Project ThaiPASS: International Outreach Blending Astronomy and Python
James D. Keegans, Richard J. Stancliffe, Lawrence E. Bilton, Claire R. Cashmore, Brad K. Gibson, Mikkel T. Kristensen, Thomas V. Lawson, Marco Pignatari, Iraj Vaezzadeh, Benoit Côté, Siri Chongchitnan
PPro ject ThaiPASS: International Outreach BlendingAstronomy and Python
James D. Keegans, Richard J. Stancliffe, Lawrence E. Bilton,Claire R. Cashmore, Brad K. Gibson, Mikkel T. Kristensen,Thomas V. Lawson, Marco Pignatari, Iraj Vaezzadeh
E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road,Kingston-Upon-Hull, HU6 7RX, United KingdomE-mail:
Benoit Cˆot´e,
Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, MTACentre for Excellence, Budapest H-1121, HungaryELTE E¨otv¨os Lor´and University, Institute of Physics, Budapest 1117, Hungary and Siri Chongchitnan
Warwick Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UnitedKingdom.
Abstract.
We present our outreach program, the
Thailand-UK Python+AstronomySummer School (ThaiPASS), a collaborative project comprising UK and Thaiinstitutions and assess its impact and possible application to schools in the UnitedKingdom. Since its inception in 2018, the annual ThaiPASS have trained around 60Thai high-school students in basic data handling skills using Python in the context ofvarious astronomy topics, using current research from the teaching team. Our impactassessment of the 5 day summer schools show an overwhelmingly positive response fromstudents in both years, with over 80% of students scoring the activities above averagein all activities but one. We use this data to suggest possible future improvements.We also discuss how ThaiPASS may inspire further outreach and engagement activitieswithin the UK and beyond.PACS numbers: 00.00, 20.00, 42.10
Keywords : Advanced, 16-19, A-level, Atomic/nuclear, Astronomy/cosmology
1. Introduction
ThaiPASS (Thailand-UK Python+Astronomy Summer School) is an overseasdevelopment assistance (ODA) outreach project focusing on building students’ a r X i v : . [ phy s i c s . e d - ph ] J a n roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
ThaiPASS (Thailand-UK Python+Astronomy Summer School) is an overseasdevelopment assistance (ODA) outreach project focusing on building students’ a r X i v : . [ phy s i c s . e d - ph ] J a n roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS ThaiPASS brings UKprofessional astronomers to Thailand, to train 16-18 year-old Thai students in usingPython for data handling, analysis and mining. Student engagement was fosteredthrough the use of astronomy and astrophysics as the bulk of the teaching matter.Astronomy and astrophysics have been shown, through initiatives such as Galaxy Zoo[1], to capture the interest of a broad range of individuals. Using astronomy, we alsohighlight the importance of data science for the modern economy and STEM subjects.The first
ThaiPASS was launched in 2018 under the auspices of the STFC (Science andTechnology Facilities Council) Newton Fund scheme, running annually, with fundingnow secured through 2022.
ThaiPASS activities have now been extended for teacherCareer Professional Development (CPD) training events in the UK.In this report, we discuss findings from the first two events, held in 2018 and 2019,in Chiang Mai, Thailand ‡ . In total, 60 students and 19 teachers from 30 Thai schoolsparticipated in the first two ThaiPASS events. Teachers participated in the activitieswith the goal of applying this experience in the classroom, increasing the effective impactof the summer school to include students at each of these 30 schools. Each summer schoolcomprised a series of lectures and hands-on sessions over the course of a week, focusingon various topics in astronomy. Students brought their own laptops, and additionalonline computing facilities were provided in collaboration with the University of Victoria,Canada, as part of their Cyberhubs initiative [2]. All data and data mining tools used inthe summer school were produced by our lecturing team and their collaborators, muchof which is currently published [3, 4, 5].This paper is structured as follows. We first discuss the motivation for
ThaiPASS in Section 2. We then present the astronomy and computing material covered at thesummer schools in Section 3. In Section 4, we discuss the feedback from participants,and the challenges faced. Finally, we outline our plans for future events in Section 5. Afull overview of
ThaiPASS can also be found at the respective 2018 and 2019 summerschool websites § .
2. Motivation
Project
ThaiPASS is a human capacity building project with a strong ODA resonance:ICT and data handling capabilities are two of the key technical skills young people needto further their professional development and obtain the highly skilled jobs which drivethe modern economy.One of the most effective ways to achieve the goals of ODA is to strengthen ‡ ThaiPASS § https://indico.narit.or.th/event/81 and https://indico.narit.or.th/event/120, respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
ThaiPASS is a human capacity building project with a strong ODA resonance:ICT and data handling capabilities are two of the key technical skills young people needto further their professional development and obtain the highly skilled jobs which drivethe modern economy.One of the most effective ways to achieve the goals of ODA is to strengthen ‡ ThaiPASS § https://indico.narit.or.th/event/81 and https://indico.narit.or.th/event/120, respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG) to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity forall. Project ThaiPASS addresses the following SDGs. • SDG4: Ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelonglearning . ThaiPASS brings Thai school students and teachers in contact withinternational researchers, who will train them in scientific skills that they maynot have access to (or afford) otherwise. The training received at ThaiPASSwill be current and relevant, and will be a seed for lifelong learning of STEMsubjects. Our target students are those who have a passion and aptitude in science,maths and English from Thai schools across the country (those in highly exclusive,international schools are not targeted). We made concerted effort in targetingschools that are in underprivileged areas, and strongly urged schools to nominateboth male and female participants. We note that the gender ratio was 50:50 forThaiPASS’18. • SDG8: Promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment anddecent work for all . A young person with ICT, data-handling and visualisationskills is a highly employable person within the STEM sector and beyond. ASTEM-enabled generation of young people is essential for the future of Thailandsinformation-based economy. • SDG9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization andfoster innovation.
ThaiPASS represents an investment in human capacity building,which is crucial to achieving sustainable development, empowering communities,and generating a high sustainable income with a low environmental impact. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
ThaiPASS represents an investment in human capacity building,which is crucial to achieving sustainable development, empowering communities,and generating a high sustainable income with a low environmental impact. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS The Python programming language is one of the most popular programming languagesin astronomy and the wider sciences. Its position as an open source, high level, simple-to-use programming language has made it a popular choice in many areas of research.Although other programming languages (such as C, FORTRAN) are still used forintensive computational tasks, data science needs are widely carried out using Python.Its popularity and widespread use in science research make it invaluable as a tool forany student who wishes to pursue a career in astronomy. Python is also highly desirablein industry, and as such also provides a useful learning opportunity for students wishingto pursue careers outside of academia.Python, being a high-level programming language, often uses natural language forbuilt-in functions, making it more approachable that some other languages. The use ofJupyter notebooks also improves accessibility, as the interactive environment allows thestudents to easily test and edit code with a simple GUI. Python also has a huge array ofmodules available which are invaluable in scientific computing. These include modulessuch as:(i) Astropy - packages containing astronomy related functions(ii) Matplotlib - plotting functionality(iii) NumPy - mathematical operations not native to Python(iv) SciPy - contains functions, statistical tools, numerical solvers for differentialequations and many other featuresAll of the above factors make Python programming a highly desirable and usefulskill for students, particularly those planning to go into a career in STEM.
3. Content of ThaiPASS
All of the materials covered at ThaiPASS’18 and 19 are available at the E. A. MilneCentre’s GitHub webpages (cid:107) . These materials comprise Jupyter notebooks and data files,which formed the basis of activities at ThaiPASS, as well as basic introductory tutorialsconsisting of scaffolded notebooks with a variety of simple tasks. As the most currentversion of much of the material, the authors suggest using the 2019 repository wherepossible (a description of the contents of each repository is provided in their respectiveread-me). We present a summary of some of the materials here. (cid:107) https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2018 and https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2019 respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
All of the materials covered at ThaiPASS’18 and 19 are available at the E. A. MilneCentre’s GitHub webpages (cid:107) . These materials comprise Jupyter notebooks and data files,which formed the basis of activities at ThaiPASS, as well as basic introductory tutorialsconsisting of scaffolded notebooks with a variety of simple tasks. As the most currentversion of much of the material, the authors suggest using the 2019 repository wherepossible (a description of the contents of each repository is provided in their respectiveread-me). We present a summary of some of the materials here. (cid:107) https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2018 and https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2019 respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Astronomy has been a compulsory part of secondary education in Thailand since 2001,and a surprisingly wide range of topics are covered in Thai schools ¶ . Nevertheless, thereare disparities in the depth and quality of astronomy education, notably amongst non-private schools, mainly due to the lack of teachers with specialist training in physicsand astronomy, and inadequate provision for after-school astronomy activities. AtThaiPASS, we made a decision to ensure that as much of the astronomy content is as self-contained and accessible as possible to 16-18 year olds. We also included introductorydiscussions of modern research topics outside the standard syllabus. To date, the topicscovered include: • nucleosynthesis , the production of elements and isotopes in stars; • galactic chemical evolution (GCE), the process by which material synthesised bystars is mixed into the wider galaxy; • galaxies and dark matter , which discusses how the rotation curves of galaxies leadto the idea that there is unseen matter in the Universe; • supernova , describing how stars explode and how ejecta material spreads out intospace.During morning lectures, students were given an introduction to the main ideas andconcepts of each topic, and in the afternoon they were given tasks to complete usingdata from recent publications (See for example [3] and [6]).We note that the lectures on stellar evolution build on and extend topics found inthe Scottish Advanced Higher Specifications, the AQA A-level syllabus and other examboards in the UK (with some intersection with the Thai syllabus). Common elements inthese specifications concern the competition between two opposing forces: the burningof nuclear fuel in a star, and its collapse under gravity. The material covered here allowsfor a deeper understanding of the processes and pathways involved in the productionof new nuclei in stars. This topic is expanded further in the second set of lectures onnucleosynthesis described below. This portion of the summer school discussed the production ofelements in stars - from low-mass stars like the Sun to massive core-collapse supernovaexplosions (CCSNe). Lectures covered all of the major burning regimes found in mainsequence stars, and beyond to the products of stellar collapse and explosion. Thismaterial complements and extends the material covered in some A-level courses - forexample the optional AQA astrophysics module which covers the Hertzsprung-Russell(HR) diagram (which also featured at ThaiPASS- see section 3.2) and supernova. Figure1 shows HR diagram tracks for various masses of stars, an example of some of thematerial that was covered during the two ThaiPASS summer schools. ¶ roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
All of the materials covered at ThaiPASS’18 and 19 are available at the E. A. MilneCentre’s GitHub webpages (cid:107) . These materials comprise Jupyter notebooks and data files,which formed the basis of activities at ThaiPASS, as well as basic introductory tutorialsconsisting of scaffolded notebooks with a variety of simple tasks. As the most currentversion of much of the material, the authors suggest using the 2019 repository wherepossible (a description of the contents of each repository is provided in their respectiveread-me). We present a summary of some of the materials here. (cid:107) https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2018 and https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2019 respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Astronomy has been a compulsory part of secondary education in Thailand since 2001,and a surprisingly wide range of topics are covered in Thai schools ¶ . Nevertheless, thereare disparities in the depth and quality of astronomy education, notably amongst non-private schools, mainly due to the lack of teachers with specialist training in physicsand astronomy, and inadequate provision for after-school astronomy activities. AtThaiPASS, we made a decision to ensure that as much of the astronomy content is as self-contained and accessible as possible to 16-18 year olds. We also included introductorydiscussions of modern research topics outside the standard syllabus. To date, the topicscovered include: • nucleosynthesis , the production of elements and isotopes in stars; • galactic chemical evolution (GCE), the process by which material synthesised bystars is mixed into the wider galaxy; • galaxies and dark matter , which discusses how the rotation curves of galaxies leadto the idea that there is unseen matter in the Universe; • supernova , describing how stars explode and how ejecta material spreads out intospace.During morning lectures, students were given an introduction to the main ideas andconcepts of each topic, and in the afternoon they were given tasks to complete usingdata from recent publications (See for example [3] and [6]).We note that the lectures on stellar evolution build on and extend topics found inthe Scottish Advanced Higher Specifications, the AQA A-level syllabus and other examboards in the UK (with some intersection with the Thai syllabus). Common elements inthese specifications concern the competition between two opposing forces: the burningof nuclear fuel in a star, and its collapse under gravity. The material covered here allowsfor a deeper understanding of the processes and pathways involved in the productionof new nuclei in stars. This topic is expanded further in the second set of lectures onnucleosynthesis described below. This portion of the summer school discussed the production ofelements in stars - from low-mass stars like the Sun to massive core-collapse supernovaexplosions (CCSNe). Lectures covered all of the major burning regimes found in mainsequence stars, and beyond to the products of stellar collapse and explosion. Thismaterial complements and extends the material covered in some A-level courses - forexample the optional AQA astrophysics module which covers the Hertzsprung-Russell(HR) diagram (which also featured at ThaiPASS- see section 3.2) and supernova. Figure1 shows HR diagram tracks for various masses of stars, an example of some of thematerial that was covered during the two ThaiPASS summer schools. ¶ roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Whilst not directlyaddressed in A-level courses, the natural progression after discussing how isotopes andelements are produced in stars is to ask how those products are distributed aroundthe galaxy, and indeed how a galaxy forms. A series of lectures was delivered in the2018 ThaiPASS school addressing this, and the effects of supernova explosions on theformations of galaxies were discussed. Students were then trained in using OMEGA[9] a one dimensional galactic chemical evolution code, stellar data library and datahandling package which is used in current GCE research. Students were tasked withfitting the evolution of different elements in the Milky Way through time, by adjustingthe ratio of different stars and the products of burning from these. Students enjoyedthis task and showed good progress in using the code to achieve the expected evolutionof a number of key elements. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
All of the materials covered at ThaiPASS’18 and 19 are available at the E. A. MilneCentre’s GitHub webpages (cid:107) . These materials comprise Jupyter notebooks and data files,which formed the basis of activities at ThaiPASS, as well as basic introductory tutorialsconsisting of scaffolded notebooks with a variety of simple tasks. As the most currentversion of much of the material, the authors suggest using the 2019 repository wherepossible (a description of the contents of each repository is provided in their respectiveread-me). We present a summary of some of the materials here. (cid:107) https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2018 and https://github.com/Milne-Centre/ThaiPASS2019 respectively. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Astronomy has been a compulsory part of secondary education in Thailand since 2001,and a surprisingly wide range of topics are covered in Thai schools ¶ . Nevertheless, thereare disparities in the depth and quality of astronomy education, notably amongst non-private schools, mainly due to the lack of teachers with specialist training in physicsand astronomy, and inadequate provision for after-school astronomy activities. AtThaiPASS, we made a decision to ensure that as much of the astronomy content is as self-contained and accessible as possible to 16-18 year olds. We also included introductorydiscussions of modern research topics outside the standard syllabus. To date, the topicscovered include: • nucleosynthesis , the production of elements and isotopes in stars; • galactic chemical evolution (GCE), the process by which material synthesised bystars is mixed into the wider galaxy; • galaxies and dark matter , which discusses how the rotation curves of galaxies leadto the idea that there is unseen matter in the Universe; • supernova , describing how stars explode and how ejecta material spreads out intospace.During morning lectures, students were given an introduction to the main ideas andconcepts of each topic, and in the afternoon they were given tasks to complete usingdata from recent publications (See for example [3] and [6]).We note that the lectures on stellar evolution build on and extend topics found inthe Scottish Advanced Higher Specifications, the AQA A-level syllabus and other examboards in the UK (with some intersection with the Thai syllabus). Common elements inthese specifications concern the competition between two opposing forces: the burningof nuclear fuel in a star, and its collapse under gravity. The material covered here allowsfor a deeper understanding of the processes and pathways involved in the productionof new nuclei in stars. This topic is expanded further in the second set of lectures onnucleosynthesis described below. This portion of the summer school discussed the production ofelements in stars - from low-mass stars like the Sun to massive core-collapse supernovaexplosions (CCSNe). Lectures covered all of the major burning regimes found in mainsequence stars, and beyond to the products of stellar collapse and explosion. Thismaterial complements and extends the material covered in some A-level courses - forexample the optional AQA astrophysics module which covers the Hertzsprung-Russell(HR) diagram (which also featured at ThaiPASS- see section 3.2) and supernova. Figure1 shows HR diagram tracks for various masses of stars, an example of some of thematerial that was covered during the two ThaiPASS summer schools. ¶ roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Whilst not directlyaddressed in A-level courses, the natural progression after discussing how isotopes andelements are produced in stars is to ask how those products are distributed aroundthe galaxy, and indeed how a galaxy forms. A series of lectures was delivered in the2018 ThaiPASS school addressing this, and the effects of supernova explosions on theformations of galaxies were discussed. Students were then trained in using OMEGA[9] a one dimensional galactic chemical evolution code, stellar data library and datahandling package which is used in current GCE research. Students were tasked withfitting the evolution of different elements in the Milky Way through time, by adjustingthe ratio of different stars and the products of burning from these. Students enjoyedthis task and showed good progress in using the code to achieve the expected evolutionof a number of key elements. roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Two lectures were given regarding galaxy rotationcurves (orbital velocity as a function of galactic radius) and how the discrepancy betweentheoretical predictions and observed rotation curves led to the theory of dark matter.Though these topics are not covered in A-level syllabuses, the level of the lectures wasnot beyond that of an A-level student.The task consisted of three parts, which drew on python skills learned in previousworkshops during the week. Specifically, the tasks required data handling, graphplotting and defining functions. Students were provided with rotation curve data forthe galaxy M31 (Andromeda) obtained from [10] and density profiles calculated from[11]. Task one required students to plot the rotation curve using the data from [10]; tasktwo was to plot the theoretically predicted rotation curve from only baryonic mattercontributions. The two graphs from tasks one and two would not match, which indicatesbaryonic matter is not sufficient to explain observations. Task three was then intendedfor students to fix the theoretical rotation curve by adding a dark matter component.The purpose of the task was to consolidate the programming skills learned over theweek by presenting a guided enquiry-based task. The physics of the task was signposted(and the data curated to avoid complexity that would distract from the overall aims)whereas the method of programming was left to the student.Tasks one and two, which involved loading and plotting data along with a simplecalculation, were completed by all students with little to no help required. Task threeproved more difficult. Most students approached the task correctly from a programmingperspective; however, the increased conceptual and mathematical complexity gave riseto erroneous results.
This topic covered the ends of the lives of massive stars, theirexplosions as supernova and the evolution of supernova remnants. During the lecture,supernova were discussed in general including an explanation of the different types ofsupernova, the physics of the supernova event and examples of observations. A largepart of the lecture focused on the details of supernova remnants (SNRs), discussing thethree phases of the expansion of the shell of ejected material and showing examples ofobservations of SNRs at each phase. The analytic equations that describe the evolutionof the first two phases (the free expansion and Sedov-Taylor phases) were introduced asa way to estimate the radius and velocity of the SNR as a function of time. Modelingsupernova and their remnants was discussed, both using the analytical equations andhydrodynamical simulations. The end of the lecture included a brief explanation of howthe evolution of galaxies is effected by supernova feedback.The first task involved modeling the dynamical evolution of a SNR starting fromthe Sedov-Taylor phase. Using python, the students were required to use the givenequations to calculate the initial kinetic energy and radius resulting from the end ofthe free expansion phase. Then using this as a starting point for the Sedov-Taylorphase, use the given equations to calculate the radius and velocity of the expandingshell of gas as a function of time and plot their results. The second task used a roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
This topic covered the ends of the lives of massive stars, theirexplosions as supernova and the evolution of supernova remnants. During the lecture,supernova were discussed in general including an explanation of the different types ofsupernova, the physics of the supernova event and examples of observations. A largepart of the lecture focused on the details of supernova remnants (SNRs), discussing thethree phases of the expansion of the shell of ejected material and showing examples ofobservations of SNRs at each phase. The analytic equations that describe the evolutionof the first two phases (the free expansion and Sedov-Taylor phases) were introduced asa way to estimate the radius and velocity of the SNR as a function of time. Modelingsupernova and their remnants was discussed, both using the analytical equations andhydrodynamical simulations. The end of the lecture included a brief explanation of howthe evolution of galaxies is effected by supernova feedback.The first task involved modeling the dynamical evolution of a SNR starting fromthe Sedov-Taylor phase. Using python, the students were required to use the givenequations to calculate the initial kinetic energy and radius resulting from the end ofthe free expansion phase. Then using this as a starting point for the Sedov-Taylorphase, use the given equations to calculate the radius and velocity of the expandingshell of gas as a function of time and plot their results. The second task used a roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
One of the goals of ThaiPASS is to train students in data handling. Ideally, studentsshould have a basic knowledge of Python before they arrive, so that the week can bedevoted to more complex tasks. Therefore, we developed a number of introductory‘Starter Pack’ materials which were provided to students before the school. Theseincluded a guide on installation of Python on their own machines, a Jupyter notebookand exercises covering basic Python commands, and an advanced notebook coveringmore difficult topics in Python (e.g. reading and writing a file). These materialsare available online on the Milne Centre GitHub page, and together constitute a firstintroduction to Python programming. For ThaiPASS’19, video tutorials + were alsoprovided as part of the Starter Pack.The Starter Pack was found to have been a valuable tool for those students whichengaged with them beforehand. These notebooks would be appropriate for any pupilsof ages 11-18, and could be supplied to schools easily as a first introduction for studentswith no prior knowledge of Python.The main goal of the programming section of ThaiPASS was to introduce thefundamental tools of Python, and some of the ways in which those tools could beapplied in the context of data-intensive astronomy. Although it was not our primaryintention to give a comprehensive course on computer programming, the skills requiredfor the set tasks led to students becoming much more familiar and confident in theirapplication of programming skills.The Python tutorials and sessions during the summer schools covered a variety oftasks - producing HR diagrams of sample spectroscopic data, calculating the mechanicsof orbital motion, handling large data sets during the GCE, nucleosynthesis tasks andgalactic dynamics sessions, and further skills such as producing function, using loopsto complete tasks and more. These tasks are largely modular, and lend themselves tobeing changed between sessions to suite the interests and capabilities of the students. One of the more common introductorytopics for astrophysics is the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. Colour-magnitudediagrams are directly related to these HR diagrams, which show the luminosity (orbrightness) of an object as a function of its colour (a proxy for temperature). These + The videos were produced by Dr Teeraparb Chantavat (one of the Thai PIs for ThaiPASS), andmade available as a MOOC through https://thaimooc.org . roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
One of the goals of ThaiPASS is to train students in data handling. Ideally, studentsshould have a basic knowledge of Python before they arrive, so that the week can bedevoted to more complex tasks. Therefore, we developed a number of introductory‘Starter Pack’ materials which were provided to students before the school. Theseincluded a guide on installation of Python on their own machines, a Jupyter notebookand exercises covering basic Python commands, and an advanced notebook coveringmore difficult topics in Python (e.g. reading and writing a file). These materialsare available online on the Milne Centre GitHub page, and together constitute a firstintroduction to Python programming. For ThaiPASS’19, video tutorials + were alsoprovided as part of the Starter Pack.The Starter Pack was found to have been a valuable tool for those students whichengaged with them beforehand. These notebooks would be appropriate for any pupilsof ages 11-18, and could be supplied to schools easily as a first introduction for studentswith no prior knowledge of Python.The main goal of the programming section of ThaiPASS was to introduce thefundamental tools of Python, and some of the ways in which those tools could beapplied in the context of data-intensive astronomy. Although it was not our primaryintention to give a comprehensive course on computer programming, the skills requiredfor the set tasks led to students becoming much more familiar and confident in theirapplication of programming skills.The Python tutorials and sessions during the summer schools covered a variety oftasks - producing HR diagrams of sample spectroscopic data, calculating the mechanicsof orbital motion, handling large data sets during the GCE, nucleosynthesis tasks andgalactic dynamics sessions, and further skills such as producing function, using loopsto complete tasks and more. These tasks are largely modular, and lend themselves tobeing changed between sessions to suite the interests and capabilities of the students. One of the more common introductorytopics for astrophysics is the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. Colour-magnitudediagrams are directly related to these HR diagrams, which show the luminosity (orbrightness) of an object as a function of its colour (a proxy for temperature). These + The videos were produced by Dr Teeraparb Chantavat (one of the Thai PIs for ThaiPASS), andmade available as a MOOC through https://thaimooc.org . roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Another computational topic covered at ThaiPASS wasproducing a Forward-Euler solver - a numerical method for solving ordinary differentialequations (for a full discussion see, for example, [14, 15]). Because of its complexity,this task lends itself well to discussing the idea of building an algorithm, and the ideaof planning out what needs to be coded up. Future ThaiPASS events may extend thistask further to allow students the opportunity to experience algorithm development and roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
One of the goals of ThaiPASS is to train students in data handling. Ideally, studentsshould have a basic knowledge of Python before they arrive, so that the week can bedevoted to more complex tasks. Therefore, we developed a number of introductory‘Starter Pack’ materials which were provided to students before the school. Theseincluded a guide on installation of Python on their own machines, a Jupyter notebookand exercises covering basic Python commands, and an advanced notebook coveringmore difficult topics in Python (e.g. reading and writing a file). These materialsare available online on the Milne Centre GitHub page, and together constitute a firstintroduction to Python programming. For ThaiPASS’19, video tutorials + were alsoprovided as part of the Starter Pack.The Starter Pack was found to have been a valuable tool for those students whichengaged with them beforehand. These notebooks would be appropriate for any pupilsof ages 11-18, and could be supplied to schools easily as a first introduction for studentswith no prior knowledge of Python.The main goal of the programming section of ThaiPASS was to introduce thefundamental tools of Python, and some of the ways in which those tools could beapplied in the context of data-intensive astronomy. Although it was not our primaryintention to give a comprehensive course on computer programming, the skills requiredfor the set tasks led to students becoming much more familiar and confident in theirapplication of programming skills.The Python tutorials and sessions during the summer schools covered a variety oftasks - producing HR diagrams of sample spectroscopic data, calculating the mechanicsof orbital motion, handling large data sets during the GCE, nucleosynthesis tasks andgalactic dynamics sessions, and further skills such as producing function, using loopsto complete tasks and more. These tasks are largely modular, and lend themselves tobeing changed between sessions to suite the interests and capabilities of the students. One of the more common introductorytopics for astrophysics is the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. Colour-magnitudediagrams are directly related to these HR diagrams, which show the luminosity (orbrightness) of an object as a function of its colour (a proxy for temperature). These + The videos were produced by Dr Teeraparb Chantavat (one of the Thai PIs for ThaiPASS), andmade available as a MOOC through https://thaimooc.org . roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS Another computational topic covered at ThaiPASS wasproducing a Forward-Euler solver - a numerical method for solving ordinary differentialequations (for a full discussion see, for example, [14, 15]). Because of its complexity,this task lends itself well to discussing the idea of building an algorithm, and the ideaof planning out what needs to be coded up. Future ThaiPASS events may extend thistask further to allow students the opportunity to experience algorithm development and roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
Each ThaiPASS also featured a ‘University and Career Day’ , with the aim of inspiringstudents to take up STEM education at university level and perhaps as a career.During the event, Thai professionals (STEM graduates) gave inspirational andinteractive talks on ways in which STEM subjects can be taken further at universitylevel and as a career, and the career paths available to graduates with STEM skills.Previous lectures include: ‘
How to become an astronomer? ’ and ‘
What do astronomersdo? ’ (both by Thai astronomy researchers) as well as ‘
Why STEM? Career paths ofSTEM graduates ’ by a speaker from the British Council.
4. Lessons learned from ThaiPASS
We now discuss the impact of the program, as based on surveys of the participants anddiscuss some of the challenges faced in presenting the material.
At the end of each five-day summer school, participants were asked to complete ananonymous questionnaire in order to assess the impact of the summer school and to roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
At the end of each five-day summer school, participants were asked to complete ananonymous questionnaire in order to assess the impact of the summer school and to roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS (a) Did you enjoy the lecture and activitiesrelated to Kepler’s laws of motion and theHertzsprung-Russel Diagram? (b) Did you enjoy the session focusing onnuclear astrophysics and the production ofthe elements?(c) Did you enjoy the session focusing onthe Euler method and solving ODE? (d) Did you enjoy the galactic chemicalevolution lectures and activities? Figure 3: Student responses of how much they enjoyed each day’s subject material, with1 being ‘not at all’ and 5 being ‘very much’.improve the next iteration of ThaiPASS. We asked the students to rate their experiencesof the various activities, and the usefulness of those activities.
Results for each of the questions are presented below:As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the feedback from the week long school islargely positive. Figure 3 shows student enjoyment of the various activities presentedduring the 2018 summer school on a scale of one to 5, 5 being the most positive response.Overwhelmingly students enjoyed the activities. The Euler method received the worstresponse however the majority of students still rated this activity from average to good.The galactic chemical evolution lectures are clearly the most well received. The materialfor this session was accessible, students were engaged, and progress was identifiable in thetasks that they were set. Future ThaiPASS summer school lecture material should alsobe accessible, engaging and relevant, with measurable outcomes for student progressionwhich they can appreciate at the end of the course. Further development of teaching roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
Results for each of the questions are presented below:As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the feedback from the week long school islargely positive. Figure 3 shows student enjoyment of the various activities presentedduring the 2018 summer school on a scale of one to 5, 5 being the most positive response.Overwhelmingly students enjoyed the activities. The Euler method received the worstresponse however the majority of students still rated this activity from average to good.The galactic chemical evolution lectures are clearly the most well received. The materialfor this session was accessible, students were engaged, and progress was identifiable in thetasks that they were set. Future ThaiPASS summer school lecture material should alsobe accessible, engaging and relevant, with measurable outcomes for student progressionwhich they can appreciate at the end of the course. Further development of teaching roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS (a) Has the summer school increasedyour knowledge of Python syntax andapplication? (b) Has the summer school increasedyour understanding of the application ofcomputer science?(c) Enjoyment of lectures (d) Did you enjoy the coding sessions?(e) How confident are you plotting withpython after the summer school? (f) Would you now study a STEM subjectat university? Figure 4: Student response to questions, on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
Results for each of the questions are presented below:As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the feedback from the week long school islargely positive. Figure 3 shows student enjoyment of the various activities presentedduring the 2018 summer school on a scale of one to 5, 5 being the most positive response.Overwhelmingly students enjoyed the activities. The Euler method received the worstresponse however the majority of students still rated this activity from average to good.The galactic chemical evolution lectures are clearly the most well received. The materialfor this session was accessible, students were engaged, and progress was identifiable in thetasks that they were set. Future ThaiPASS summer school lecture material should alsobe accessible, engaging and relevant, with measurable outcomes for student progressionwhich they can appreciate at the end of the course. Further development of teaching roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS (a) Has the summer school increasedyour knowledge of Python syntax andapplication? (b) Has the summer school increasedyour understanding of the application ofcomputer science?(c) Enjoyment of lectures (d) Did you enjoy the coding sessions?(e) How confident are you plotting withpython after the summer school? (f) Would you now study a STEM subjectat university? Figure 4: Student response to questions, on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
For ThaiPASS’19, some changes to the questionnaire weremade, and a pre- and post-school survey were undertaken with the intention of tryingto better measure the impact of the school. The full questionnaire is provided in theAppendix.We see from Figure 5 that students have engaged with the lecture material andfound it useful and informative, feedback from NARIT (National Astronomical ResearchInstitute of Thailand) and teaching staff is also very positive. Students were generallywell disposed to the subject material before the school, with most giving a score of 4or 5. The post-school surveys showed a higher proportion of 5s, suggesting we havehelped to enhance students’ perceptions. Particularly gratifying is the response to thequestion ‘Are you interested in a STEM career?’: after the school, the student responsewas overwhelmingly of the highest response. While students said they enjoyed both theastronomy lectures and the coding sessions, they expressed a clear preference for thehands-on activities. This suggests it may be beneficial to either change the balance oflectures to activities, or to intersperse the two so as not to lose students’ interest.
Although ThaiPASS’18 and 19 were delivered without major difficulties, it is worthdiscussing two aspects which are important to consider for those organising outreachevents, especially international ones.
Although English is a compulsory subject in all Thai schools,participants came to us with various levels of skill in English. Most students had littletrouble comprehending written instructions in English, although oral communicationwas occasionally challenging. It was helpful to have Thai instructors on hand in thepractical sessions to help lessen the language barrier. Perhaps the most importantmitigating measure was The Starter Pack which ensured that participants were familiarwith key Python and astronomical terms in English before arrival. A good numberof students were able to enthusiastically communicate with the UK team and askedinteresting questions (both orally and through Mentimeter an anonymous online forum). roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
Although English is a compulsory subject in all Thai schools,participants came to us with various levels of skill in English. Most students had littletrouble comprehending written instructions in English, although oral communicationwas occasionally challenging. It was helpful to have Thai instructors on hand in thepractical sessions to help lessen the language barrier. Perhaps the most importantmitigating measure was The Starter Pack which ensured that participants were familiarwith key Python and astronomical terms in English before arrival. A good numberof students were able to enthusiastically communicate with the UK team and askedinteresting questions (both orally and through Mentimeter an anonymous online forum). roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
ThaiPASS participation is based on nominations from schoolsby teachers. From the very beginning, we have always strongly encouraged each schoolto nominate at least one female student to attend ThaiPASS (unless the school is singlegender). Tables 1-3 break down the participating students, teachers and instructorsrespectively by gender, for the 2018 and 2019 workshops.Although ThaiPASS’19 performed worse in terms of overall F:M ratio, we were ableto award ‘outstanding participant’ prizes to 3 male and 3 female students. In termsof speakers, we have had a slight increase over the past two years, though more workneeds to be done to achieve an even balance. Feedback from female participants clearly roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
ThaiPASS participation is based on nominations from schoolsby teachers. From the very beginning, we have always strongly encouraged each schoolto nominate at least one female student to attend ThaiPASS (unless the school is singlegender). Tables 1-3 break down the participating students, teachers and instructorsrespectively by gender, for the 2018 and 2019 workshops.Although ThaiPASS’19 performed worse in terms of overall F:M ratio, we were ableto award ‘outstanding participant’ prizes to 3 male and 3 female students. In termsof speakers, we have had a slight increase over the past two years, though more workneeds to be done to achieve an even balance. Feedback from female participants clearly roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
I got a chance to see my dream self. I have a dream to be a woman whograduated with a doctoral degree. After seeing Dr. Claires lectures, I have afeeling that this is possible. She looks special and even more extraordinary whenshe is talking about something educational; which inspired me to try harder tobecome like that. ”Funding received for ThaiPASS’20 and ’21 allows us to plan for a far bigger event. Wetherefore hope for a much larger pool of applicants from which we hope to be ableto draw a better gender balance. We will explicitly ask schools to nominate femalestudents, as we have done with the past schools. We will also try to recruit more femaleinstructors, particularly when recruiting Ph.D. assistants, with the aim of achieving a50:50 balance.Finally, because teachers were not the primary target audience for the 2018-19workshops, we did not monitor the gender balance nor actively encouraged participationfrom female teachers. However, the next ThaiPASS will feature a separate 5-day Pythontraining for teachers (around 20 expected), and we will work to improve the genderbalance within this group.
5. Plans for impact in the UK
A high-impact legacy of the ThaiPASS project is for a similar summer school to be heldin the UK, particularly in Hull. Hull is an area with 47 Lower layer Super Output Areas roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
A high-impact legacy of the ThaiPASS project is for a similar summer school to be heldin the UK, particularly in Hull. Hull is an area with 47 Lower layer Super Output Areas roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS • Telescope optics and design • Spectroscopy and stellar classification • Compact-object physics • Cosmology • Exoplanet detection.The Physics group at Hull (particularly the Milne Centre) has a strong track-record of commitment to outreach within the Yorkshire region and beyond, and newparticipants from other institutes offers the possibility of producing a comprehensivesuite of high-quality astronomy education materials, suitable for a broad range ofstudents at all levels of education, and accessible to all schools no matter theirperformance or available funding.Assessing the impact of these summer schools will be essential to the improvementand development of the project. Future events hosted at universities would beassessed in a similar way as the current ThaiPASS summer schools - a mixture ofcontinuous assessment during the course of the summer school, questionnaires andwritten statements from participating students and teachers. If the project is developed roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
A high-impact legacy of the ThaiPASS project is for a similar summer school to be heldin the UK, particularly in Hull. Hull is an area with 47 Lower layer Super Output Areas roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS • Telescope optics and design • Spectroscopy and stellar classification • Compact-object physics • Cosmology • Exoplanet detection.The Physics group at Hull (particularly the Milne Centre) has a strong track-record of commitment to outreach within the Yorkshire region and beyond, and newparticipants from other institutes offers the possibility of producing a comprehensivesuite of high-quality astronomy education materials, suitable for a broad range ofstudents at all levels of education, and accessible to all schools no matter theirperformance or available funding.Assessing the impact of these summer schools will be essential to the improvementand development of the project. Future events hosted at universities would beassessed in a similar way as the current ThaiPASS summer schools - a mixture ofcontinuous assessment during the course of the summer school, questionnaires andwritten statements from participating students and teachers. If the project is developed roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
6. Conclusions
We have presented here an assessment of the first two years (2018,2019) of operationof Project ThaiPASS, a Thai-UK collaborative science outreach project. From bothwritten and oral feedback (from students and teachers), ThaiPASS was an extremelypositive and enriching experience for the participants, in addition to being a uniquelearning opportunity for us as education providers. The teaching resources developedfor ThaiPASS are now publicly available and can be used as an introduction to one ofthe fastest growing programming languages in the world. These materials are also anexcellent primer to a number of inter-disciplinary topics, including nuclear astrophysicsand the chemical evolution of galaxies. Astronomy topics covered are also relevantto and expand upon the syllabi of various UK exam boards. This suite of resourcesprovides both an introduction to new techniques and skills in programming, as well asextension material which can stretch and challenge even the most gifted students, whilstremaining relevant to their studies.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Science &Technology Facilities Council (STFC), through the awards of the Project ThaiPASS(ST/R006547/1) and of the University of Hull Consolidated Grant (ST/R000840/1).We thank the Thai PIs (Dr. Teeraparb Chantavat and Dr. Apimook Watcharangkool)for their collaboration on ThaiPASS. We also thank Dr. Kevin Pimbblet for helpfuladvice on the gathering of appropriate and relevant feedback. For the scientific dataand access provided we acknowledge the support of the NuGrid collaboration, theNational Science Foundation (NSF, USA) under grant No. PHY-1430152 (JINA Centerfor the Evolution of the Elements), from the ”Lendulet-2014” Program of the HungarianAcademy of Sciences (Hungary), from the ERC Consolidator Grant (Hungary) fundingscheme (Project RADIOSTAR, G.A. n. 724560) and the University of Hull High roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Science &Technology Facilities Council (STFC), through the awards of the Project ThaiPASS(ST/R006547/1) and of the University of Hull Consolidated Grant (ST/R000840/1).We thank the Thai PIs (Dr. Teeraparb Chantavat and Dr. Apimook Watcharangkool)for their collaboration on ThaiPASS. We also thank Dr. Kevin Pimbblet for helpfuladvice on the gathering of appropriate and relevant feedback. For the scientific dataand access provided we acknowledge the support of the NuGrid collaboration, theNational Science Foundation (NSF, USA) under grant No. PHY-1430152 (JINA Centerfor the Evolution of the Elements), from the ”Lendulet-2014” Program of the HungarianAcademy of Sciences (Hungary), from the ERC Consolidator Grant (Hungary) fundingscheme (Project RADIOSTAR, G.A. n. 724560) and the University of Hull High roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS viper . We thank Prof. Falk Herwig and the Universityof Victoria for their support and the access provided to their outreach platforms withinthe Cyberhubs initiative.
Ethical Statement
This investigation carried out in accordance with the principles outlined in theIoP ethical policy. Students’ responses were collected anonymously, and consent toparticipate in the summer school was required from parents or legal guardians for allstudents.
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Appendix A. Questionnaire
Below are the questions used for the ThaiPASS’19 pre- and post-school surveys.1. Who are you? Please tick.A studentA teacherNARIT staffOthers (please specify)2. Please rate the following activities on a scale of 1 to 5, where:5 = very interesting4 = interesting3 = ok2 = uninteresting1 = very uninterestingPlease give comments if possible. e.g. what did you find interesting or not so interesting?Leave blank if you are unsure.a) Day 1: Why is Python useful + revisionRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:b) Day 2: Nuclear astrophysicsRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:c) Day 3: Half-day Python activitiesRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:d) Day 4: Supernovae/Galaxies/Dark matterRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:e) Day 5: Half-day University and career talks roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS
Below are the questions used for the ThaiPASS’19 pre- and post-school surveys.1. Who are you? Please tick.A studentA teacherNARIT staffOthers (please specify)2. Please rate the following activities on a scale of 1 to 5, where:5 = very interesting4 = interesting3 = ok2 = uninteresting1 = very uninterestingPlease give comments if possible. e.g. what did you find interesting or not so interesting?Leave blank if you are unsure.a) Day 1: Why is Python useful + revisionRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:b) Day 2: Nuclear astrophysicsRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:c) Day 3: Half-day Python activitiesRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:d) Day 4: Supernovae/Galaxies/Dark matterRating: 1 2 3 4 5 (please circle)Comments:e) Day 5: Half-day University and career talks roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS roject ThaiPASSroject ThaiPASS