astronomy student research in the international baccalaureate

Robotic Telescopes, Student Research and Education (RTSRE) ProceedingsConference Proceedings, San Diego, California, USA, Jun 18-21, 2017

Fitzgerald, M., James, C.R., Buxner, S., White, S., Eds. Vol. 1, No. 1, (2018)ISSN XXXX-XXXX (online) / doi : doidoidoidoi / CC BY-NC-ND license

Peer Reviewed Article. rtsre.org/ojs

Astronomy Student Research in the InternationalBaccalaureateK. Ross Cutts1, 2*

AbstractOur Solar Siblings has a rich history of promoting inquiry-based learning using robotic tele-scopes across a broad range of students around Australia. The author has delivered the OurSolar Siblings∗(OSS) program to a range of students from Year 7-10 (12-16 years old) in Giftedand Talented Science classes. As part of the delivery, students have been encouraged topursue individual astronomy research to enhance their understanding and skills of Physicsconcepts. Over the past 3 years, the Our Solar Siblings curriculum has also been deliveredto senior physics students at St. Paul’s Grammar School in New South Wales, Australiaas part of their International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) Physics course(16-19 years old). The IB is delivered around the world as an alternative to traditional coursesstudied by students in their countries and aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable andcaring young people. Since Astrophysics is an Option in the IB DP Physics, OSS has beenused as a platform to enthuse and encourage student participation. The match betweenstudent research and the IB curriculum is discussed in detail. Students have extended theirinvolvement by pursuing their own areas of astronomy research with the assistance of anOSS mentor as their academic supervisor. The areas of research, benefits and challengesare discussed.

1Senior Physics Teacher, St. Paul’s Grammar School, 52 Taylor Rd, Cranebrook NSW 2749 Australia2Researcher, Edith Cowan Institute for Educational Research, Joondalup, WA, 6027*Corresponding author: [email protected]

IntroductionAstronomy research conducted by high schoolstudents has a long and rich history. Astronomy isone of the oldest scientific fields, yet it continues tocapture the imagination of the young and old alike(Bailey and Lombardi, 2015). Although astronomytopics have been included in K-12 educationresearch for decades, astronomy education researchas a field of discipline-based education research isrelatively new (Bailey, 2011). In recent years, callsfor the adoption of inquiry-based pedagogies in the

science classroom have formed a part of therecommendations for large-scale high schoolscience reforms, despite their lack ofimplementation in the typical classroom (Danaiaet al., 2013). This has not been without itsdifficulties with many teachers finding barriers toteaching inquiry-based science in the classroom(Fitzgerald et al., 2017). The InternationalBaccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP)Physics course is founded on an inquiry-basedpedagogy, and was seen as an ideal platform to trialstudent research in astronomy.

The author was originally involved in the Space to

Astronomy Student Research in the International Baccalaureate — 2/16

Grow project (Danaia et al., 2012), which was athree-year funded Australian Research Council(ARC) grant run through Macquarie University andCharles Sturt University with support from the LasCumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT)network and three educational jurisdictions in NewSouth Wales, Australia. The focus of the projectwas to get high school teachers to utilise the two2-metre Faulkes telescopes in their classrooms toundertake authentic science. The Our SolarSiblings (OSS) initiative grew out of the ARCresearch-based enterprise.

OSS is a project based in Australia focused atbringing professional-grade telescope access intothe high- school classroom to model authenticresearch. Interested students could then undertaketheir own authentic research-grade independentresearch projects, usually on RRLyrae stars orOpen Clusters, mentored by project staff andprofessional astronomers (Gomez and Fitzgerald,2017). It was this model that was implemented bythe author and his students in this paper.

In a later paper on OSS, Fitzgerald at al.highlighted the benefits of teacher training in OSS.Of particular note was the fact that the materialswere ready to use in the classroom. After eachtraining day, the teachers were capable of takingthe material directly into their classrooms, as someof them did to use with their students (Fitzgeraldet al., 2016). As the author had been trained in theSpace to Grow project, and then OSS, it was anatural progression to trial OSS in the IB. With thesupport and encouragement of OSS, the authorthen embarked on a three year journey to deliverOSS to his senior IB Physics students, and then toencourage many of them to do further astronomyresearch for their compulsory IB work.

It is important to note, that to-date, there havenever been any papers specifically addressing thesuitability of the IB for astronomy education. Theauthor was breaking new ground, and therefore theresults below may hopefully encourage other IBPhysics teachers to embark upon integratingastronomy research in their teaching programs.

Astronomy and StudentEnrichment

The decision to deliver astronomy to sciencestudents was born out of a desire to attract morestudents to senior science courses, particularlyPhysics, and to extend the knowledge and skills ofthe students. Initially Space to Grow, then OurSolar Siblings, were used as the curriculumplatforms. The author participated in a number ofteacher-training courses at Macquarie University,and then at the Aengus Kavanagh Centre which is adivision of the Catholic Education Office,Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

Initially, a group of 20 students deemed suitable forenrichment from Years 7-10 were selected by theirscience teachers. They were allocated 2 x 50minute lessons each week for the school year. Theauthor designed a Moodle course for the students,which contained all of the documents the studentsrequired as well as an open-ended forum to allowdiscussion. The program ran for four (4) years andincreased the numbers of students selectingPhysics for their senior studies. Many of thestudents then went on to pursue Science courses attertiary institutions, which was an excellentoutcome for such a program. Two images producedby students in this program are shown in Figure 1.The program came to end when the author movedto another school, St. Paul’s Grammar School,Cranebrook.

Astronomy and the IBSt. Paul’s Grammar School offers the InternationalBaccalaureate from Kindergarten to Year 12. TheInternational Baccalaureate (IB) (InternationalBaccalaureate Organisation, 2017) aims to developinquiring, knowledgeable and caring young peoplewho help to create a better and more peacefulworld through intercultural understanding andrespect. Established in 1968, the InternationalBaccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) wasthe first programme offered by the IB and is taughtto students aged 16-19. The Diploma Programme


Figure 1. BVR Images made by two students involved in an earlier project. Both from the 2m Faulkes Telescopes.

is a rigorous pre-university course. As of 16 March2017, there are 3,104 schools offering the DP, in147 different countries worldwide (InternationalBaccalaureate Organisation, 2017)

The IB DP Physics course is a general syllabusaimed at University admission and includestraditional subjects such as Mechanics, Electricity,Magnetism, Waves, and Nuclear Physics(International Baccalaureate Organisation, 2017).The students also have to complete one option oneof which is Astrophysics. The Astrophysics OptionD covers stellar quantities, stellar characteristics,stellar evolution and cosmology. As such, OSS wasused as the primary curriculum tool to deliver theoption as it covered the syllabus completely. Acomparison between the Astrophysics Option andOSS is shown below in Table 1. It’s important tonote that the IB Physics course is separated intoStandard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL)Physics. All students complete the SL course andselected students complete the additional HL work.Consequently, the HL exams are longer and worthmore marks in the final calculations at the end ofYear 12.

The Astrophysics option was delivered over 10weeks, which is approximately 50 hours ofinstruction. The students were given a commonresearch task analysing the distance and age ofNGC2420. This was completed as homework andsubmitted as a formal practical task. In addition,many students continued with their research andsubmitted work for their internal assessment,which is described in the next section. An image ofthe class hard at work is provided in Figure 2.

IB Physics - Internal Assessment – IAThe Internal Assessment (IA), worth 20% of thefinal assessment in Physics, consists of onescientific investigation over a 12 month period. Theindividual investigation should cover a topic that iscommensurate with the level of the course of studyand can be a combination of the following tasks:

• a hands-on laboratory investigation

• using a spreadsheet for analysis andmodelling

• extracting data from a database andanalysing it graphically


Table 1. IB Option D: Astrophysics – Components covered by OSS

SL D.1 – Stellar quantitiesEssential idea: One of the most difficult problems in astronomy is coming to terms with the vastdistances between stars and galaxies and devising accurate methods for measuring them.Understandings:• Objects in the universe• The nature of stars• Astronomical distances• Stellar parallax and its limitations• Luminosity and apparent brightnessApplications and skills:• Identifying objects in the universe• Qualitatively describing the equilibrium between pressure and gravitation in stars• Using the astronomical unit (AU), light year (ly) and parsec (pc)• Describing the method to determine distance to stars through stellar parallax• Solving problems involving luminosity, apparent brightness and distanceSL D.2 – Stellar characteristics and stellar evolutionEssential idea: A simple diagram that plots the luminosity versus the surface temperature of starsreveals unusually detailed patterns that help understand the inner workings of stars. Stars followwell-defined patterns from the moment they are created out of collapsing interstellar gas, to theirlives on the main sequence and to their eventual death.Understandings:• Stellar spectra• Hertzsprung–Russell (HR) diagram• Mass–luminosity relation for main sequence stars• Stellar evolution on HR diagrams• Red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holesApplications and skills:• Explaining how surface temperature may be obtained from a star’s spectrum• Explaining how the chemical composition of a star may be determined from the star’s spectrum• Sketching and interpreting HR diagrams• Identifying the main regions of the HR diagram and describing the main properties of stars in theseregions• Applying the mass–luminosity relation• Describing the evolution of stars off the main sequence• Describing the role of mass in stellar evolution


Table 1. (con’t) IB Option D: Astrophysics – Components covered by OSS

HL D.4 – Stellar processesEssential idea: The laws of nuclear physics applied to nuclear fusion processes inside stars determinethe production of all elements up to iron.Understandings:• Nuclear fusion• Nucleosynthesis off the main sequence• Type Ia and II supernovaeApplications and skills:• Describing the different types of nuclear fusion reactions taking place off the main sequence• Applying the mass–luminosity relation to compare lifetimes on the main sequence relative to that ofour Sun• Distinguishing between type Ia and II supernovaeSL D.3 – CosmologyEssential idea: The Hot Big Bang model is a theory that describes the origin and expansion of theuniverse and is supported by extensive experimental evidence.Understandings:• The Big Bang model• Hubble’s lawApplications and skills:• Describing both space and time as originating with the Big Bang• Estimating the age of the universe by assuming a constant expansion rateHL D.5 – Further cosmologyEssential idea: The modern field of cosmology uses advanced experimental and observationaltechniques to collect data with an unprecedented degree of precision and as a result very surprisingand detailed conclusions about the structure of the universe have been reached.Understandings:• The cosmological principle• Rotation curves and the mass of galaxies• Dark matter• The cosmological origin of redshiftApplications and skills:• Describing the cosmological principle and its role in models of the universe• Describing rotation curves as evidence for dark matter• Deriving rotational velocity from Newtonian gravitation• Sketching and interpreting graphs showing the variation of the cosmic scale factor with time


Figure 2. Year 12 IB DP Physics class hard at work

• producing a hybrid of spreadsheet/databasework with a traditional hands-oninvestigation

• using a simulation, provided it is interactiveand open-ended.

Student research, using information obtained fromrobotic telescopes, affords students the opportunityto use spreadsheets, databases, images, andastronomical software to research and analyseobjects in the Universe. OSS was then used as thepreliminary training platform to allow students togain the skills and knowledge required to completetheir internal assessments.

First attempt at the IA: Open clusters (2016)In 2016, the first group of students completed thefollowing projects (described in more detail inFitzgerald et al. 2014) in OSS:

1. Telescopes, the Night Sky and the Cosmos:The students were introduced to thefundamental goal of the projects. They werethen given a brief introduction to telescopesand what they do and, using a jigsawapproach, to find out the types of objects inthe night sky. Students presented work onthe components of the Universe, andexplored sensitivity and resolution oftelescopes. Many of the students theninvestigated planning an observation sessionusing the Las Cumbres Observatory GlobalTelescope Network (Brown et al., 2013).

2. Understanding the Universe through Colour:The students looked at the nature of colourand colour imaging. The core activity wasthe creation of an astronomical colour imagefrom the monochrome filtered B, V and Rimages of their object. They also learnedtransferable skills in image processing (using


GIMP or Photoshop). The students arealways excited when they produce their firstcolour image. Some of the students alsoprogressed to investigate the supernovae andgalaxy sections of the project.

3. Uncovering the Nature and Lives of Stars:This was by far the most challenging project.The students began by investigating starclusters and their representative colormagnitude diagrams (CMD). They thenanalysed an Open Cluster, NGC2420, wherethey acquired the brightness of the samestars in B, V and R filters using AperturePhotometry Tool (Laher et al. 2012a; 2012b),students learned the various methodologiesand techniques used to examine variousproperties that can emerge from their ownmeasured data, such as distance, age,reddening, size, proper motion, radialvelocity and metallicity. These techniqueswere then related back to the IB PhysicsAstronomy option.

The students then progressed to investigating theirown Open Clusters for their high level individualassessments, including NGC2302, NGC2306,NGC2354, NGC2383, NGC2384, NGC2547 andNGC 2669.

Results from two of the clusters, NGC2354 andNGC2547, can be seen below in Figures 3 and 4respectively. The students concerned spent manyhours working on their research papers. The resultswere very encouraging, as the results for NGC2547were very close to the published results (Claria,1982). NGC2354 was further away from thepublished results and deserves further investigation.Overall, the students experienced real scientificresearch in collaboration with universityacademics, particularly the OSS staff shown inFigure 5, who visited the school on a number ofoccasions to impart knowledge and skills thestudents required. An image of the students’ workis shown in Figure 6.

Extended EssayIn the Diploma Programme, the Extended Essay(EE) is the prime example of a piece of work wherethe student has the opportunity to show knowledge,understanding and enthusiasm about a topic of hisor her choice. The extended essay is an in-depthstudy of a focused topic presented in a 4,000 wordreport and is intended to promote high-levelresearch and writing skills, intellectual discoveryand creativity. It provides students with anopportunity to engage in personal research, underthe guidance of a supervisor. This leads to a majorformal report presented with structured writing inwhich ideas and findings are communicated in areasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to thesubject chosen.

The aims of the extended essay are to providestudents with the opportunity to:

• pursue independent research on a focusedtopic

• develop research and communication skills

• develop the skills of creative and criticalthinking

• engage in a systematic process of researchappropriate to the subject

• experience the excitement of intellectualdiscovery (International BaccalaureateOrganisation, 2017)

In working on the extended essay, students areexpected to:

• plan and pursue a research project withintellectual initiative and insight

• formulate a precise research question

• gather and interpret material from sourcesappropriate to the research question

• structure a reasoned argument in response tothe research question on the basis of thematerial gathered


Figure 3. Jarod’s image and CMD of NGC 2354 from his IA IB project

Figure 4. Ayhden’s image and a screenshot of APT during the measurement process from his IA IB


Figure 5. Dr. Fitzgerald, the OSS mentor, explaining Colour Magnitude Diagrams

Figure 6. Ayhden and Jarod analyzing their Open Clusters


• present their extended essay in a formatappropriate to the subject, acknowledgingsources in one of the established academicways

• use the terminology and languageappropriate to the subject with skill andunderstanding

• apply analytical and evaluative skillsappropriate to the subject, with anunderstanding of the implications and thecontext of their research (InternationalBaccalaureate Organisation, 2017)

Extended essays researching open clusters in2016In 2016, two students completed their extendedessays on:

• the determination of the distance to OpenCluster NGC2383Lachlan calculated the distance to NGC2383to be 1752pc using the software andtechniques he learnt in OSS. His results wereclose to the published value of 1655pc1.Considering the distance was calculatednearly 20 years ago, it might be consideredthat Lachlan’s value may be closer to theactual value.

• the determination of the distance of OpenCluster NGC2384Yusen used the software and techniques helearned in OSS and calculated the distance toNGC2384, as shown in Figure 7, to be 2754pc, which is farther than the published valueof 2116pc2. Considering the distance wascalculated over 50 years ago, it might beconsidered that Yusen’s value may be closerto the actual value and is worthy of furtherinvestigation.

1https://www.univie.ac.at/webda/cgi-bin/ocl page.cgi?dirname=ngc2383

2https://www.univie.ac.at/webda/cgi-bin/ocl page.cgi?dirname=ngc2384

The students were extremely motivated andcompleted their research on time. They were bothawarded good marks by the IB Organisation andwent on to pursue Science degrees at University.

Extended essays researching broader topics thanopen clusters in 2017In late 2016, a wider range of topics was suggestedby the OSS mentor. The scope of the researchwould go beyond the material covered in OSS andthe IB, and be of university research standards.Primarily the students would be fulfilling their IBrequirements, and also be contributing toreal-world research.

The students worked collaboratively with theauthors. Each student was assigned a Moodlecourse, which allowed them to access all theacademic articles and resources they required. Italso enabled each student to have their own forumto discuss issues. In addition, the OSS mentorproduced instructional videos to illustrate theharder concepts, including specialised astronomysoftware such as Aperture Photometry Tool (Laheret al. 2012a, 2012b), Peranso (Paunzen andVanmunster, 2013) and PysoChrone (Fitzgerald,2018).

Four students began their extended essays at theend of 2016. The OSS mentor visited the studentsa number of times, and held online meetings toassist the students with their research. Their topicsincluded:

• Whether Riddle 15 is an Open orGlobular Cluster (Andrew)

Andrew concluded that Riddle 15, the stellar groupshown in Figure 8, is an Open Cluster. He analysedthe shape, location and stellar types to back up hisconclusion. Presently, there is no research data forthis cluster, so his results are important for furtherresearch.

• re-observing Hubble’s First Variable Starin the modern era (Michael)

https://www.univie.ac.at/webda/cgi-bin/ocl_page.cgi?dirname=ngc2383





Figure 7. Yusen’s colour image and CMD of Open cluster 2384.

Figure 8. Andrew’s Riddle 15 colour image processedusing Fits Liberator and Adobe Photoshopfrom R, V, B images (LCOGTn)

Figure 9. Michael’s B-band Peranso light curve shownwith a period of (31.4301±0.03182)

Michael analysed the first Cepheid variable star,M31-V1, observed by Edwin Hubble in 1925. Verylittle research has been done since then, so he wasdetermined to see if Hubble’s original results stillheld up to academic scrutiny.

Michael produced results that showed the period tobe 31.4301±0.03182 days with the B band lightcurve shown in Figure 9. This closely agreed withthe results calculated by Edwin Hubble of 31.41days, and lies within the uncertainty of laterresearch in the 1950s by Baade and Swopes of31.384 days. By using B, V and I filters, he wasable to independently estimate the reddeningtowards the star and the distance 807kpc whichwas very close to the accepted modern value of766kpc (Templeton et al., 2011).

Michael’s results confirmed Hubble’s originalobservations and will be used in further study ofM31.

• identifying candidate Binary Openclusters for future study (Toby)

Toby analysed over 200 possible open clusters todetermine if they were gravitationally bound to oneanother, and therefore true binary open clusters. Todo this, he compared values of distance, age,E(B-V), angle separation and total separation usinga pair-matching code and the Dias et al. (2002)open cluster catalogue. The ten most likely binary


Figure 10. A pair of potential binary open clusters from Toby’s IB Extended Essay

open cluster candidates were identified for futurestudy and are shown in Table 2.

As example of his work for Kronberger 52 andKronberger 68 is shown in Table 3 below. Animage of these clusters is shown in Figure 10. Herepeated the analysis for over 200 pairs of OpenClusters and reduced the list to the above ten pairs.Further research will now be done by professionalastronomers in the light of his findings.

• Variables in NGC1261 (Scott)

Scott identified 23 RR Lyrae variable stars in theglobular cluster, NGC1261 (shown in Figure 11)with images taken from the 1-meter telescope atthe Siding Springs Observatory in New SouthWales, Australia, at irregular intervals over a timeperiod of 61 days. He then calculated the distanceto the cluster using software and techniques learntin OSS, a sample periodogram and lightcurve isshown in Figure 12. By focusing on the RR Lyraes,he was able to estimate the distance of16.444±1.213 kpc using the i-band and z-bandPeriod-Luminosity-Metallicity relationship for RRLyraes (Caceres and Catelan, 2008). This result isin line with recent distance calculations of 16.4kpc(Paust et al., 2010).

Since this was the first use of real data with thegiven relationships, the techniques employed byScott were indeed ground breaking. The data andresearch from his investigation will now be used todetermine more accurate knowledge of thecharacteristics of RR Lyrae variable stars, and

Figure 11. Scott’s colour image of NGC1261 colourimage processed using Fits Liberator andAdobe Photoshop from R, V, B images(LCOGTn)

develop more precise analyses of them to helpunderstand the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy.Scott has also agreed to work on this research afterhe finishes his final IB examinations forpublication.

DiscussionThe author has been teaching the IB Physics coursefor the past 3 years, and attended professionaldevelopment courses aimed at delivering theDiploma Programme with IB teachers from aroundthe world. In all discussions and internet searches,there is no evidence that IB Physics teachers areusing astronomy research as part of the IB Physicscourse, either as an internal assessment or anextended essay. Therefore, astronomy research hadto be implemented from previous experience,mainly with the OSS project over the past eight (8)


Table 2. Pairs of open clusters identified in Toby’s IB Extended Essay study.

Kronberger 52 and Kronberger 68 Alessi 8 and Johansson 1NGC 3324 and NGC 3294 NGC 6169 and NGC 6178NGC 6840 and NGC 6843 Ruprecht 50 and Ruprecht 153

Sigma Orionis and Trapezium FSR 0977 and FSR 0979Hogg 20 and Hogg 21 Ruprecht 50 and Ruprecht 153

Table 3. An example of the results Toby found using Pysochrone for a sample pair of clusters

Name Age/ years E(B-V) Dist/ parsecs (m-M)Kronberger 52 1.25 ·108 ±1.7 ·107 1.77±0.01 794±0.44 9.5±0.01Kronberger 68 1.25 ·108 ±1.7 ·107 1.7±0.01 794±0.76 9.5±0.01

years.

Initially OSS was delivered as an alternative to thetraditional chalk and talk IB Astrophysics Option.This was completed in 8 weeks of normalinstruction during Term 4 each year. The matchbetween the IB syllabus and OSS material is veryclose, as shown in the section IB Option D:Astrophysics – Components covered by OSS.Consequently, there was very little extra instructionrequired by the author, other than completing pastexamination questions as revision exercises.

The students were then given a number of researchtopics that would suit either their IA or EE. Someof these topics were provided by the OSS mentor.Once these were discussed at length with theauthor, the students began their research over thesummer holidays. Moodle courses were set up forthe students, with the author and the OSS mentoras the teachers. The students used the forums inMoodle to ask questions over the summer break.The students went on to complete their IAs or EEsover the next six months.

The main difficulties experienced were time andknowledge. Time is at a premium in schools, andthere are many competing demands on students.Many of the students were able to complete theirresearch during vacation times with the help of the

author and the OSS mentor. Knowledge was also astumbling block. The OSS mentor was able toengage in remote video sessions to assist thestudents on the finer points of their research. Healso produced a number of instructional videos asthe need arose. The author was also required tolearn a large amount of astrophysics knowledgeabout the research topics and the specialisedsoftware used. The author had engaged in, anddelivered OSS training to teachers in the past, sothis was not an onerous task, but it would likely bea stumbling block for the average Physics teacher.

On the positive side, there were many benefits fromthe research. Firstly, student engagementdramatically increased. The delivery of the OSSmaterial saw the students actively questioning theauthor about astronomy concepts beyond the IBcourse. Over half of the students then went on todo astronomy research for their IA or EE, whichwas very encouraging. Secondly, many of theparents expressed their delight at the amount ofinterest displayed by their children at home.Finally, the school was very supportive, with theprincipal in particular visiting the IA and EEclasses and commenting on the advanced researchthe students were taking on.

In hindsight, there have been a few lessons learnedfrom the process. The main issue is that the teacher


Figure 12. Typical representation of one of the star’s period determination and apparent magnitude/period graphusing the Peranso software

needs to be confident in delivering OSS and thensupervising the IA or EE. Consequently, teachertraining is mandatory, as few Physics teacherspossess the astronomy research knowledge andskills needed to implement such a program. Overthe past few years the OSS staff have deliveredtraining to teachers across Australia. This has seenan increase in the number of students attemptingastronomy research and a keen band of Physicsteachers equipped with the skills required to dofurther research.

In addition, the process could not have beencompleted without an academic mentor assistingthe author and students. The level of material wasbeyond the IB course and required specialiseduniversity astronomy knowledge and skills.Constant support from the mentor using theMoodle forums, meant that the students were ableto understand and to interpret their results, leadingto the possibility of some of the student’s researchbeing cited in future academic papers. The role ofthe mentor enabled the students to complete theirresearch in a professional and timely manner. Thementor was also seen as a guide for studentspursuing astronomy as an academic pursuit.

Timing of the delivery of OSS, and then the IA orEE, has proven to be critical. The skills requiredfor further research needed to be consolidated andrefined before the students could attempt theirresearch projects. After a number of years, it hasbeen narrowed down to delivering OSS at the endof the first senior year, Year 11, with researchbeing carried into the summer break. This gives thestudents the time required and sets up a good

platform for completing the IA or EE early in theirsecond and final year of the IB.

As discussed, the IB Physics course listsAstrophysics as an option for the two year course.Interestingly, astronomy concepts are covered tovarying degrees throughout the compulsory corecomponents. Table 4 presents a general overviewof the components, both Standard and HigherLevel, where astronomy is integral to theinformation being delivered in the unit. As can beseen, astronomical concepts are spread over theentire course, and in many instances, garnerimproved student interest and interaction. Theauthor has used OSS projects: 1-Telescopes, theNight Sky and the Cosmos and 2-Understandingthe Universe through Colour, to enhance andextend students in Topics 4, 6, 7, 9, and 12. Thestudents have responded positively to theinquiry-based approach and particularly enjoyedproducing images of stellar objects from remotetelescopes.Breaking new ground is never easy, but the IBPhysics course is designed to be thought provokingand inquiry-based. Although there have been somedifficulties, the positive influence on studentengagement and learning has been highlybeneficial. With the necessary training, IB Physicsteachers would find this approach both achievableand educationally sound.

ConclusionsAstronomy research has a real and justifiable placein the International Baccalaureate Diploma Physicscourse. The inquiry-based approaches using


Table 4. Astronomy Concepts in the IB Physics Course – Core Components

Standard Level Additional higher level(SL) (AHL)

Topic 2: Mechanics 2.1 – Motion2.2 – Forces

2.3 – Work, energy and power2.4 – Momentum and impulse

Topic 4: Waves 4.3 – Wave characteristics Topic 9: Wave 9.2 – Single-slitphenomena diffraction

4.4 – Wave behaviour 9.3 – Interference9.4 – Resolution

9.5 – Doppler effectTopic 6: Circular motion 6.1 – Circular motion

and gravitation6.2 – Newton’s law of

gravitationTopic 7: Atomic, 7.2 – Nuclear reactions Topic 12: Quantum 12.1 – The interaction of

nuclear and and nuclear physics matter with radiation7.3 – The structure of 12.2 – Nuclear physics

matterTopic 8: Energy 8.1 – Energy sources

production8.2 – Thermal energy

robotic telescopes are a perfect match for thecreative and critical thinking skills required in theIB. Over the years, the students have gained skillsand knowledge that has taken them to tertiaryscience courses around the world. It has takenenergy and enthusiasm to pursue such an approach,but the end result has been to witness a group ofstudents who have achieved outcomes far beyondthe normal expectations of senior high schoolPhysics students.

Acknowledgements

The majority of the astronomy research conductedby the author has been achieved using Our SolarSiblings, designed by Dr. Michael Fitzgerald, Prof.David McKinnon and Dr. Lena Danaia. Thanksmust go to their dedication since 2009 to designand refine the course materials, and to trainteachers across Australia.

Dr. Michael Fitzgerald must also be thanked forthe huge amount of work he has put into assistingthe students with their internal assessments andextended essays. The results are worthy of furtherresearch, and hopefully publication in the future.

St. Paul’s Grammar School also needs to bethanked for allowing the author to deliverastronomy research and welcoming visitingacademics to the school.

ReferencesBailey, J. M. (2011). Astronomy education research:

Developmental history of the field and summaryof the literature.

Bailey, J. M. and Lombardi, D. (2015). Blazingthe trail for astronomy education research. Jour-nal of Astronomy and Earth Sciences Education,2(2):77.


Brown, T., Baliber, N., Bianco, F., Bowman, M.,Burleson, B., Conway, P., Crellin, M., Depagne,E., De Vera, J., Dilday, B., et al. (2013). LasCumbres Observatory global telescope network.Publications of the Astronomical Society of thePacific, 125(931):1031.

Caceres, C. and Catelan, M. (2008). The period-luminosity relation of RR Lyrae stars in the SDSSphotometric system. The Astrophysical JournalSupplement Series, 179(1):242.

Claria, J. (1982). Membership Basic Parametersand Luminosity Function of the Southern OpenCluster NGC2547. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSupplement Series, 47:323.

Danaia, L., Fitzgerald, M., and McKinnon, D.(2013). Students’ perceptions of high school sci-ence: what has changed over the last decade? Re-search in Science Education, 43(4):1501–1515.

Danaia, L., McKinnon, D., Parker, Q., Fitzgerald,M., and Stenning, P. (2012). Space to grow:LCOGT.net and improving science engagementin schools. Astronomy Education Review, 11(1).

Dias, W., Alessi, B., Moitinho, A., and Lepine,J. (2002). New catalogue of optically visibleopen clusters and candidates. Astronomy & As-trophysics, 389(3):871–873.

Fitzgerald, M. (2018). The Our Solar SiblingsPipeline: Tackling the data issues of the scalingproblem for robotic telescope based astronomyeducation projects. Proceedings of the First Meet-ing of the Robotic Telescopes, Student Research,and Education Conference (RTSRE), June 2017.

Fitzgerald, M., Danaia, L., and McKinnon, D. H.(2017). Barriers inhibiting inquiry-based scienceteaching and potential solutions: perceptions ofpositively inclined early adopters. Research inScience Education, pages 1–24.

Fitzgerald, M., McKinnon, D. H., Danaia, L., andDeehan, J. (2016). A large-scale inquiry-basedastronomy intervention project: impact on stu-dents’ content knowledge performance and views

of their high school science classroom. Researchin Science Education, 46(6):901–916.

Fitzgerald, M. T., Hollow, R., Rebull, L. M., Danaia,L., and McKinnon, D. H. (2014). A reviewof high school level astronomy student researchprojects over the last two decades. Publicationsof the Astronomical Society of Australia, 31.

Gomez, E. L. and Fitzgerald, M. T. (2017). Robotictelescopes in education. Astronomical Review,13(1):28–68.

International Baccalaureate Organisation (2017).The International Baccalaureate: Internationaleducation and cultural preservation.

Laher, R. R., Gorjian, V., Rebull, L. M., Masci,F. J., Fowler, J. W., Helou, G., Kulkarni, S. R.,and Law, N. M. (2012a). Aperture photometrytool. Publications of the Astronomical Society ofthe Pacific, 124(917):737.

Laher, R. R., Rebull, L. M., Gorjian, V., Masci, F. J.,Fowler, J. W., Grillmair, C., Surace, J., Mattingly,S., Jackson, E., Hacopeans, E., et al. (2012b).Aperture photometry tool versus SExtractor fornoncrowded fields. Publications of the Astronom-ical Society of the Pacific, 124(917):764.

Paunzen, E. and Vanmunster, T. (2013). Peranso(Light Curve and Period Analysis Software).

Paust, N. E., Reid, I. N., Piotto, G., Aparicio,A., Anderson, J., Sarajedini, A., Bedin, L. R.,Chaboyer, B., Dotter, A., Hempel, M., et al.(2010). The ACS Survey of Galactic GlobularClusters. VIII. Effects of Environment on Glob-ular Cluster Global Mass Functions. The Astro-nomical Journal, 139(2):476.

Templeton, M., Henden, A., Goff, W., Smith, S.,Sabo, R., Walker, G., Buchheim, R., Belcheva,G., Crawford, T., Cook, M., et al. (2011). Mod-ern observations of Hubble’s first-discoveredCepheid in M31. Publications of the Astronomi-cal Society of the Pacific, 123(910):1374.

astronomy student research in the international baccalaureate

Documents