ENHANCING THE TEACHING AOF STRONOMY IN SCHOOLS THROUGH WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS

The Malaysian Space Agency (ANGKASA), with cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Malaysia, has organized the Astronomy Workshop for Primary and Secondary School Teachers since 2008 at the National Planetarium. The workshop was organized to provide science teachers with basic knowledge of astronomy in accordance with the school syllabus, with the hope that they can acquire sufficient knowledge in the field of astronomy to enhance their teaching activities in school. In this workshop, teachers will be introduced to night sky simulations in our space theater, a planetarium show, daytime and night time observation activities, hands on activities, and visits to the planetarium's observatory and exhibition gallery. Besides this, in the workshop they will share teaching experience with planetarium staff. Educational materials are also distributed to all the teachers as reference for their teaching. In this paper presentation, we would like to show how the National Planetarium plays an important role to help teachers in teaching astronomy in schools.