The Targeted Infusion Project entitled - Innovative Learning Experiences in Astronomy for Undergraduate Students at NC A&T - proposes a partnership with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). The goals of the partnership are two-fold: (1) to incorporate UNC-CH's successful introductory astronomy curriculum into North Carolina A&T University's (NC A&T) existing space science curriculum, and to provide NC A&T's space science faculty with the training and the tools to deliver the lecture and laboratory courses; and (2) to recruit talented NC A&T undergraduate students as research fellows, who will work with telescopes at professional observatories, engage in astronomical research at both NC A&T and UNC-CH, present their work at conferences, publish their findings in observing reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles, and in doing these things be inspired to pursue graduate studies and/or careers in STEM disciplines.
UNC-CH has recently developed a new introductory astronomy curriculum that leverages access to the robotic telescopes in Chile and Australia. Through this collaboration NC A&T will adopt this curriculum, NC A&T faculty will receive training on how to deliver the curriculum and on how to make effective classroom use of the tools that were developed such that even first-year, non-majors can use remote telescopes and analyze the resulting images. Furthermore, NC A&T will gain permanent, guaranteed access to observing time on the new PROMPT telescopes in Chile and Australia, and on the 20-meter diameter radio telescope in West Virginia.
