Sadler Wins Education Prize

Every year, astronomy lecturer Philip M. Sadler asks his students if they have ever toured an inflatable planetarium dome as a middle or high school student.

In a given year, at least a fourth of his students raise their hands, he said.

Sadler invented the Starlab portable planetarium in 1977—and 20 years later, about a quarter of students in the U.S. public school system have seen his inventions, he estimated.

In recognition of his development of Starlab and his dedication to helping students and teachers understand the common misconceptions lodged within science education, Sadler has been named the recipient of the 2010 Education Prize by the American Astronomical Society.

John P. Huchra, president of the American Astronomical Society and professor of cosmology, praised Sadler for his international impact as a science educator in the astronomy community and beyond.

Most students have difficulty retaining scientific concepts within the traditional textbook-and-lecture format, and “Phil was one of the very first to realize this,” Huchra said, adding that Sadler “will continue as a major player in the field.”

Sadler—also the director of the Astronomy Education Project in the Harvard College Observatory—currently teaches Astronomy 2: “Celestial Navigation”, which was first offered in 1897 and is the oldest continually offered course at Harvard.

Despite its long history, Sadler has “modernized and taken the class to a whole new level,” Head Teaching Fellow Elizabeth N. Garfield said.

“Students tend to love the class because they can tease apart their misconceptions and explore ideas about the world they never had before,” Garfield added.

By exploring basic concepts that are vulnerable to misconceptions—such as the reason for seasons and changes in the moon’s appearance—the class allows students to “piece together the world in an entirely new way,” Garfield said.

Sadler’s education research is not constrained solely to astronomy. His new book, titled “AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program” will be released next month.