Mojgan M. Haghanikar, PhD
2025 Seed Grant Awardee
Project Description
Leveraging NASA Data for Community Colleges with SciAct
Leveraging NASA Data for Community Colleges with Sci-ACT is a continuation and expansion of Dr. Haghanikar’s earlier NASA SCoPE and NCCN project, aimed at enriching community college astronomy education. This project collaborates with the NASA’s Universe of Learning (UoL) SciAct team to deepen the integration of NASA’s data resources, particularly from the IRSA/IPAC archives, into community college instruction. The project will produce three instructional modules and a capstone research project, host a faculty development workshop, and share results at conferences. These resources are designed to make authentic data exploration accessible and meaningful for students and instructors, fostering scientific literacy and research experiences within formal education and citizen science frameworks.
Target Audience Age
| 0-4 | 5-10 | 11-14 | 14-18 | 19-22 | 23-26 | 27-99 |
NASA Division
Astrophysics
Grant Status
Learning Context
Digital Learning
Neighborhood /
Community
Informal /
Out of School
Home / Family
Citizen Science
Formal Education
SME Bio
It is more powerful to work with a community of scientists who have the same goals and are committed to educational values. The synergy is the benefit.
Mojgan M. Haghanikar, PhD
Leveraging NASA Data for Community Colleges with SciAct PI
Physics and Astronomy Educator
City Colleges of Chicago
Dr. Mojgan M. Haghanikar is a physics and astronomy educator dedicated to empowering community college students through research-based learning. With a background in science education and a passion for outreach, she integrates NASA data and citizen science into her curriculum. Building on her prior NASA SCoPE and NASA Community College Network (NCCN) work, she continues to scale up her impact by designing innovative modules and capstone projects using NASA’s IRSA/IPAC archives to enhance student engagement and instructional resources in community college astronomy courses.
SciAct Team
Universe of Learning Description
The NASA’s Universe of Learning team connects the public to the data, discoveries, and experts that span NASA’s Astrophysics missions. Our team is made up of scientists, engineers, and educators who have direct connections to these missions. We also rely on a nationwide network of informal educators, scientists, and engineers who not only share our resources, but also help us develop them.
