Isabel HawkinsDirector of the Center for Science Education/SSL, UC Berkeley

Nahide CraigDirector of the Science Education Gateway program (SEGway), SEGway NVO Project Director

Rejane SpitzVisiting Scholar, SEGway NVO-Arts

May 9th, 2002

“Every set of data has quirks. It’s there. It’s stored. It’s archived. But it’s not friendly.”

Alex Szalay, Digital Sky, John Hopkins University

“The universe doesn’t know about our arbitrary way of dividing things by wavelength.”

George Djorgovski, Caltech

“Data is doubling every year or two in astronomy, but our understanding of the Universe doesn’t double at the same rate.”

George Djorgovski, Caltech

NVO challenges…

“We expect a blurring of the now separate cultures of radio, optical, x-ray and gamma-ray astronomers and a

democratization of astronomy, in that researchers from poorly funded colleges or countries would have easier

access to fresh data.”

Alex Szalay, Digital Sky, John Hopkins University

“ I also think it will change the way an individual looks at the world, because you can

really pose questions at your desktop.”

Stephen Strom, NOAO Associate Director for Science

… and expectations

A panchromaticapproach to theuniverse revealsa more completephysical picture.

The resultingcomplexity ofdata translatesinto increaseddemands fordata analysis,visualization,and understanding.

                                                       

A panchromaticapproach to theuniverse revealsa more completephysical picture.

The resultingcomplexity ofdata translatesinto increaseddemands fordata analysis,visualization,and understanding.

• The NVO is not yet another data center, archive, mission, or a traditional project.

It does not fit into any of the usual structures today–It has an unusually broad range of constituents and interfaces, and is inherently distributed

–It requires a good inter-agency cooperation, and a long-term stability of structure and funding

• The NVO represents a novel type of a scientific organization for the era of information abundance

• Designing the NVO organizational/management structure is thus a creative challenge in itself

Understanding of complex astrophysical phenomena requires complex and information-rich data sets,and the tools to explore them …

… this will lead to a change in the Nature of the astronomical discovery process …

… which requires a new research environment for astronomy: A Virtual Observatory

• The NVO EPO program will bring knowledge of our Universe and the excitement of discovery into the classrooms and homes of America and the world.

• The NVO EPO effort will be designed to provide the user with an integrated view of the Universe - a system that goes beyond the traditional online portals to the various datasets.

• The integrated nature of NVO will provide users the opportunity to build knowledge about the Universe by comparing, integrating, and analyzing information from diverse archives, a unique capability provided by NVO that is not offered by individual data archives.

• In addition to the existing outreach efforts, NVO will serve members of the art, entertainment, and pre-service teacher communities, and it will enhance the role of amateur astronomers as ambassadors of space science and astronomy to the general public.

• The NVO will inform, excite, and educate the public about space science and astronomy, and serve as a catalyst for scientific and technological literacy in the United States.

NVO’s expected societal benefits:

According to the NVO’s Science Definition Team recommendations:

Education and Public Outreach (EPO)should be treated asan essential part of the NVO from the start (not just as an add-on)in a way which would optimize the involvement, results.

The Science Education Gateway

a national consortium of science museums,research institutions and educatorsworking together to present the latest space science researchfor students, teachers, and the general public.

SEGway has developed EPO (education and public outreach) materials for a number of NASA space science missions includingthe HESSI, FAST, CHIPS and STEREO/IMPACT satellite missions. 

The Science Education Gateway

The Science Education Gateway

The NVO-Arts project is aNeeds Assessment

Study of:

(a) the art and science museum communities’ interest in space science objects, their imagery and data,as part of large distributed databases that will be integratedby the NVO project;

(b) potential usageof the NVO databasefor education and outreach purposes.

Objectives and goals:

Research the needs,interests and demands of:

the art community(encompassing both traditional-mediaand electronic-media artists and students),

andthe science museums’ community (including directors, coordinators,exhibit designers, traineesand web development personnel).

SEG-NVO Action Items :

1. Interviewing representative members of the

art community and science museums’ community

in order to:

- present

- analyze

- and discuss their - needs

- perceptions

- and opinions

on the potential use of space science imagery and analytical tools to be provided by the NVO project.

SEG-NVO Action Items :

1. Interviewing representative members of the

art community and science museums’ community

in order to:

- present

- analyze

- and discuss their - needs

- perceptions

- and opinions

on the potential use of space science imagery and analytical tools to be provided by the NVO project.

SEG-NVO Action Items :

1. Interviewing representative members of the

art community and science museums’ community

in order to:

- present

- analyze

- and discuss their - needs

- perceptions

- and opinions

on the potential use of space science imagery and analytical tools to be provided by the NVO project.

  a. form focus interest group to help defining thecategories for analysis & questions for the interviewees, suggest potential interviewees and come up with innovative inputs and ideas.

  b. selecting representative members of the art community,based on the following criteria:

• media: traditional media and electronic media

• age level: representatives of the age groups 20-35, 35-60, and 60+

• cultural background: artists belonging to different cultural groups, such asNative Americans, African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American;

• artistic excellence and recognition: acknowledged artists who will contribute tothe project with their insight and creative spirit;

• professional activity: artists, art educators, art critics and curators,as well as art students.

b. selecting representative members of the science museum community, based on the following criteria:

• professional status: science museum directors, exhibit designers, coordinators, trainees, and web designers will be included In this selection;

• science museum’s characteristics: professionals working at different museums will be selected, so that a broader range of institutions will be included in the research. These museum characteristics will encompass factors such as size of institution, location, target audience, average number of visitors per day, exhibition design approach, level of interaction with the audience, educational and scientific approach, and type of sponsoring.

c. interviewing :

• semi-structured interviews

• qualitative methodological approach ( a group of basic questions are posed to the subject in order to trigger creative responses, allowing the

subject to expand freely on different aspects of the problem.)

• the interviews will also aim at collecting data on the subjects’ previous knowledge of space science issues and imagery, and on their interest in this topic.

• interviews will be recorded on video or audio tape, if authorized by the artist.

• Bay Area + SIGGRAPH (San Antonio, July 2002)

  d. transcribing and highlighting of the main points raised during the interviews.

 

e. cross-analysis of the above information, aiming at presenting a set of major needs, interests and demands of the art community in terms of the NVO project’s contents.

 

SEG-NVO Action Items:

2. Presentation of a summary report highlighting the main points raised during the interviews (of both the art and science museum communities)

3. Recommendations of website attributes and characteristics

based on the interests and needs of the art and science museum communities. Identification of how these attributes could be implemented as part of NVO demonstration websites for the art community and also for the science museum community, giving existing exemplary websites as guidelines.

4. Deliverables white paper with recommendations; tools (survey, interview questions, focus group

protocol); website attributes; roster of artists focus interest groups, with contact information, expertise, and interest in NVO

What is the role of the Focus Interest Group ?

• help defining the categories for analysis & questions for the interviewees

• suggest potential interviewees

• come up with innovative inputs and ideas

• provide inputs and comments on drafts of the white paper

Project’s structure:

3 participating teams:

Consultants(5)

Focus Interest Group(12)

Interviewees(20-30)+

Duration and phases of the project:

Consultants(5)

Focus Interest Group(12)

Phase 1:• focus group + consultants• definition of categories & questions• selection of interviewees

Interviewees(20-30)

Phase 2:• interviews• transcription• cross-analysis of discourse

Interviewees(20-30)

Phase 2:• interviews• transcription• cross-analysis of discourse

Consultants(5)

Focus Interest Group(12)

Phase 1:• focus group + consultants• definition of categories & questions• selection of interviewees

May – June July - September

Focus Interest Group(12)

Phase 3:• 2nd Focus Interest Group Meeting• Preparation of deliverables

September - October

Deliverables

Expected outcomes of today’s meeting:

• suggestion of names/groups of professionals to be interviewed

(artists+ science museum groups)

• definition of some categories for analysis & ideas

questions for the interviewees

Some examples of categories for analysis….

• Images text

• 2D images 3D images

• 3D images 3D models

• What’s your coordinate in the Universe?

What’s the mental picture you have about your location in the Universe? How do you perceive your location in the Universe? (GPS versus “UPS”?)

…categories for analysis?

Category of analysis:

Images text

Questions:• Should space images always have captions?

• Do you prefer to read the caption before seeing a scientific image or not?

• Does reading the caption affect your understanding of a space image?

…categories for analysis?

Starting point for today’s discussion:

1 or 2 examples of projects, anecdotes, personal experiences and/or insights that may have a connection

with the NVO project’s theme.

(5 minutes)

…categories for analysis?