2^nd EAAE Summer School          
Fregene, Italy
July 20-25, 1998

The 2^nd EAAE International Summer School had a similar structure to the first one. The number of General Lectures was reduced to give priority to active and practical Working Groups and Workshops. As a consequence of Fregene being near Rome, a new kind of activity was introduced: Astronomical visits to various places in Rome were organised.

During the course 2 general lectures, 8 working groups, 5 workshops, 3 astronomical visits, poster sessions and observations were held. The topics included were:

General Lectures

• 1. The research in teaching Astronomy and the learner's conceptions
• 2. Searching for extrasolar worlds

Working Groups

• 1. About the measure of time
• 2. An estimate of the number of stars visible to photographs
• 3. A heliocentric planetarium
• 4. The Moon, phases, eclipses...
• 5. Pupils' initial conceptions
• 6. Ranking the brightest stars of a constellation
• 7. Sunspots and rotation of the Sun
• 8. The temperature of the Sun

Workshops

• 1. Building a rudimentary Astrolab
• 2. Inexpensive astronomical tools
• 3. Orientation inside and outside the celestial sphere
• 4. The problem of teaching the origin of the seasons
• 5. The revolving ecliptic

Astronomical Visits of Rome

• Collegio Romano
• The monumental sundial of S. Maria degli Angeli
• The Pantheon

There were 50 of us present including participants and 15 instructors from 10 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The atmosphere surrounding our activities during the week was very friendly. An important exchange of ideas and experiences between people from different countries, ages and walks of life took place.

At the end of the summer school, the participants talked about the variety of new ideas and practical activities, the very interesting material obtained, the good relations between the people, the participants' interest and the usefulness of the contents presented to teach astronomy.