Course components (in gory detail)

Participation:  There is an old saying that "It's better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." While this attitude is quite pervasive among students, it usually constitutes an impediment to learning in the classroom. Class participation is very important not only for your own success but also for that of your classmates. So try to become active participants in the learning community, whether it be the actual classroom or discussion web. Form study groups, participate in classroom discussions, and be prepared to answer questions in the discussion board. Of course, feel free to ask questions at any time.

 

Homework quizzes: To help you keep up with class material, weekly quizzes have been set up in Canvas. For best results, you should start working on the quizzes early in the week. You may use the book or other resources, as needed. Keep in mind that the real learning is in the journey. Do your best to understand the reasons behind right and wrong in the questions. Merely getting the right answer with the help of a friend or some online resource may bypass the critical learning component. For more practice, a longer set of questions is available in each module. This set is completely optional (not required) and earns some extra credit, proportional to the score achieved.

Canvas: All assignments in this class are submitted online in Canvas (http://Canvas.highline.edu). Email should never be used to submit assignments. You should log in regularly to participate and to make sure that you are aware of all due dates. For help with Canvas, please visit: https://its.highline.edu/index.php 

****Midterms and Final: Exams are your chance to show off what you have learned. If you do your homework and stay alert in class, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Because of the wide spectrum of preparedness on the part of the students, the distribution of scores on the exams can also be quite broad. An average of 50-60% is not unusual in a science class, with some students significantly above and some below. If you need special accommodations, please let me know in advance.

sunrise over pondJournal: A journal is a record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis--a bit like a diary. Whether in industry or in an educational setting, making observations and generally being more self-reflective are helpful in identifying areas of strength and weakness so that appropriate adjustments can be made and better problem-solving algorithms can be developed. By directing you to be more self-reflective, a journal can increase your effectiveness by helping you define objectives and set goals, and monitor progress toward them. Secondarily, this process would also allow an outside observer (e.g., supervisor or teacher) to offer some useful feedback. In this class, you will be expected to keep such a journal and make regular entries in it, roughly every couple of days. Entries can include things you've learned or are having trouble with, and any other school-related experiences that may be affecting your performance. Here are some guidelines:

Grade/Self-Evaluation: In this class, students are graded on a course-long pattern rather than given points for individual assignments. Status in the class or a 'grade estimate' can be obtained anytime by studying the grading rubric and plugging in reasonable rubric-based numbers into the grade calculator. To help students generate meaningful numbers, a self-evaluation assignment has been set up in Canvas. The assignment gives students an opportunity for introspection and helps them stay on track. Although students can update the self-evaluation as often as they like, a minimum of two submissions is required: an early one, to get a sense of the grading system, and one at the end of the course, after all the assignments have been submitted. The grade calculator page, http://people.highline.edu/iglozman/classes/gradecalc.htm, includes the rubric and some sample self-evaluations.

Forum:  One good way to interact with your classmates without the headache of organizing meetings is to exchange ideas in the “virtual forum” or discussion web set up specifically for your class in Canvas. I encourage you to use the forum to solve homework problems together, ask questions, make suggestions, or simply air some thoughts. In addition, important announcements will appear in the forum. Remember that you are all in this adventure together, so please do as much as you can to contribute. Most of you will find visiting the forum a pleasant adventure, a way to hang out with familiar characters. For some, the forum will turn out to be an addiction--but fortunately one of the healthy ones. Note: To get full credit for forum participation, you need to demonstrate not only a consistent effort throughout the quarter but also some depth in at least a few of your posts. As with the science articles (see below), it is not sufficient to unload during the last couple of weeks.

 

Presentation: This is your opportunity to research a topic of interest to you (but related to course material) in some depth and educate your peers (the class), while sharpening your communication skills. They do say, after all, that the best way to learn a topic is to teach it. You may choose any topic of interest to you and of relevance to the class. One possibility, popular in the past, is to focus on one or two stargazing apps and create a tutorial/review of the apps. Your presentation should be a youtube video, and you should post a link to it in the General forum for your peers. The presentation is optional but can earn some bonus points.

Science articles:

Read an article on a science-related topic (any science, not necessarily astronomy) and post a short blurb in the Articles forum. This blurb should be no longer than a couple of sentences, a quick summary of the big ideas--just long enough to whet the reader's appetite. Include a couple of interesting questions, with answers, related to the article, as well as a reference link. The Q&A is a good way of presenting information--an alternative to simply stating dry facts. Science sources can be found all over the web, as suggested by (but not limited to) to this list:

http://people.highline.edu/iglozman/bibliography.htm

Here is a couple of examples:

 

Q: How often does HST have to be serviced: A: That varies with circumstances (plans, failures, etc.), but every 2-4 years is typical. HST was last serviced in March of 2002 to have one of its cameras replaced. A couple of new cameras were to be installed in 2006, but those plans have now been scrapped.

Q: How long can HST remain in orbit without being serviced? A: Failure of one of its critical components is a random event which could occur at any time between now and a few years from now. The most critical components include gyroscopes (for maintaining direction) and batteries (from 1990, were to be replaced in 2006). Of the six gyroscopes onboard, two have already failed and a third is showing signs of trouble.

Q: Why abandon HST, which has been so hugely successful? A: Maintaining HST is quite expensive and would have involved the development of new technology in the wake of the recent Columbia Shuttle disaster. Its abandonment represents one of many sacrifices science would have to make to help pay for the president's new initiatives. Also, NASA is committed to building the James Webb Space Telescope, considered Hubble's successor and currently scheduled for launch in 2011.

Q: What can be done to extend HST’s life without servicing it? A: As far as preserving battery life as long as possible, HST could run only one science instrument at a time, instead of all of them at once (as it has in the past).

Q: Wouldn’t HST threaten people and property on the ground when its orbit decays and it crashes to Earth? A: To prevent serious injury on the ground, NASA plans to develop a robot which would fly to the telescope, attach a retrorocket, and steer the spacecraft to a harmless reentry over an unpopulated area.

ref: http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1156_1.asp

These articles are intended to encourage you to practice your written communication skills, especially as they relate to scientific material. Your effort on the articles will become part of your overall grade on the presentation. While some students find it difficult to add yet another task to their already busy schedules, the potential benefits suggest that it might be a good investment. These include:

Be prepared to respond to questions that might arise in connection to these articles. This is all very informal, so try not to be too stressed about it, but do put some effort into it. As with forum participation (see above), consistency is very important, so try not to unload during the last week or two. You need to do about 1 article per week (in the forum). More is better, less is worse. You also need to respond to at least two articles per week in the forum. Your response not only keeps you alert to others' posts, but also encourages others to keep posting. (An indifferent audience is not very motivating.) Keep track of your activities with regard to articles and comment on them in the journals.

Stargazing: Because this is an astronomy class, students will be expected to become familiar with the night sky. This is not only a requirement, but is also quite fun. Twice per week, you will need to post in the Stargazing forum (in Canvas) observations you have made of the evening sky. As with the science articles, the objective here is not only to learn, but also to teach. You can teach us about constellations and asterisms, relevant mythology and historical anecdotes, the physical properties of objects in the sky, experiences with stargazing software, and anything else that you think might be interesting and educational. Please include at least one Q&A about something interesting worth learning from your observation. There is no length requirement, but 1-2  sentences is probably too short. A telescope can be helpful for observing some sky objects (e.g., clusters), but is certainly not required. By the end of this class, you should be able to identify and describe most of the visible objects in the sky. Here's a typical observation:

meteor.gif (1945 bytes)At the moment, the sky is cooperating. So put on your mittens get the hot chocolate ready and run outside for a quick peek. Betelgeuse (in Orion), Aldebaran (Taurus), and Mars form a nice triangle. In the neighborhood of Aldebaran, you should spot a little cluster of stars called Pleiades. It looks like a tiny Dipper. With binoculars or better, you should make out 7 or more bright stars. It's a very famous cluster, quite pretty, and is also the Subaru logo. Of course, if you see some other sky critters, feel free to share.
Q: How old are the stars in Pleiades? A: Pleiades is a relatively young cluster estimated to be around 100 million years old.
Q: Which car has Pleiades as its logo. A: Subaru, which is the Japanese word for Pleiades.


You may find some of the following online resources helpful: