The Astro Pi Challenge in the Classroom

• Forschungsstelle: SBFI
• Projektnummer: P2024-HSLU AstroPi

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

Hochschule Luzern HSLU Astro Pi Magdalena Herová SEFRI SERI SBFI SSO ARF

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

The Astro Pi Challenge is an influential asset to promote STEMs education in primary and secondary schools. The European Space Agency (ESA) issues a call every academic year since 2017. It enables children and young people up to 19 years to write computer programs and have them executed on the Astro Pi computer on board the International Space Station (ISS). The Swiss ESA Support Center BIOTESC based at the Hochschule Luzern (HSLU) is responsible for the Astro Pi computers and implements the Astro Pi Challenge on the ISS. Despite this, the Challenge was not very well known in Switzerland.
In collaboration with the University of Teacher Education Lucerne (PH Luzern), a workshop has been developed and offered as an accredited continuous education course at the PH Luzern for teachers from Central Switzerland. It introduced the Astro Pi Challenge and showed possibilities of its integration in STEM subjects. To support this course, 25 Astro Pi computers were loaned from ESA Education. Between 2021 and 2024, 80 teachers and coaches of STEM subjects were introduced to the Astro Pi Challenge in this way and the participation increased from 52 teams in 2019/20 to 255 teams in 2023/24.
The course was created and offered in years 2021 to 2024, thanks to the financial support from the National STEMs network. Here we apply for the NASO financing, to continue the effort in German speaking cantons and to prepare the expansion to the French speaking cantons.

Projektziele (Englisch)

The general objectives of this project are to:
- Enable future generations to benefit fully from the opportunities provided by a specific educational activity of ESA, in line with the Swiss space policy,
- Attract and motivate children and young people for STEM subjects by including space context and interactive, project-based methods
- Introduce multiplicators (teachers and coaches of STEMs) to the Swiss engagement in ESA and the human space flight programs, and consequently inform pupils and students about the possibilities

Specifically, in the project period of 2025 – 2026 the objectives are to:
- Continue providing the accredited continuous education course on the Astro Pi Challenge for teachers and coaches of STEMs from Central Switzerland
- Address and include teachers and coaches from other German-speaking cantons
- Continue offering guided tours to the Swiss ESA User and Operations Center Biotesc to classes, which took part in the Astro Pi Challenge
- Evaluate and explore the possibilities of extending the offer to the French-speaking cantons