‘Black holes – those are really cool’
Building your own interferometer at home. From a geographical perspective, working out in class the locations in Belgium where the Einstein Telescope could be built. Delving into the history of a certain Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in history class. Or using the Einstein Telescope as an inspiration for artistic imagination, or strict applications in maths, physics, or engineering classes. These are a few practical applications in education, devised by Stan Beullekens, Michiel Gilbert, Remko Vandecauter, and Liesl Van Gool. The four students at the teacher training college of UCLL (University College Leuven Limburg) have been busy recently with the pilot project for secondary education for pupils aged 12 to 16.
STEAM
Their assignment as a teaching pilot project: how can the Einstein Telescope play a role in the STEAM programme? STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. There is a great need now and in the future for young people who are trained in those subjects and who can think beyond the boundaries of their specialist field.
Liesl Van Gool, newly graduated geography and history teacher, says it was not an easy assignment. Ideas for lessons about the Einstein Telescope were preceded by a period in which students first wanted to hear all about the telescope themselves. Visits to science centres, such as the Cosmodrome in Genk, Belgium, the Discovery Museum in Kerkrade, the Netherlands, and the ETpathfinder in Maastricht, were part of that itinerary.
Ostend
At her placement school in Tessenderlo, Liesl tried out what she could use to get students excited about the Einstein Telescope: ‘Sometimes it was still quite difficult for the students. But with explanatory videos and practical assignments, we achieved a great deal. In the geography lesson, for example, students looked into which other locations in Belgium would be suitable for building the Einstein Telescope. Of course, they don’t know all the criteria that such a site has to meet, but they were pretty good at explaining why they had come to the choices of a site near Ostend or in the relatively quiet region close to the border with Luxembourg.’
In a colleague’s physics class, students made an interferometer. ‘Getting hands-on with wood, mirrors, and lasers. They discovered that they could work better with clay than with wood. Such a measuring tool shouldn’t move and in that case, clay is more robust than wood, as wood shifts quickly. That really involves learning from an awkward choice. That’s what education is for,’ says Liesl with enthusiasm about the experiment.
‘Getting down to work with wood, mirrors, and lasers. Learning from an awkward choice. That’s what education is for.’
Liesl Van Gool
Survey
Measuring is knowing. So Stan Beullekens and Michiel Gildert conducted a survey of students. This revealed that the Einstein Telescope is still quite a difficult, abstract, and unfamiliar subject. ‘Interest does grow once they know about the telescope project. But if you look at the current situation, NASA or ISS space exploration are more popular as topics. And extraterrestrial life also appeals more to the imagination. But there were also reactions such as “black holes – those are really cool”. That’s great to see.’
Among Flemish teachers, Liesl gauged their enthusiasm for spending time on the Einstein Telescope during their lessons. Reactions were mixed. ‘There’s still some work to be done there. But on the positive side, we’re already getting e-mails from teachers who want to know more, in order to eventually make it a part of their lessons.’
Opportunities
Despite these encouraging signs, Liesl and her colleagues note that STEAM education and the Einstein Telescope are not yet a natural combination. On the one hand, because the Meuse-Rhine Euregio is not centrally located in Belgium and it is not yet clear whether the telescope will actually be built here. On the other hand, because there are still hardly any educational materials available. According to the students’ graduation project, there is still a task for the government here, to ensure that there is money to develop teaching materials and offer them to schools and teachers. And then, of course, to include the Einstein Telescope in the curriculum.
Liesl will start teaching history and geography in Brussels next school year. A great opportunity to put her own graduation project into practice. ‘Sure, but I’ll first have to find out how everything at school works first.’
