Introducing
students to research: Undergraduates are excited by astrophysics
and cosmology, but have little experimental contact. KAPPA will
change this for ten undergraduate students who are considering
a career in astrophysics or cosmology. Half will be from KAPPA
universities and the rest from smaller Kansas institutions.
A weeklong program will include trips to the Whipple and Kit
Peak Observatories near Tucson, and the Radio Observatory at
Socorro, NM. Subsequent student contacts will be made both to
assess the program’s benefits and to publicize the latest
developments in astrophysics/cosmology at participating KAPPA
institutions. A similar but more limited program recently brought
two undergraduates into the KSU astrophysics program.
Public
lecture Series: A two-year KU - KSU lecture series has brought
in cosmologists Lawrence Krause, Michael Turner, Jim Peebles
and Kip Thorne to give colloquia in both Lawrence and Manhattan.
Krause and Turner gave KSU public lectures that were each enthusiastically
received by more than 300 people, including many high-school
students. KAPPA will broaden the scope of these public lectures
to include astro-particle physics, and will coordinate them
so that public lectures are presented at all three institutions.
Developing
a distance-learning course: Members of the KAPPA team will
select one of their existing web-based astronomy/astrophysics
courses and make it suitable for general use by placing lectures,
quizzes, tests, an operating manual, and associated activities
on the web. After the modified course has been taught at KAPPA
universities, participating faculty will hold a mini-workshop
to further revise and upgrade materials based on their experiences.
The goal is to make this course available to colleges and universities
throughout Kansas. We also wish to include a few expert high
school teachers to see if there are possibilities for extension
to grades 10-12.
Hands
On Activities: KAPPA collaborators are also developing a
separate proposal for materials and "hands-on" activities
that are web-based and highly visual. This proposal will be
submitted directly to the National Science Foundation. EPSCoR
support of KAPPA outreach should enhance the chances of funding
this more ambitious outreach.
