AMACA: Astronomy education with a Multi-sensory, Accessible, and Circular Approach

TL;DR

AMACA develops multi-sensory, accessible astronomy educational activities through a circular, collaborative approach involving PhD students, high school students, and teachers, improving engagement and accessibility awareness.

Contribution

It introduces a novel circular framework for creating and disseminating multi-sensory astronomy activities with a focus on accessibility for sensory disabilities.

Findings

Improved accessibility awareness among PhD candidates

Enhanced emotional engagement in high school students

High teacher satisfaction with hands-on activities

Abstract

The AMACA project (Astronomy education with a Multi-sensory, Accessible, and Circular Approach) develops multi-sensory activities for accessible education and engagement in astronomy. Despite promising innovations, existing resources are often poorly documented, designed for one-time events, expensive, and lack interdisciplinary collaboration, user testing, and broad dissemination. AMACA addresses these challenges by creating multi-sensory activities for education and outreach, with a particular focus on accessibility for people with sensory disabilities. A circular approach informs its educational structure: (1) a PhD course on multi-sensory astronomy outreach develops hands-on activities with the support of astronomers, psychologists, and organizations for the visually impaired and the deaf; (2) PhD candidates teach High School (HS) students how to deliver the activities; (3) HS students lead the activities at the Astronomy Festival "The Universe in All Senses"; (4) HS students train teachers to implement the activities in their classrooms. AMACA also develops tools to guide project development and track participants' learning. Key findings show improved communication and accessibility awareness among PhD candidates, increased emotional engagement with astronomy among HS students, enhanced public engagement with research and accessibility awareness, and high teacher satisfaction with the flipped-roles, hands-on approach. Overall, AMACA enhances accessibility and engagement in astronomy education across audiences.