Attendees during the EPD-supported Embracing Ungrading: Transforming the Classroom Experience workshop at the 246th AAS meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, June 2025. Photo by © CorporateEventImages/Phil McCarten 2025
The AAS Education Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of our Education & Professional Development (EPD) Mini-Grant program for the 2025–2026 award cycle. We are pleased to support all or some of the following six programs. Five of these programs will take place as workshops or splinter sessions at the AAS 247 winter meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The other program is a virtual experience that will be available online to AAS members and the general public. You can sign up for the AAS Education Biweekly Newsletter to receive updates on the AAS Education Committee’s activities. Please congratulate these winners and support their exceptional work by attending their workshops or splinter sessions at future AAS meetings and beyond!
EPD-Sponsored Workshops at AAS 247
You can sign up for these workshops when you register for this January’s AAS meeting in Phoenix, Arizona! Workshops are half-day or full-day experiences led by expert facilitators, which can help you develop critical skills; they are held on the Saturday and Sunday preceding the scientific conference program. It is not too late to add a workshop if you have already registered; simply return to the registration site, add your workshop, and check out! Saturday, 3 January 2026
Neurodiversity, Neuroinclusion, and the Strengths of Neurodiversity in STEM
Saturday, January 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This activity appears as a workshop event in the AAS meeting schedule and requires pre-registration.
Olivia A. and Jessica Schonhut-Stasik are the principal investigators. Greene, and Natasha Latouf
Research supports the benefits of neurodiversity (the cognitive differences within the human population) in STEM careers, demonstrating that individuals with neurodivergent diagnoses, such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, possess distinct strengths that are highly valued in STEM careers. Neurodivergent students continue to be underserved by their departments, with high rates of mental health issues, burnout, dropout, and even termination despite these benefits and the increased presence of neurodiversity on college campuses. This EPD Proposal will fund the first-of-its-kind neuroinclusion workshop at the 2026 winter AAS meeting in Phoenix. This day-long workshop will train faculty and staff from astronomy departments in the latest research into neurodiversity, mentoring and teaching for neuroinclusion, and the Universal Design for Learning. This workshop is a collaboration between The Neuroverse Initiative (an organization that seeks to bring neuroinclusion to Space Science), the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, and Spectrum Mentoring.
Sunday, 4 January 2026
Teaching Strategies that Work: Faculty Teaching Institute Workshop for Astronomy and Physics Educators
Sunday, 4 Jan | 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
This activity appears as a workshop event in the AAS meeting schedule and requires pre-registration.
Principal Investigators: Ed Prather, Colin Wallace, Rica French
Are you looking for strategies to help your students develop their ability to think critically and solve problems as well as comprehend the material covered in the course? We’ve all experienced the annoyance of having a well-planned lesson on a subject only to have students demonstrate that they lack a deeper understanding during office hours, on homework questions, and on exams. In this full-day workshop, led by facilitators from the AAPT/APS/AAS Physics and Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute, participants will learn principles of teaching and learning to guide their teaching choices, gain access to valuable resources, and receive support in planning a feasible classroom change that will improve learning for all students. Come learn a variety of effective teaching practices, such as facilitating whole-class and small-group discussions, implementing in-class voting, tutorials, and ranking tasks, as well as other active-learning curricula, and discover how to motivate students’ understanding of the role of science in society. We have specifically designed the workshop to provide a safe and supportive environment that leverages your existing expertise, fosters open discourse, and promotes reflection on your identities, beliefs, and local context. This workshop is suitable for all members of the AAS, at all stages of their career paths, including graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, middle school and high school teachers, informal educators, college faculty, research scientists, amateur astronomers, and administrators. Whether their classes are small or large, introductory or advanced, in-person, virtual, or hybrid, any instructor, regardless of their level of experience, will benefit. Building Thriving Departments & Programs: Strategies to Promote Recruitment, Retention, and Career Preparation.
Sunday, 4 Jan | 9:00 am – 12:00 pm*
This activity appears as a workshop event in the AAS meeting schedule and requires pre-registration.
*Stay tuned for an additional Special Session on this topic at AAS 247, date TBD
Principal Investigators: Christine O’Donnell, Mike Jackson
Astronomy, astrophysics, and physics programs face numerous challenges, including how to provide robust career preparation, create and sustain welcoming cultures and climates, and navigate threats such as small program enrollments. The Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Initiative was created to address these needs and support undergraduate physics and astronomy programs to thrive. We propose to present at the AAS 247 meeting: (1) a half-day workshop for department chairs and faculty leaders to explore EP3 resources and develop an action plan for next steps, such as how they will work with colleagues to create data-driven change efforts to address their own programs’ needs; and (2) a special session during the meeting that will engage a broader audience of faculty, staff, students, etc. to learn about the many ways that the EP3 Guide can support their needs, including improving teaching, supporting students, and advocating for change.
Just and Inclusive Classrooms: Nontraditional Grades and Assessments
Sunday, 4 Jan | 9:30 am – 1:00 pm
Pre-registration is required for this activity, which is listed as a workshop event on the agenda for the AAS meeting. Mariah Macdonald, Dhanesh Krishnarao, and Rachel McClure are the principal investigators. Although deeply rooted in our curriculum and society, grades have been shown to be harmful to, and unpredictive of, student learning and ability. Worse, grades encourage students to take the quickest route to get points, which results in rushed assignments, academic dishonesty, lower motivation, and more obstacles to learning. Ungrading, the practice of not assigning grades, can enhance student learning and engagement by focusing on feedback and growth. Similarly, switching from traditional exams to more learning-oriented assessments can improve student performance, motivation, and self-efficacy. We propose hosting a workshop at the 247th AAS meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, to help educators transition a traditional classroom to an ungraded classroom with nontraditional assessments. This workshop is open to all educators, including those currently teaching and those interested in learning more about these equitable and inclusive practices.
Weekday events: 5–8 January 2026
Leveraging the Power of Cosmic Messengers with Rubin and LIGO
Date TBD. This activity appears as a splinter event and does not require pre-registration.
Ardis Herrold, Justine Schaen, and Maggie Jensen are the principal investigators. Come learn about the exciting field of time-domain, multi-messenger astronomy during a workshop for professionals. This session highlights a unique collaboration among the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), and the International Gemini Observatory. Participants will learn how gravitational wave events detected by LIGO can potentially be located using Rubin Observatory’s fast response time and wide-field imaging capabilities, enabling coordinated observations with telescopes like those at Gemini. Educators will engage with hands-on classroom activities that illustrate how different cosmic messengers contribute distinct information — and how their combined analysis deepens our understanding of cataclysmic astrophysical events. This workshop is ideal for high school and college-level (Astro 101) instructors, as well as anyone involved in astronomy education or public outreach.
Events held outside AAS meetings
Strengthening Community Across Artists and Scientists
Keep tuned! You can experience this program virtually at a future date.
Michael L. was the principal investigator. Wong, Haleigh E. Nyberg, Ashika Capirala, Lucas M. Fifer, Émilie A. Douglas E. Laflèche Nyberg, Rebecca C. Payne, Evan L. Sneed
Art is key to effective science communication within and beyond the scientific community. However, most scientists are not trained in art or to engage with art and its role in communicating science. Even when scientists are aware of good aesthetic practices, they may not possess the skills, time, or resources to generate effective art. Thus, we aim to strengthen the community across artists and scientists in an effort to better incorporate artists into the scientific ecosystem via a two-pronged approach. First, we will host a monthly virtual art–science seminar series and a quarterly virtual art–science workshop series, where AAS members can learn from fellow scientists and artists with experience in art–science projects/collaborations. Second, we will launch and maintain an online platform, the PortAL Linking Artists and Scientists (P