John Keller, co-sponsored by the University of Arizona Department of Planetary Sciences

A central issue in science education involves engaging students in the process of scientific discovery. Too often, science is presented as a factual inventory to be memorized rather than an active process of questioning, learning, and discovery. In addition, scientific data and ideas are most often presented either textually or graphically, modalities that are effective and engaging to some, but by no means all, students. In 1983, Howard Gardner proposed a Theory of Multiple Intelligences (http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed410226.html) and argued the need to expand our concept of human intelligence to include logical-mathematical, spatial, linguistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and personal intelligences along with educational materials designed to maximize these intelligences. The scientific community has historically relied more heavily on the first two of these intelligences. Very little work has been done in integrating "musical intelligence" into science and science education materials.

As part of my Space Grant Graduate Fellowship, I propose the use of "sonified" or "aural" datasets, using music and sounds perceived with the ear, (compared to more familiar "visual" datasets, using graph, maps, and images perceived with the eye) - to involve students in the processes of scientific discovery, data analysis, and data interpretation. This work will involve a collaboration with Marty Quinn, a researcher who has done some of the premier work in conversion of datasets into sounds and music. Quinn has worked with researchers and scientists to apply logic algorithms to several complex datasets to create alternative data representations called sonifications - musical pieces allowing for pattern recognition and data interpretation within a dataset. Currently existing sonifications include time-series presentations of solar data from the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, seismic data from the Northridge Earthquake, and 100,000 years of climate data from an ice core sample. Examples of these sonifications can be heard at the website for the Design Rhythmics Sonification Research Lab (http://www.quinnarts.com/srl/). I propose to implement and investigate the application of Quinn's sonification technique to data from the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), which is currently streaming data from Mars that will significantly impact our understanding of the composition and distribution of minerals and water on Mars. Details on the implementation of this outreach and education research project are presented below.

Through data analysis efforts with the GRS team, I will formulate a set of key concepts that we feel students could benefit from learning through an aural presentation of GRS data. For example, an important aspect of the GRS mission involves enhanced signal-to-noise ratios achieved with the integration of data from repeated orbits around the planet. Based upon this concept, we may create sonifications from three different phases of the GRS mission in which the "datasong" becomes more and more clear and discernible with increased integration. Once we have identified the appropriate concepts and data, I will work with Quinn to create the sonification. I will then take both the sonification and visual presentations of GRS data into classrooms in the Tucson area and pursue a number of highly intriguing science education research questions:

-- How effectively can we utilize a "musical intelligence" perspective to recognize and understand repeated patterns in scientific data?
-- Do aural presentations engage certain types of students more effectively than others?
-- Do these students benefit from sonifications in ways that are unattainable from more traditional visual presentations?
-- How can visual and aural presentations be used in tandem to enhance their overall effectiveness?
-- How can sonifications best be used in both formal and informal science education settings?
-- What are the implications for the use of sonifications in the visually impaired community?

Ms. Heather Enos, Senior Project Coordinator for GRS, has applied for funding to create a sonification of GRS data. Dr. Steve Pompea, NOAO Education Director, who has assisted with prior GRS outreach efforts and first proposed the described sonification effort, is interested in collaborating on this project. Through this public outreach effort, we hope to promote greater understanding of the process of scientific discovery being pursued by the GRS team, to present the data from this quest in a novel manner that will engage the public and students (especially teenagers), and create an educational product that will prove useful in a number of outreach settings, including the classroom, planetaria, science centers, artistic venues, and news media presentations (especially radio).

My research will directly amplify the educational effectiveness of the proposed GRS sonifications in a relatively untapped realm of research in science education. As described above, several sonifications have already been produced from other datasets. Part of my work may involve use of these existing sonifications to provide foundation and guidance for both GRS data and future sonification projects. Proposed research methodologies include testing of these datasets in the classroom with both qualitative and quantitative data gathering techniques. Based upon results of these preliminary studies, we will have a better understanding of how to more effectively create and utilize sonified datasets in science education.

In addition to pursuing the sonification project described above, I will play a central role in other outreach efforts of the GRS mission, which will include educational materials on color, light, and spectroscopy, activities involving interpretation of gamma ray spectra from Mars, and lessons involving the broader implications of discoveries from Mars Odyssey. These projects will be disseminated to educators and the public through teacher workshops, public lectures, web resources, CDs, and popular media. My involvement in outreach efforts with the Gamma Ray Spectrometer will provide many opportunities to explore aspects of astronomy education as I focus my ultimate dissertation study in Planetary Sciences and Astronomy Education.

My primary professional goal lies in astronomy education. Following five years as a high school science teacher, I pursued a Masters degree in Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and worked at Fiske Planetarium to author a show for K-5 students titled Kids in Space. The past three years, I served the Astronomy Education Coordinator and Summer Program Director at the Desert Sun Science Center (DSSC) in Southern California. DSSC is a residential astronomy camp serving over 15,000 middle school students every year who come to the program for 3-5 day extended experiences in hands-on physical sciences and astronomy.

This past fall, I moved to Tucson to work with Dr. Tim Slater, a newly appointed associate professor of astronomy education at Steward Observatory. While in Tucson, I have developed and currently teach a distance-learning course to 30 high school teachers around the country delivered via the Internet. This graduate class, The Invisible Universe, is a multiwavelength approach to astronomy focusing on NASA search for astronomical origins and is sponsored by the SIRTF space observatory and SOFIA airborne observatory education and outreach efforts. I have also presented at both the Arizona State Teachers Association conference and the American Astronomical Society Meeting this past year. Last fall, I was accepted as a graduate student to the Planetary Sciences Department with an understanding that I will conduct research in astronomy education. Among other things, I am interested in student conceptual understanding of light and in providing classrooms with authentic datasets that can be used for purposes of inquiry learning and active discovery. My proposed research with the GRS group will provide 1) experience working with the scientific aspects of gamma ray spectroscopy, 2) opportunities to develop and implement useful and innovative outreach products, and 3) meaningful research in astronomy education with regards to student comprehension and understanding of scientific data using multiple intelligences.

Following my graduate work here at the University of Arizona, I plan to be centrally involved in astronomy education by creating educational and public outreach materials for future missions. I have a strong interest in working in astronomy education in the college setting, with a focus on secondary teacher enhancement and teacher professional development. While teaching high school, I was involved with Kuiper Airborne Observatory education outreach program at NASA Ames Research Center, and I am interested in opportunities that will arise once SOFIA starts working with 200+ teachers per year in infrared astronomy outreach. I am also interested in pursuing further activities in informal astronomy education settings, including planetaria, science centers, and astronomy camps.