Goals and Expectations

A. For Undergraduate/ School Teachers, our goal is to:

1. Introduce undergraduates and teachers to astronomy and astronomical thinking.

2. Introduce participants to inquiry-based teaching methods for future teaching work.

3. Encourage participants to consider applying to graduate school and help them navigate that path.

4. Keep building the community of astronomy-interested people in West Africa, including by helping alumni stay connected and engaged after the school finishes.

5. Continue building astronomy partnership between Canada and Nigeria.

B. For Advanced/Postgraduate Students, our goal is to:

1. Provide a ‘launchpad’ for those considering a career in Astronomy.

2. Exposing them to available Astronomy research resources (archive, astronomy data reduction/analysis software packages).

3. Stimulating their minds in the research-oriented direction 4. Hands-on/Group training on research proposal and paper writing.

5. Expose them to Astronomy Data Reduction Packages.

6. Exposing them to UNIX based research tools.

7. Exposing them to observation proposal writing.

C. OUR EXPECTATIONS

The Summer School will bring together a total of 80 participants comprising of undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and teachers from West Africa, drawn from the following groups:

1. Undergraduate science and engineering students.

2. High school and University teachers who are not career Astronomers to attend the section for undergraduate students.

3. Postgraduate students and career Astronomers to attend the section for postgraduate students.