This book is based on the proceeedings of a conference on “Effective Teaching and Learning of Astronomy” held on July 24–25, 2003, in Sydney, Australia, as part of the 25th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It followed two previous IAU conferences on astronomy education, held in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA, in 1988 and in London, UK, in 1996. The conference was organized within the framework of the work of IAU Commission 46 on Astronomy Education and Development. A major emphasis in the 1996 conference was the educational potential of the Internet, and robotic and remote telescopes, and it was heartening, in 2003, to see the growth and maturity of these technologies. But the basic challenges of astronomy education - especially at the school level - still remain.

The Organizing Committee for the conference consisted of: John Dunlop (New Zealand), Julieta Fierro (Mexico), Michèle Gerbaldi (France), Mary Kay Hemenway (USA), Syuzo Isobe (Japan), Barrie Jones (UK), Margarita Metaxa (Greece), Jayant Narlikar (India),Wayne Orchiston (Australia), Jay M. Pasachoff (USA), John R. Percy (Canada, Chair), Case Rijsdijk (South Africa), Rosa M. Ros (Spain), and Graeme White (Australia), with valuable help from the local organizing committees for the General Assembly, especially Nicholas Lomb, Sydney Observatory. Special thanks are due to Magda Stavinschi (Romania), whose proposal for an IAU Resolution with respect to astronomy education was a significant inspiration for this conference.

Over a hundred astronomers and educators from over two dozen countries attended or contributed to this conference. These included the presidents of the IAU, of the American Astronomical Society (USA), and the Royal Astronomical Society (UK), among others.