Astronomy

16 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2018

Y

ou amateur astrono-

mers out there are an

odd lot. (I get to say

that because I started

out as an amateur

myself.) Think about it. You

dump tons of time and money

into telescopes, cameras, and

the like. Every chance you get,

you head off into the hinterland

where you sit up all night, freez-

ing your keister, and stare into

an eyepiece to catch a glance of

some ghostly apparition. Your

family thinks you are nuts.

Aren’t the spectacular pictures

on Google Images enough?

Of course they aren’t!

Astronomy is a passion, and that

Messier collection means some-

thing. I understand that. But

where did your passion come

from? What got you hooked?

I’m going to hazard a guess that

it didn’t have much to do with a

classroom sage on a stage. Don’t

get me wrong, classrooms are

important. After a quarter-

century of teaching, at least I

hope they are. But as a student,

my own attitudes and interests

had more impact on what I got

out of a class than anything a

teacher or professor said.

Experiences are what matter.

Since time immemorial, uni-

versity faculty members have

bemoaned the “sorry state of

affairs with today’s students.”

How is it possible, we astronomy

professors ask, that after years

of math classes, students can’t

figure out a simple inverse-

square law? I’m going to go out

FORYOURCONSIDERATION

BY JEFF HESTER

Gifts

to the

future

Amateur astronomy

can change lives.

on a limb and say that maybe

those thousand hours or so sit-

ting in math classrooms could

have been better spent. Granted,

if you don’t own a tool, you can’t

use it. But if you don’t need a

tool for something you care

about, why bother to pick it up?

None of this surprises teach-

ers who are worth their salt.

When counseling undergradu-

ates, I made it a point to discuss

what college is about: “You

aren’t really here to get a job or

even a degree. You certainly

aren’t here to collect A’s, or at

least I hope not. What you are

here for is to start becoming

who you will be for the rest of

your life!” To quote Plutarch

(a.d. 46–120): “The mind is not

a vessel that needs filling, but

wood that needs igniting.”

What is new is a growing

understanding of what’s going

on behind the curtain as we

learn, deep inside our brains.

The sum total of your life’s

experiences blends together into

your own unique internal

model of the world, different

from that of any other person.

Your brain uses that ever-

changing internal model to

construct the predictions and

simulations that become your

conscious reality. That internal

model is what largely makes

you you.

It’s good that we are coming

to better understand this stuff,

because the times, they are

a-changing. Watch an IBM

Watson commercial, catch a

self-driving cab, or read a news

story written by a computer.

Day after day, more and more

jobs are being taken over by new

and rapidly evolving technolo-

gies. Today’s student won’t have

a single career; she will likely

have dozens of job titles, most of

which have yet to be invented.

The future doesn’t need workers

who have been trained to put

nut B on bolt A. The future

needs interesting, capable, cre-

ative, curious individuals

shaped by diverse and wide-

ranging experiences.

Schools are beginning to

catch up with this need. “Project

Based Learning” is fancy jargon

for curriculum that is built not

around chapters in textbooks,

but around authentic, engaging,

and complex questions, prob-

lems, and challenges. It is messy,

creative, collaborative, draws on

individual strengths, and always

produces something to show for

the effort. More than just

another fad, Project Based

Learning is a real world

approach to education that

works with rather than against

how our brains are wired.

This is where you come in.

I’ve known many amateur

astronomers and spoken to

countless clubs and gatherings

over the years. You are an

interesting and passionate lot

with a great deal to offer. Cool

science, hands-on hardware,

recording and working with

data, star parties, questions

that have intrigued humankind

for millennia — your hobby is

tailor-made for Project Based

Learning. Places like the Buck

Institute for Education and

Edutopia (the George Lucas

Educational Foundation) have

what you need to get started.

Your chance to help shape the

future might be as close as a

phone call from your club to a

nearby school.

You are the sorts of people

whose passion inspires. I know,

because when I was a kid, you

inspired me. Very few of the

students you work with will go

on to become astronomers. But

what you share will become a

part of who those students are,

how they think, and what they

do for the rest of their lives.

They might just change the

way that you experience the

world, too.

BROWSE THE “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION” ARCHIVE AT http://www.Astronomy.com/Hester.

A beautiful deep-sky object like the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), viewed at a star paty with a moderate-size telescope, can spark people

to see the universe in a new way. Just one telescopic look has altered the future of many young folks. BOB FERA

Jeff Hester is a keynote speaker,

coach, and astrophysicist.

Follow his thoughts at

jeff-hester.com.