Transcript The Past, Present and Future of Cosmology

On the Role of the Regional
Educational Institutions in
shaping the European School
of Tomorrow and its
Laboratories
Nikolaos H. Solomos
Physics Dept. Hellenic Naval Academy
& National Observatory for Education
EUDOXOS, Kefallinia, GREECE
Types and Aspects of the
Educational Systems
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CLOSED “STATIC” SYSTEMS (Public, Private, primary &
secondary schools)
– The system of Knowledge given is finite, specific and does
not prepare for continuous renewal of Knowledge
 Uniformity in all levels
 Offers easy means for “mechanistic” evaluation !
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OPEN – “DYNAMIC” SYSTEMS (Universities, Special Institutions,
Regional Centres etc.)
– They prepare for continuous acquisition of new knowledge
without restricting themselves to the very material they offer
 Non-uniformity (Teaching associated with research.
Content based on the conclusions of Research and on
the supplied by research
 Evaluation very difficult !
The question is:
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..Why we want to teach “Science” in the
Basic (General) Education and ..What is
“Science” ?
The Nature of Science -I
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Science is a human attempt to put order and
organization into the received perceptions of
our brain (which cannot be handled in other ways due to its
restricted capacity and the finite extent of our life). Science is
therefore an approximation (..not the only one) to classify and
process our empirical data, that uses powerful Generalizations
which it discovers, to make us capable to adapt, efficiently, to
the external world.
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Science approaches the Truth, but never can
it prove that the latter is reached !
The Nature of Science -II
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The progress in science is the
“disprove” and contradiction !! The
science advances by disproving
hypotheses so that a feeling of freedom
and dispute should traverse the
educational system…
THE POWER OF THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
Developments in Physics and Astronomy
in 1900’s
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Discovery that astronomical objects emit spectra which consist of
lines, specific to the various elements. These provide information
about their conditions and composition.
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Sodium emission spectrum
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wavelength
The discovery of lines permits one to measure the velocity of the line
emitting source. The lines shift to the red if the source is receding
and to the blue if approaching.
Doppler effect
Measuring Astronomical Distances
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Parallax distances measurable to 3000 light years
Beyond 3 klyrs, use luminosity distance
D
Luminosity=L
luminosity
L
brightness 

area
4D 2

L
dL  D 
4b
Cepheid Variable PeriodLuminosity Relation
Type I
Type II
L/Lsun
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Henrietta Leavitt
(1912) discovers
period and
luminosity are
correlated
Log(Period)
Spiral Nebulae Controversy
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Inside Milky Way galaxy or “Island Universes”?
Heber Curtis (1917) discovers faint Novae in spiral nebulae, argues
they are vastly distant using luminosity distance
Harlow Shapley (1918) determines size of Milky Way to be 300,000
lyr, argues nebulae are local
Shapley-Curtis Debate (1920) at NAS
Edwin Hubble (1921) discovers Cepheid variable in Andromeda
Nebula
Using P-L relation, estimates distance to be 800,000 lyr
Proved extragalactic hypothesis
Spiral nebulae are now called galaxies, in analogy to the Milky Way
galaxy
Andromeda Nebula (M31)
Instrument of Discovery:
Hooker 100” Telescope
Mount Wilson Observatory
Hubble’s Discovery of the Expanding
Universe (1929)
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Spiral nebulae known to
have redshifted spectra
Hubble and Humason
carry out quantitative
study
Hubble shows velocity
of recession is
proporational to
distance
The Hubble Law
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Hubble’s
original data
showing the
galaxy velocities
to be proportional to their
distance
The Hubble Law
Hubble
constant
speed

R
V  H 0d 
d
R
distance
Improved data showing that the Hubble law
holds to much larger distances
…The dispute: the Standard Big-Bang theory did have some …not very
advertised problems
The Present
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The problem of the “integration” of the New
Knowledge into the educational system
The “Scientific Methodology” problem. (We do not
learn how to investigate)
New tools to “upgrade” the “courses”/lessons
Re-determination of the Aims of SCIENCE &
EDUCATION=. The rate of increase of the scientific
knowledge is much higher than the rate with which
we have learned to incorporate the Knowledge into
our social and cultural structure. -> We should avoid
nominating Science the absolute “emperor” of the
society. There is need for association of Science with
the other major aspects of the Human nature
(Historical feel, social evolution)
???
The Triangle of the Flow of
Knowledge
???
RESEARCH
ACTIVITY
???
Frontiers of knowledge
3
Frontiers of Knowledge
University
Education
3
3
Frontiers of Knowledge
2
Secondary Education 2
3
2
Primary Education
2
!!!
!!!
Emergence of Knowledge-based
Society
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With the arrival of the ‘industrial strength’ Internet in
the mid-1990s, the notion of a knowledge-based
society has gained considerable acceptance
Various trends reflect this emergence:
– Jobs are shifting from a dependency on relatively low skills
to high skills
– Major transformations are affecting key sectors with the
emergence of E-learning, E-commerce, E-government & Ehealth
– Skills & knowledge upgrading are becoming a continuous
requirement associated with on-the-job training
– Designing, sourcing, developing & selling products &
services is increasing globalized
Europe’s “Third Wave”
Infrastructure for Innovation:
The Integration of Grids, Repositories and Networks
 First Wave:
Open standards for Data Communication: The Internet
 Second Wave:
Open standards for Data Presentation: World Wide Web
 Third Wave:
Open standards for network-based applications: Web
Services
The Need for Continuous
Learning
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In the New Economy knowledge is a key resource
and the quality of a nation’s work force is critical to
ensuring competitiveness

The key to this transition is for workers to make
intelligent use of information

This capability will increasingly be the measure of an
individual’s contribution to the economy
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Therefore, life-long learning becomes an
imperative
Emergence of Network-based
Education
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Traditional education is being transformed by the
enabling capabilities of the Internet, which offer:
–
–
–
–
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new ways of teaching
new models of learning
means to absorb rapid increase in numbers of students
means to deliver education/training with decreasing
numbers of instructors
The Internet is globalizing education with the
emergence of anywhere - anytime E-learning
SUPPLIERS
MARKETS
Business Sector
Public Sector
Mfg. Ops. Fin. Gov’t Health Edu.
Content
Convergence
Technology &
Applications
Physical
Infrastructure
XDSL
• Wired - copper
coaxial
• Wireless
• Satellite
Local Loop
“Dark Fibre
•Cable Modems
• “Broadband” Wireless
Institutions
Factory
Convergence
Office
Home
End
User
s
Primary Elements of a National Information Infrastructure
Content
Applications & Enabling
Technologies
Physical
Infrastructure
SUPPLIERS
•Wired
(Copper, Coaxial, Fibre)
•Wireless
•Satellite
MARKETS
•Finance
•Health
•Education
Research & Education Networks
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Since the mid 1990s various countries have
established national & regional networks in support
of R&D in general as well as the health and education
in particular
Typical networks, include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Internet2 & vBNS (USA)
NORDUnet (Nordic countries)
SURFnet (The Netherlands)
GrangeNet (Australia)
SingAREN (Singapore)
Dante (European Union)
Future Directions:
Enabling Technologies
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Learning Object Repositories
Optical Networks
Grids
Web Services
E-Learning Tomorrow
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Universally improved access to the Internet
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Content developed from repositories of multimedia
learning objects
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Courses designed for broadband will allow for:
– the use of rich multimedia content
– dynamic interaction between content & the student
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Global community of students studying & learning
from ‘anywhere’, ‘anytime’ at ‘any pace’
A Vision for the
School of The Future
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Produce more Inquiring Minds
Early Familiarization with the Open Problems of Science
and Technology. Project-based education.
Curation of the Absence of provision for Research
Experiences for Teachers, Students, Pupils.
Need for new efficient educational axes, especially in
the subject of “Interdisciplinary Science”
Carry out (in the background) many educational
experiments, draw conclusions and provide input to the
CLOSED formal educational system.
Improvement of the pedagogical
systems is based on the
continuous Experimentation
Uniformity + absense of
experimentation -> bad combination
 Ability to experiment + differentiation =
hopeful combination

– If not, the new knowledge arrives very late
(to be of value)
…Roles for Regional Educational Institutes
The EUDOXOS initiative 1999present
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ΕΥΔΟΞΟΣ
EUDOXOS
ΕΥΔΟΞΟΣ
ΕΥΔΟΞΟΣ
ΕΥΔΟΞΟΣ
- talented
- e-learning
- technology
- SETI
- Interdisciplinary Science
…ALL BASED ON THE HUGE EDUCATIONAL
POTENTIAL OF ASTRONOMY.
….ΤΙΝΕΣ ΗΜΕΙΣ ;
Who am I ?
INTERESTING QUESTIONS
Should we continue producing the
“user of knowledge ” in the School of
tomorrow ?
 Is the present educational system
characterized by adequate capacity in
producing the “producer of
Knowledge” ?
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