Project PANOPTES (http://www.projectranoptes.org) is aimed at establishing a collaboration between professional astronomers, citizen scientists and schools to discover a large number of exoplanets with the transit technique. We have developed digital camera based imaging units to cover large parts of the sky and look for exoplanet transits. Each unit costs approximately $5000 USD and runs automatically every night. By using low-cost, commercial digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, we have developed a uniquely cost-efficient system for wide field astronomical imaging, offering approximately two orders of magnitude better etendue per unit of cost than professional wide-field surveys. Both science and outreach, our vision is to have thousands of these units built by schools and citizen scientists gathering data, making this project the most productive exoplanet discovery machine in the world.

This research study locates the functioning of Seven South Asian domestic violence organizations within the secular liberal framework of U.S. I describe the various services provided, and attempt to explore the disconnect that often occurs between these services and the unique needs and contexts of the South Asian immigrant domestic violence victims when they seek help in the U.S. I do this by defining the secular- liberal framework, and a discussion on the “individuated self” by drawing from Brown (2006). Through un-structured telephone interviews and participant observation this descriptive study of services, provided by these organizations, reflects the innovative approaches that address the needs of the South Asian immigrant communities. However, I argue, these services don’t fall under the secular–liberal framework, since they are “irrational” and “non-liberal” in nature. Ultimately, I state that the liberal framework is inherently exclusionary and fails to capture the nuances and complexities of gender and culture in domestic violence resolution in the U.S. In conclusion, and for future research, I suggest exploring alternate ways of dealing with domestic violence through increased community engagement and deriving the various meanings and negotiations that are made within those communities. / text

The thesis introduces many examples of outreach activities, primarily from the Czech Republic and other European countries. Various possibilities of measure- ments of factors of their effectivity are discussed in the thesis. The used methods were: literature review, conceptual assessment tests - pre- and post-tests (CCI, PPCI), questionnaires (IMI), data analyses of participants of activities, semi-structured interviews (for validation of concept inventories), and the work also has a glimpse of ethnography because the author has organised outreach activities for ten years. The individual chapters of the work are dedicated to: the overview of outreach activities, research methods, translation of the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI) into Czech, the first steps for developments of the Particle Physics Concept Inven- tory (PPCI), loyalty of participants of competitions, and description of various metrics which can be used for statistical evaluation of events. 1

With an increase in the number of people living in proximity to active volcanic centres worldwide, there is a greater need to provide effective and engaging education and outreach programmes to reduce vulnerability and prepare exposed communities for potential future volcanic eruptions. The finalisation of the Sendai Framework (UNISDR, 2015a) has also cemented the need for disaster risk managers to engage at-risk communities with education and outreach programmes, to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by volcanic eruptions worldwide. Education and outreach programmes are already commonplace for disaster risk reduction, with many taking the form of traditional presentations, maps, diagrams, TV and radio broadcasts. In recent years, there has been a shift towards the use of more creative media to communicate volcanic hazards and engage populations in outreach activities. These have included films, comic strips, puppet shows, board games and video games. However, to-date there is little empirical evidence for the use of these media with at-risk communities. This research seeks to address this issue by providing evidence for the effective use of creative media for volcanic hazard education by adopting the use of video games (or serious games). To assess how effective serious games could be as an education tool, a bespoke video game (St. Vincent’s Volcano) was developed collaborative with disaster risk agencies and communities on the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent and then trialled with adults and students from across the island. A range of outreach sessions were adopted to compare and contrast the applications of the game and to identify the most effective method of its delivery. These sessions included a traditional outreach presentation used as a control, and a group of UK students for a cohort comparison. Data were collected through a mixed-methods approach. Overall the results of the study demonstrate how successful the game can be as an education tool, promoting knowledge improvement in players. The results also demonstrate how the role of the outreach instructor is important to encourage engagement and can result in higher levels of overall positive engagement exhibited by the students. The game was also successful at promoting knowledge gain and engagement with adult participants. The results also demonstrated promise for games in promoting longer-term knowledge retention and for improving awareness of existing outreach materials. This research provides a foundation for the increased integration of emerging technologies within traditional education sessions. The work also shares some of the challenges and lessons learnt throughout the development and testing processes and provides recommendations for researchers looking to pursue a similar study or to adopt the use of serious games.