SETuP – SPACE EDUCATION THROuGH PRACTICE
The goal of this project is to improve coverage of current space education.
Space education today focuses on inspiring students to consider space without following up with technical content.
It also provides late-stage engineering and physics education that is inaccessible for younger people and doesn’t often develop practical skills and understanding through hands-on design, which is difficult to do at scale.
SETuP should improve coverage by providing a range of space-related teaching that enables the learner to think like an engineer and apply knowledge practically while still being fun and engaging.
Main goals:
- Bringing holistic design education to ages 14-18
- Inspiring students while giving them an open-ended, unsolved task
- MOOC-style content, backed up with community support
- Intended to be low-cost at point of use ($/yr)
Details:
The delivery of SETuP content is divided into three components:
- A- broad technical content for each segment of the curriculum,
- B- project-specific information and guidance,
- C-dedicated NA support for students to implement their own projects and designs.
A-content would be relatively high production value videos with accompanying quizzes, user engagement etc – a relatively standard educational format.
Each A-content video section would be 10-15 minutes long and not have a specific focus on space but instead use a range of examples to illustrate key concepts from the curriculum.
B-content would be delivered more informally, in a recorded seminar style and a strong focus on teacher-user response. |
B-content would focus entirely around a single example project, with the relevant parts of the curriculum put into practice. This would be lower production value, likely just a straight delivery to camera and capture of writing on a whiteboard/virtual whiteboard.
C-content is provided by a dedicated group of channels within Nexus Aurora’s community forum, allowing students to engage both with each other and experienced engineers. Channels will match each episode’s content, so any new member will be provided with relevant discussion scope. The channel will be strictly moderated and protected from unauthorized access.
List of Episodes:
Section 1
Episode 1. Define the problem, identify the problem space
Episode 2. Define solution requirements and propose solutions that match requirements
Episode 3. Carry out trade studies
Section 2
Episode 4. Analysis, find relevant physics in subsystems and find analytical techniques
Episode 5. Detailed design of concepts on paper
Section 3
Episode 6. CAD design and additional analysis
Episode 7. Design for manufacture and operation
Episode 8. Manufacturing
Episode 9. Testing
Episode 10. Iteration and project closeout
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