The first global e-competition on astronomy and astrophysics was held online in September–October 2020 as a replacement for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the short time available for organization, 8 weeks, the competition was run successfully, with 325 students from over 42 countries participating with no major issues. The feedback from the participants was positive and reflects the ways in which such events can boost interest in astronomy and astronomy education. With online activities set to become more prevalent in the future, we present an overview of the competition process, the challenges faced, and some of the lessons learned, aiming to contribute to the development of best practices for organizing online competitions.
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November 2023
PAPERS|
November 01 2023
The first Global e-Competition on Astronomy and Astrophysics
Ioana A. Zelko;
Ioana A. Zelko
a)
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto
, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1A1; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California-Los Angeles
, Los Angeles, California 90095; and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
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Charles Barclay;
Charles Barclay
Marlborough College
, Marlborough SN8 1PA, United Kingdom
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Tõnis Eenmäe;
Tõnis Eenmäe
b)
Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu
, 50090, Estonia
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Taavet Kalda;
Taavet Kalda
c)
University of Oxford
, Oxford OX1 4BH, United Kingdom
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Hara Papathanassiou;
Hara Papathanassiou
d)
Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University
, Leiden 9504 2300, The Netherlands
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Nikita Poljakov;
Nikita Poljakov
University of Bristol
, Bristol BS8 1TH, United Kingdom
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Gustavo A. Rojas;
Gustavo A. Rojas
e)
NUCLIO, Núcleo Interactivo de Astronomia, São Domingos de Rana
, 2785-817, Portugal
and Núcleo de Formação de Professores, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos 89885-000
, Brazil
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Tiit Sepp;
Tiit Sepp
f)
University of Tartu
, Tartu 50090, Estonia
and STACC
, Tartu 51008, Estonia
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Greg Stachowski;
Greg Stachowski
g)
Cracow Pedagogical University
, Krakow 30-084, Poland
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Aniket Sule
Aniket Sule
h)
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education
, Mumbai 400088, India
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: ioana.zelko@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-7588-976X.
b)
ORCID: 0000-0001-9948-0443.
c)
ORCID: 0000-0002-0417-8645.
d)
ORCID: 0000-0002-7405-5325.
e)
ORCID: 0000-0002-5554-9477.
f)
ORCID: 0000-0002-9355-2108.
g)
ORCID: 0000-0003-1560-1039.
h)
ORCID: 0000-0002-7645-440X.
Am. J. Phys. 91, 867–872 (2023)
Article history
Received:
August 16 2022
Accepted:
July 15 2023
Citation
Ioana A. Zelko, Charles Barclay, Tõnis Eenmäe, Taavet Kalda, Hara Papathanassiou, Nikita Poljakov, Gustavo A. Rojas, Tiit Sepp, Greg Stachowski, Aniket Sule; The first Global e-Competition on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Am. J. Phys. 1 November 2023; 91 (11): 867–872. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0121242
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