and Centers for Learning
and Teaching, are major initiatives with which the de-
velo~inu solar and space physics education infrastruc-
~ L) ~
29NRC. 1997. Science for A// Children. National Academy Press,
Washington, D.C.
228
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
The premise of systemic reform is that the system as a whole must be examined and addressed in order to achieve a
lasting change in science education. Systemic reform, in turn, has been the driver of some of the biggest education
initiatives undertaken by the National Science Foundation.While many people argue about the term "systemic reform,"the
consensus is that true systemic reform impacts every student and teacher in a school system.
In 1 991,the NSF launched a new set of programs:the State, Rural,and Urban Systemic Initiatives (referred to as SSI, RSI,
and USI, respectively). These provided large blocks of funds to the appropriate entities (depending on the program) to
undertake major reform efforts in K-12 science and mathematics education.The reform efforts varied considerably, but
many have had lasting effects, creating infrastructure that could benefit solar and space physics efforts in science educa-
tion.3
Another NSF effort was the local systemic change (LSC) program. LSC programs received large grants from the NSF to
pay the professional development costs of introducing standards-based instructional materials, with the rest of the
expenses to be paid for by the school districts. Many LSC programs utilized a well-documented model for systemic reform
described in the NRC publication Science forAII Children.2 Such projects created districtwide science programs that could
be valuable partners for solar and space physics efforts.
The newest initiatives in large-scale science and mathematics reform are the NSF-funded Centers for Teaching and
Learning and the Math and Science Partnerships.These large collaborations represent additional opportunities for the
solar and space physics community to provide resources and expertise for science education throughout the country. In
fact, NSF's request for proposals for the Math and Science Partnerships emphasizes that mathematicians, scientists, and
engineers accept vital roles in this effort to impact the teacher workforce and to work with teachers and administrators to
substantially improve student achievement.
As with the previous systemic reform efforts, these programs will create infrastructure that can be used by the solar
and space physics community, which should make an effort to connect its large projects (like mission EPO efforts) to
broader efforts, as well as help to encourage and connect individual solar and space physicists who want to participate in
these new programs.
NEW. Clune. 1999. Toward a Theory of Systemic Reform: The Case of Nine NSF Statewide Systemic Initiatives. National Institute for Science Education, Madison,
wisC.
2NRC. 1997.ScienceforAIIChildren. National Academy Press,Washington,D.C.
ture should collaborate. The support network and mis-
sion EPO projects should contact these new centers and
develop collaborations with them. In fact, the newly
established Math and Science Partnerships program at
the NSF specifically calls for involving science faculty in
K-12 science education. The support network should make
contact with groups preparing such proposals and offer
them solar and space physics resources and expertise.
Another area of EPO support is smal I grants or
supplements to individual investigators. These educa-
tion supplements give individual scientists the resources
to get involved in local educational activities. However,
many scientists do not have contacts in the education
and outreach arena, and many who would like to be-
come more involved in education are not certain how to
go about it. Also, the proposal process and evaluation
requirements represent significant obstacles for scien-
tists who are not education experts. These issues were
clearly identified in the OSS evaluation report.
The NASA EPO program should encourage NASA-
funded scientists to participate in existing education and
public outreach programs. Further, such participation
should not be limited to sharing details of specific re-
search programs. As discussed in Box 5.4, there are
many valuable educational programs in which a PI
could be involved as a participant, but not necessarily in
an oversight capacity.
An excellent example of an existing program is
Project Astro, which was developed by the Astronomi-
Cal Society of the Pacific with a start-up grant from NSF.
The purpose of the program is to pair astronomers and
teachers at a number of sites around the country. These
sites require a modest level of funding to support a part-
time coordinator and materials for workshops to train
the astronomer and teacher partners. While the NSF
provided start-up funds for Project Astro, at present all
Project Astro sites must secure their own funding. Fund-
ing sources now include private donations, grants from
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
229
The solar and space physics community can interact with, and support, the science education community on many
levels. At the large-scale end of the spectrum are the big-mission education and public outreach efforts, NASA,s Office of
Space Science support network of forums and brokers, and National Science Foundation-funded projects like the Centers
for Learning and Teaching and the Math and Science Partnerships.These projects can have the greatest impact by aligning
themselves to national and state standards and producing resources that can be widely disseminated and used by others.
At the other end of the spectrum, small-scale efforts, often by individual scientists, also can be very valuable. Individual
scientist-teacher partnerships can result in very rich experiences for both sides, and the nationally recognized Project Astro
has made such individual partnerships the foundation of its effort.
Better support is needed, though, for individual scientists who want to contribute but don't know where to begin.
Principal investigators who are applying for education supplements should be able to choose from a menu of ready-made
items complete with how-to information.
Another important point to consider is that some scientists who become involved in small-scale efforts may decide to
make a career change and become educators, thus bringing to the profession a solid understanding of the science.
Providing scientists with the opportunity to make local contributions to education will help to renew talent within the
solar and space physics community as well as provide real support to teachers and students across the country.
education/outreach programs in NSF or NASA, or state
education funds.
Contributing a small amount of funding to solar and
space physicists to be used for the en rich ment of thei r
own communities is an excellent way to encourage
participation in and success of such programs. The
supplemental funding could be administered in much
the same way as the NSF's successful REU program,
where a simple letter to the program officer specifies the
way the money will be spent, and the decision to fund
the request is made by the program officer.
The intent of the forum/broker structure of the OSS
education program was to provide a connections ser-
vice, with forums connecting science to educational re-
sou rces and brokers con necti ng those resou rces and i n-
dividual scientists to schools, with funding from small
EPO grants. However, the structure has been less than
ideal owing to confusion about roles and appropriate
activities. The end result, then, is that the EPO supple-
ments are typically small and not highly leveraged a
prime goal of the overall program. Through larger EPO
proposal opportunities ($100,000 to $200,000 per
year) smaller than mission scale but larger than re-
search grant supplements a more efficient, integrated,
and leveraged suite of activities could be developed that
takes advantage of the EPO expertise that exists in a
number of locations across the country.
Over the past decade, the OSS took a major step
forward when it allocated significant resources to be
used for public outreach and education. By providing
budgets that amount to 1 or 2 percent of total funding
for mission proposals, OSS has shown a tangible com-
mitment to the importance of supporting highly lever-
aged science education and literacy. Several of these
mission-related EPO efforts, among them the ISTP and
IMAGE efforts, have had considerable success. And in
general there has been a good degree of interaction
between the support network and the mission EPO ef-
forts; they really can be viewed as complementary parts
of the overall NASA EPO effort (see Box 5.5~.
Support for NASA EPO efforts should be continued
and at the same time improved. One area of improve-
ment could be the forum and broker structure. As men-
tioned above, the structure in place has led to confusion
about roles both within the OSS education program and
with other wel l-developed educational networks i n the
space sciences (for example, the NASA Space Grant pro-
gram). The success of the current approach varies widely
across the country, depending on the activity of the re-
gional brokers and proximity to forums. The panel rec-
ommends an open review of this structure, from which
lessons can be learned that will lead to an improved
education program for OSS.
The last area of NASA EPO the panel wishes to
address is a new initiative begun in 2000 within OSS-
the Minority University Initiative (MUI). This program
solicited a broad range of proposals from minority-
serving universities to expand space science education
230
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
The International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program was for many years the flagship effort of the solar and space
physics community. ISTP also had a very successful education and public outreach (EPO) program,and it took advantage of
space weather events like the January 1997 magnetic storm to get the message out to the public.
A key aspect of this success was that ISTP involved communications professionals at the core of its EPO effort.This led,
for example,to an increasing number of press conferences at American Geophysical Union meetings. Numerous products
like the Dynamic Sun CD were produced utilizing ISTP images from SOHO and Polar. ISTP in collaboration with the Space
Science Institute (in Boulder,Colorado) even produced a small traveling museum exhibit,the Space Weather Center,about
the space environment.
But resources are not useful if they do not get into the hands of teachers. The ISTP program ran several teacher
workshops,basing the activities on an understanding of the nature of good professional development,3 and teachers
responded very positively to the workshops, which provided them with materials and strategies that they could actually
use in their classrooms.
~ Described in S. Loucks-Horsley, P. Hewson, N. Love, and K. Stiles, 1998, Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics,
Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, Calif.
and outreach in traditionally underserved communities.
The kinds of projects funded range from professional
development for teachers in space science topics, un-
dergraduate research programs, and even the creation
of new space science degree programs. As described in
the introduction to this report, Hispanics, African-Ameri-
cans, and Native Americans will provide the greatest
growth in college enrollments (as well as the greatest
growth in the general population), and it is imperative
that increasing numbers of students from these groups
. .
go Into science.
While it is too early to tell what the impact of this
program will be, NASA's OSS should be commended for
launching it. This targeted initiative promises to identify
effective mechanisms for diversifying the space science
enterprise, as well as to directly impact those participat-
ing in the program. Many aspects of the OSS initiative
served as a model for a similar diversity initiative in the
Geosciences Directorate of the NSF. While the geo-
sciences are broader than solar and space physics, the
solar and space physics community should take advan-
tage of this opportunity to partner with the NSF to in-
crease diversity in the field.
To its credit, the support network has also been pro-
active in building contacts with minority professional
societies like the Society for the Advancement of
Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. And there
are new collaborations between the support network
and MUI programs, such as a multifaceted set of activi-
ties in El Paso, Texas, to take advantage of the presence
of the Space Weather Center at the Insights El Paso Sci-
ence Museum. That partnership includes the Sun-Earth
Connection Education Forum, the Space Science Insti-
tute broker, I Insights, and the MU I project at the U n iver-
sity of Texas at El Paso. The panel strongly encourages
the support network to continue to find ways to partner
with the MUI projects. It also urges the solar and space
physics programs at NSF to support similar initiatives to
broaden participation in solar and space physics.
MUSEUMS,THE WEB, NEWSPAPERS,
AND OTHER OUTREACH
Solar and space physics events and discoveries lend
themselves exceptionally well to use of the news media
to educate the public and disseminate information (see
Box 5.61. Television news is one of the most important
avenues of communication for the average American. It
demands video action segments, not just commentary
and still photos. NASA-related missions yield action se-
quences of solar phenomena as natural by-products of
scientific investigations. NASA has done a commend-
able job of rendering products such as time sequence
"movies" collected by instruments on the SOHO and
TRACE spacecraft into forms suitable for television
broadcasts. These sequences appear regularly on TV
news programs produced both by the networks and by
local news stations. Animation sequences derived from
space physics modeling computations, which show the
response of the terrestrial magnetosphere to solar-gener-
ated interplanetary disturbances, can also have a strong
impact, although they are still less available. Visualiza-
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
231
An important aspect of improving science education is improving public awareness of and appreciation for current
science exploration via the popular media and informal education.
Solar physics has gained widespread attention in the popular media over the past 6 years through publicized science
results, and through efforts of the scientific community to communicate to the public. Solar physics is well suited to
television, print, and Web media because of the striking visual appeal of the data and the visibility of the target. However,
successful public outreach through the media requires coordinated activity.
Even though organizations such as NSF and NASA have very capable press offices, press officers themselves are not in
a good position to identify the newest results, and individual scientists in turn are typically not good at identifying which
stories will easily capture the public eye. NAS~s Office of Space Science now funds a scientist at the 25 percent level as a
press liaison who surveys current developments in solar and heliospheric physics and identifies interesting new results for
press attention; this approach has yielded significant media coverage, and it has enhanced public awareness of solar
physics phenomena.
Education programs (both formal and informal) have been shown to be successful when properly executed and
coordinated with other aspects of a large program. The Yohkoh Public Outreach Project (YPOP) was funded for several
years at the one-full-time-equivalent level and developed a superiorWeb site,a set of teacher workshops,and lesson plans
for use in the classroom.
The Web site includes accessible images, student activities, and a guestbook that closes the feedback loop and allows
fine-tuning of the site.The YPOP Web site (at http://www.montana.edu/YPOP) is widely used for K-12 homework, as an
extracurricular resource, and as a home-schooling aid.Two important lessons demonstrated by YPOP's success are that
verification and feedback are essential to the success of outreach projects, and that significant outreach projects require
significant resources.YPOP achieved substantial leveraging of existing resources and was also very well funded compared
with many NASA mission-level education and public outreach projects. Moreover, the resources developed continue to
have an impact even though the project is completed.
tions produced from data gathered on space physics
missions such as Polar and IMAGE vividly illustrate the
impact of space physics phenomena on the terrestrial
envi ran meet.
The dramatic effects of space physics phenomena
on Earth and on artificial systems ensure that news of
space physics appears regularly in the mass media, help-
ing to teach the public about the importance of basic
research on the Earth-Sun system in which we live. Ob-
vious examples are the storm of January 10-11, 1997,
during which Telstar 401 was lost (this event received
considerable press coverage); the May 1998 failure of
the Galaxy 4 satellite during a magnetic storm, when
personal pagers became inoperative over much of North
America; the brilliant aurora that extended to the
southern states in March 2001, since which time inhab-
itants of that latitude have never again seen such an
aurora; and the often-cited failure of the HydroQuebec
electrical power grid during the geomagnetic storm of
March 1 989.
Pioneering investigations in the basic physics of
Earth's magnetic and ionospheric environment are
funded by NSF, which should develop a cost-effective
capability for bringing news including video visualiza-
tions of its accomplishments in this area to the news
media and the public. Currently the news media turn
almost automatically to NASA for information and illus-
trations when solar events occur, thanks to the agency's
work in developing and distributing imagery from recent
Sun-watching spacecraft. Yet some of the most advanced
imagery of the Sun is regularly obtained at NSF-
sponsored observatories, where new technology such as
adaptive optics is being introduced. And many com-
puter visualizations of the space environment (such as
the movies of the magnetosphere responding to the Janu-
ary 1997 coronal mass ejection, which were shown on
CN N and CBS) have been produced at NSF-funded
supercomputing centers. NSF needs to capitalize on its
achievements in this area by developing techniques to
more rapidly disseminate suitable illustrations from its
national observatories and grantees to the news media.
The success of recent projects, such as NSF-funded
museum exhibits like Electric Space and the Space
Weather Center (which were also supported by NASA
232
and other groups), demonstrates that the public finds
such science compelling. The panel encourages the NSF
science programs engaged in solar and space physics to
broaden thei r ties to the NSF education programs, espe-
cially informal science and teacher enhancement. In
fact, such recommendations have come from within the
NSF itself.30 Efforts in this direction should generate sup-
port for joint projects that bring the results of scientific
research to the public that pays for the research.
The exceptional portrayals of solar and space phys-
ics phenomena in the recent IMAX film SolarMax make
clear how much can be done for public information and
education through the IMAX medium. The funding agen-
cies should carefully follow trends in the IMAX industry,
where digital IMAX is expected to be introduced and to
sharply reduce production costs, just as the number of
IMAX-capable theaters in science museums and other
venues expands worldwide. The subject matter of solar
and space physics lends itself well to this medium.
A total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most dramatic
phenomena in nature. Such eclipses were once seen
only by the fortunate few who lived along the paths of
totality or could afford to travel to suitable viewing
places. Now, satellite television and Internet Webcasts
make an eclipse readily accessible once a year or so to
audiences worldwide. Science museums, agencies, and
amateur astronomy organizations actively use these
events to introduce scientific research to students and
the general public. Often, hundreds of school children
convene in a museum, while thousands of others watch
on computer screens in their schools as the eclipse phe-
nomenon unfolds. The agencies should examine how
they can bring these programs to an even greater pro-
portion of the school age population, including students
in communities that lack modern museum facilities.
Over the past 10 years, scientists with a particular
interest in science education and literacy efforts have
made significant contributions to outreach ventures
aimed at the general publ ic. Through musuem exhibits
such as Electric Space and kiosks at the Houston Mu-
seum of Science, hundreds of thousands of people have
had the opportunity to explore the role of plasmas in the
space environment and the beautiful phenomena they
display in the upper atmosphere. Through the Windows
to the U n iverse Web site, m i 11 ions of users 70 percent
of them precollege students have explored the Earth
and space sciences in directed study as well as individu-
30NSF. 1997. Geoscience Education:A RecommendedStrategy, NSF
97-1 71 . NSF, Arl ington, Va.
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
ally. At the Adler Planetarium in Chicago space scien-
tists have contributed to a Sun-Earth Connections sky
show and provided scientific animations to kiosks in
public galleries. These informal science education ef-
forts should continue to be supported (see Box 5.7~.
5.6 ADDRESSING THE NEEDS:
MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS
AND DISCUSSION
Throughout this report, the panel has highlighted a
number of issues that it considers to be important. Hav-
ing considered the various priorities involved, it has
developed a set of critical recommendations for the next
decade. Implementing the panel's recommendations wi 11
require that approximately $23.5 million be spent over
the next decade, with no more than $3.3 million to be
spent in any given year. The panel considers this to be a
relatively modest investment in the future health of solar
and space physics. It is confident that the recommenda-
tions outlined below, if implemented, will have a very
significant effect not only on the field but also on the
science education i Infrastructure at al I levels.
Recommendation 1. A program of "bridged positions"
should be established that provides partial salary sup-
port, startup funding, and limited research support for
four new faculty members per year for 5 years, yielding
20 new faculty lines in solar and space physics at U.S.
universities over the next decade. This should be
matched with an increased emphasis on solar and space
physics research and hardware development at colleges
and universities.
Despite the natural interest that students have in
space, solar and space physics cannot fulfill its poten-
tial to contribute to national educational goals unless
the field is more widely represented in colleges and
universities. It is essential that the long-term trend of
fewer solar and space physics faculty at universities be
reversed and that smaller institutions, or institutions that
serve populations that are underrepresented in science,
have access to faculty who can inspire and motivate
students. The panel therefore calls for the creation of a
set of "bridged positions," where agencies will provide
partial support for new faculty lines at academic institu-
tions.
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
233
Formal Education Materials
XSPACE UCLA http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.ed u/ssc/software/xspace.html
SOHO Lesson Plans http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/explore/lessons/
Standford Solar Activities http://solar-center.stanford.ed u/activities.html
MlT's Teal Project http://web.mit.ed u/jbelcher/www/anim.html
List of OnLine Texts http://www.oulu.fi/~spaceweb/lib/education.html
Public Outreach Sites
The Lion Roars http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/sppb/index_Ed u.html
Our Dynamic Sun http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/exhibit/dynamic.html
From Stonehenge to Satellites http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/exhibit/stonehenge.html
Living in the Atmosphere of the Sun http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/exhibit/main.html
Space Update http://earth.rice.ed u/connected/space_weather.html
Space Weather Center http://www.spacescience.org/SWOP/Exhibits/Mini_Exhibit/
Windows on the Universe http://www.windows.ucar.edu/spaceweather/
Mission to Geospace http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/
Today's Space Weather http://www.spaceweather.com/
A n im a tio n s/M o vies/A pp le ts
Polar Aurora http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2001 1 025aurora.html
Comet H itting the Su n http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/spacesci/pictu res/soho/pl u ngefasts.mov
MlT's Teal Project http://web.mit.ed u/jbelcher/www/anim.html
Collections of Links
Space Weather Resou rces http://space.rice.ed u/lSTP/
Glossary of Terms http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/index.html
List of Ed ucational Resou rces http://www.ou I u.fi/~spaceweb/lib/ed ucation.html
The panel believes that support for these positions
needs to provide 5 years of half-time salary, a small
annual research support fund for travel and undergradu-
ate researchers, and access to NASA and/or NSF project
resources (such as guest investigator status on a mis-
sion). The academic institution would provide the re-
maining salary, and the agreement would be outlined in
a memorandum of understanding. The 5-year time scale
would take the individual to tenure, which the panel
believes is crucial, so a 3-year program would not be
effective.
It is important that these bridged positions not be
restricted to particular types of colleges or universities.
Either they should be open to both graduate and under-
graduate institutions, public and private, minority-
serving and otherwise, or a set number of positions
should be allocated to each kind of institution. They
should not be restricted to, say, increasing the size of
already large programs or to starting programs at institu-
tions where no solar and space physics programs cur-
rently exist. In fact, because solar and space physics is
becoming a distributed enterprise, with many investiga-
tors having access to facilities and laboratories (space-
craft data sets, etc.), solar and space physics research
programs can produce world-class results without the
need for enormous local investments to build laborato-
ries. Accordingly, the science might be very appealing
to smaller institutions, especially those serving minority
populations.
In addition, federal agencies should prepare to allo-
cate a greater fraction of solar and space physics re-
sources to colleges and universities. They should help
234
support new university-based groups by offering more
opportunities for break-in projects such as rocket and
balloon projects, which lower the barrier for participa-
tion. They should ensure that university groups are ma-
jor participants in ground-based instrument projects,
with responsibi I ities for some aspects of the hardware
(perhaps subsystems). Only in this way will the decline
in university-based groups (especially hardware groups)
be arrested.
It is expected that the new bridged faculty positions
will gain broadervisibilityforsolar end space physics in
introductory courses for all students (as well as for sci-
ence majors) and will bring more opportunities for un-
dergraduate research, which wi 11 increase Merest in sci-
entific careers and boost the number of undergraduate
science majors. Examples of such positions actually ex-
ist: At Utah State University and Montana State Univer-
sity, federal funds have been leveraged to create new
tenure-track positions; the Thomas Jefferson Accelerator
Facility, facing a similar issue in experimental nuclear
physics, created a formal set of bridged positions that
have proved attractive to many universities.
Recommendation 2. Federal agencies that fund solar
and space physics should set aside funds to support
undergraduate research in solar and space physics,
either as a supplement to existing grants or as stand-
alone programs.
The natural corollary to an increased presence in
colleges and universities is an increase in the support
provided to undergraduate research. A $5,000 grant can
support an undergraduate for a summer or give partial
support over the enti re school year. The panel Cal Is for
$200,000 per year to be set aside to support under-
graduate students. The 40 students supported would
become a valuable source of graduate students. Over a
1 0-year period, as many as 400 future technical profes-
sionals could be fostered. Often such funds can gener-
ate additional matching funds from institutions that,
when they gain external support, come to recognize the
val ue of u ndergraduate research and support it with thei r
own funds.
Recommendation 3. Three resource development
groups should be funded over the next decade to de-
velop educational resources (especially at the under-
graduate level) needed by the solar and space physics
community, to disseminate those resources, and to pro-
vide other services to the community.
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
Solar and space physics provides many opportuni-
ties for the demonstration and application of fundamen-
tal physical processes like electromagnetic radiation,
charged particle motion, electromagnetic induction, and
wave propagation. But expansion of the field into edu-
cation will require innovative approaches. The general
interest in space missions al lows I inking solar and space
physics phenomena to the underlying physics, much of
which is a component of curriculum standards (see Box
5.8~. Advances in information technology provide op-
portunities to develop learning tools that combine data,
images, animations, and interactive applets. Such tools
not only bring the subject alive but also make learning
an active experience for students, and using them in
mission EPO activities would enhance their impact.
The decline in science education, particularly at the
undergraduate level and in physics, is well documented.
Solar and space physics could play an important role in
revitalizing physics and astronomy education, particu-
larly at college, by using people's natural interest in
space to reach a wide range of students. Two arenas
where SSP could have a national impact are introduc-
tory physics (a requirement for many majors) and intro-
ductory astronomy (one of the most popular general
education courses for nonscience majors).
If we wish to improve introductory physics and as-
tronomy courses that reach large numbers of students,
we must have high-quality instruction materials that
show how basic physics and astronomy are applied to
concepts from space physics. Funding groups to collect,
develop, and adapt materials for a national audience
would enhance the availability and effectiveness of these
materials nationwide. I Introductory astronomy i n particu-
lar cou Id benefit from the avai labi I ity of these materials
since only 20 percent of those teaching Astronomy 101
have an astronomy degree, and most do not consider
themselves astronomers.34 Such faculty already are us-
ing materials developed by others.
The panel has focused on these two introductory
college courses to maximize the national impact. Nev-
ertheless, similar tools could be usefully adapted either
for more advanced undergraduate courses (e.g., physics
for majors) or for high school. For example, materials
developed for introductory astronomy for nonscientists
are often appropriate for science-gifted middle school-
34A. Fraknoi. ~ 996. Astronomy Education: Current Developments,
Future Coordination. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference
Series, Volt. 89, J. Percy, ed. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San
Francisco, Ca~if.
PANEL ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
235
Introductory Physics
Magnetic and electric fields
Charged-particle motions, currents
Plasmas
Atomic physics: ionization, excitation, radiation, recombination
Introductory Astronomy
The Sun and stars (interior, atmosphere, corona, solar wind)
Planetary magnetic fields (implications for interiors, surfaces, and atmospheres)
Terrestrial space weather
ers. Furthermore, with a little repackaging, Web-based
material developed for formal classes can be valuable in
informal education arenas (e.g., lifelong learning via the
Web, museums, and planetariums). For such tools to be
of educational value, however, space scientists will need
to team with experienced educators to ensure that the
tools are effective and aligned with appropriate curricu-
lum standards.
At the graduate level, solar and space physics is
taught at only a dozen universities, and often course-
work covers only part of the field. Advances in informa-
tion technology could allow distance learning to link
students and postdoctoral students to the expertise that
resides at different universities. Courses could be offered
by distance learning (either over the academic year or
during the summer), with several faculty from a variety
of institutions, and would allow small research groups
(or start-up programs with bridged positions) to offer
solar and space physics courses to their students.
To achieve the above goals, the panel calls for the
establishment of two or three competitively funded re-
source development groups (RDGs), the exact size and
structure of which remain to be defined. (To have a
substantial impact they probably shou Id be much larger
than typical single-investigator research grants.)The RDGs
would develop instructional materials, do research on
teaching and learning (including guiding graduate stu-
dents to space science education research), and dis-
seminate teaching resources. In this sense what is envis-
aged is similar to recent NSF Centers for Learning and
Teaching. The RDGs also would develop and provide
services to the solar and space physics community (such
as workshops on a variety of subjects, special summer
graduate and undergraduate schools in the field, and
coordination/development of shared academic-year
graduate and undergraduate courses) and could provide
professional development for scientists i evolved i n edu-
cation issues at all levels. It is expected that the RDGs
would be funded at approximately $500,000 per year.
Recommendation 4. Current K-12 education and pub-
lic outreach (EPO) efforts should be continued. How-
ever, there should be a careful evaluation of lessons
learned over the past few years, particularly regarding
the involvement of scientists in EPO activities, as well
as increased coordination of NASA EPO efforts with
other large projects in science education reform, espe-
cially NSF initiatives.
Although considerable progress has been made as a
result of solar and space physics K-12 education and
outreach efforts, aspects of the current system at times
prove unwieldy. The panel believes this is the inevitable
result of embarking on a new venture. It commends the
agencies, particularly NASA OSS, for their commitment
to education and outreach and the institutionalization of
EPO efforts as part of the mission of science. Given the
experience of the past few years, the agencies, princi-
pally NASA OSS, should be able to evaluate the impact
of solar and space physics on science education and
identify successes and barriers in the quest for a mean-
ingful contribution. Those lessons learned should be
widely disseminated, and all evaluation reports should
continue to be made public, perhaps with better infor-
mation on thei r avai I abi I ity.
It seems quite clear that improvements can be made
in some areas. First, engaging the scientific community
in science education continues to be difficult. Much of
236
this difficulty stems from the nature of science and from
a reward system that discourages scientists from partici-
pating in EPO activities. The NASA EPO initiative has
made strides toward countering this trend, but more
needs to be done. Additional mechanisms should be
developed that allow scientists to contribute to science
education without becoming science education experts
themselves. Examples of proven activities that indi-
viduals can conduct should be developed, along with
mechanisms that can better I ink scientists to thei r local
science education community.
The connection between NASA EPO efforts and
NSF-funded efforts directed to systemic change could
also be strengthened. Projects such as the National Sci-
ence Resources Center LASER initiative and the work of
Project Impact in New England have essentially no con-
nection to the solar and space physics infrastructure.
NASA EPO efforts seem largely unknown to most sys-
temic reform projects in the country, although there are
notable exceptions. In June 2002, NASA's Support Net-
work project held a very successful education confer-
ence in Chicago; nonetheless, that conference was not
attended by leaders of the major NSF-funded science
education efforts.
Urban, rural, and local and state systemic change
initiatives represent a tremendous opportunity to lever-
age resources. If NASA EPO efforts connect with a single,
moderate-size project with 1 00 middle-school science
teachers serving 15,000 students, and that project incor-
porates solar and space physics content and the appro-
THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND BEYOND: PANEL REPORTS
priate professional development into the core of instruc-
tion, the impact will be enormous relative to the invest-
ment. Building links to such efforts does not require
additional funds, but it does take a commitment to reach
out beyond solar and space physics to the general sci-
ence education community, especially to leverage NSF
efforts, where hundreds of millions of dollars are being
i Invested.
New initiatives from the NSF, particularly the Cen-
ters for Learning and Teaching and the Math and Sci-
ence Partnerships, should provide fertile soil for NASA's
Support Network and other solar and space physics EPO
projects. These new initiatives will be looking for part-
ners. The Support Network and other EPO projects have
created excellent resources that can prove very valuable
to such initiatives. Moreover, the evaluation of the im-
pact of the Support Network and the lessons learned
should also prove extremely valuable to others who are
trying to engage diverse scientific communities in sup-
port of science education.
Finally, the panel commends efforts by NASA, NSF,
and NOAA to increase diversity in solar and space
physics. While this is not strictly a K-12 issue, leadership
in this area has emerged from the K-12 education and
outreach effort. The panel urges that activities such as
the NASA Minority University Initiative and the NSF
Diversity in Geosciences program continue to be
funded, and that those projects that succeed in engaging
students in the solar and space physics enterprise be
replicated in other communities.
