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About

Michael Fitzgerald is an astronomy education researcher whose work sits at the intersection of technology-enhanced learning, student inquiry, and science self-efficacy. He is perhaps best known as a driving force behind *Our Solar Siblings* (OSS), a non-profit, institution-independent project founded in 2014 that partners with the Las Cumbres Observatory network to bring robotic telescope-based astronomy directly into high school classrooms. His development of the OSS Pipeline — designed to streamline data processing and reduce administrative burden for teachers — represents a practical and widely recognized contribution to making authentic scientific inquiry accessible at scale, earning over 17 citations across related publications. Fitzgerald has also made significant methodological contributions to astronomy education research, developing and validating self-efficacy instruments that measure both students' confidence in understanding astronomy content and their ability to operate remote robotic telescopes. A large-scale confirmatory factor analysis involving over 15,000 college-level students across 22 North American institutions further demonstrates the reach of this work. His comprehensive review of robotic telescope literature additionally provides the field with a valuable evidence base for curriculum integration across OECD nations, cementing his reputation as a foundational voice in modern astronomy education research.