Online reading assignment question: confusing Midterm 1 astronomy topics

Astronomy 210 Reading Assignment 7, Spring Semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

110316-confusingwordle
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Wordle.net tag cloud for confusing topics covered in Midterm 1, generated by responses from Astronomy 210 students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3315166/Untitled).

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

List at least three words describing confusing subjects covered in class (up through this midterm). (Graded for completion.)

[Responses have been edited to consolidate related common subjects.]

Student responses
Sections 30674, 30676

telescopes, moonphases, moonrise, moonset, planetfinding
telescopes prograde retrograde
eclipses, light, magnitude
nothing
everything
quantummechanics, orbits rotation
hard, uninteresting confusing
moonphases
eclipses, photosphere, chromosphere, corona
astronomers history
moonphases, telescopes, eclipses
starwheel
spectra
moonphases
telescopes moonphases Sun
reddwarfs whitedwarfs luminosity electromagneticradiation
electromagneticradiation telescopes imagingsystems photometers
telescopes
retrograde, telescopes, starsizes
telescopes starwheel
everythingatfirst nothingafterlecture
difficult, thoughtproducing, vague
mindboggling, headache enigma
telescopes, Sun
astronomers, astrology
starwheel
photons
starpatterns moonphases Sun
moonphases, telescopes, astronomers
everything
eclipses, telescopes, planets
Dopplereffect, gammarays, quantummechanics
Idontknow
rotation, starwheel
ridiculous, hard, opposites
telescopes, prograde, zodiac
telescopes, eclipses
planetfinding
moonphases
tough extreme difficult
telescopes
revolution rotation telescopes Ptolemy
everything
Mayancalendar 2012
planetfinding
luminosity, mass, density
eclipses, umbra penumbra
star, planets, solarsystem
Sun, moonphases, constellations
eclipses orbits telescopes
moonrise moonset
everything
Moon, telescopes, eclipses
astronomers, Aristole, Kepler
planets
direction
Dopplereffect telescopes Moon
apparentmagnitude absolutemagnitude telescopes
telescopes Dopplereffect stars
Kepler, Galileo, Copernicus
telescopes, moonphases
moonphases moonrise moonset
telescopes
history astronomers laws
mixingthingsup
everything
quantummechanics
planetfinding

Describe your most confusing subject, and briefly explain why this subject confused you. (Graded for completion.)

The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.

"The moon phases. The rising and setting was confusing."

"The telescope subject the confuses me because i do not understand the refections of the lights."

"The history of astronomy in chapter 2, because there are so many names and laws and I get them all confused."

"The reason any subject for me that was confusing is because I mixed things up, but I was sure to make sure I understood it properly before our quizzes."

"everything!"

"quantum leaps because i dont really unserstand how they relate to the subject."

"The most confusing subject for me is the planet positions, i can never seem to get them right."

"moons because of the setting and rising and adding and subtracting."

"I never really understood the eclipses. It didn't seem to be covered in much detail and it seemed like everyone else was a little bit confused but just because a few people got the flaschard questions right we moved on."

"The different people throughout history trying to keep track of what they did and the laws that each came up with was really confusing."

"The moon phases were by far the hardest part"

"I would have to pick the star chart for its complexity making it easy to make a mistake."

"absorption emission and continues spectras (just no idea what the truely actually are symbolizing, not enough explanation)"

"moon phases because i some times get mixed up"

"I think that I will have a hard time with the moon phases."

"The luminosity bar-graph just didn't make sense, I can get the correct answer without it, but when I try to use the graph it just doesn't work."

"the electromagnetic spectrum was confusing at first because I wasn't quite sure how to read it"

"Telescopes are confusing. I understand most of the components, but for some reason the eye piece always gets me."

"Retrograde Motion, I am confused by the start and end point."

"The essays are the most confusing subject I am studying for on this midterm."

"Probably the moon phases would be the most confusing to me, at least before you explained them. And why do you keep using incorrect grammar for your questions in the reading assignments. 'Your most interesting/confusing subject' Should it instead be "'The most confusing subject, to you'?"

"The earth-moon diagram related questions are most confusing for me. Even when i draw the diagram im still sometimes confused."

"Lunar Phases; The lunar phases should be somewhat easy but it isn't do to it's seemingly changing phases on different days."

"For some reason I just don't get the Sun stuff. I don't know why."

"the signs used in astrology are confused cuz they dont actually match up and make me angry."

"i thing the most confusing was the starwheel because i feel like i didnt get enough information on how to use it."

"I think photons because I was a little late and you had already started on notes."

"the layers of the sun, because the i confuse the names of them"

"The times of the day and the moon cycles. It was just difficult to remember the correct order."

"he whole semester has been a little confusing, it's just tough to grasp some scientific concepts."

"I thought locating the planets was especially confusing, and I'm still not sure on the subject. Also, the umbra/penumbra stuff was confusing, but I'm glad we went over it in class."

"Retrograde motion. I get confused how it appears to go backwards.."

"I dont know"

"Retrograde motions"

"I had trouble grasping the concept of retrograde motion and how planets appear to move backwards"

"Telescopes, that sas is always confusing me because im not interested in telescopes."

"I think remembering whether to multiply the length of the telescope by one or by two was confusing. Again, that will be my focus point while studying tomorrow."

"The snowboarder. Death to the snowboarder."

"The different layers of the suns atmosphere are confusing because of their similar names"

"most of it has been confusing for me, but I am catching up on some."

"TELESCOPES"

"telescopes i don't feel like we went over them a lot in class and there is a lot of memorizing involved in understanding them."

"uhhhh... all of them because they all sound like the same thing... and because I am not an astronomer."

"Why sun spots last for so long when they are around so much other heat why can't they heat up?.."

"in class assignment #6 b/c i wasn't in class so i had no idea what was going on. very frustrating."

"What I just said in that box ^^"

"eclipses- i still have trouble knowing when the moon is an eclipse and then having to identify which one it is."

"every single thing. this class is confusing and the book makes it even more confusing."

"Constellations, because the star chart is designed in a confusing manner"

"Idk"

"when the moon rises and sets and all that stuff"

"All of it"

"definitely the moon cycles because it is an abstract concept of the way the moon cycles rotate."

"AStronmers because I have a tough time remembering"

"the different theories of planet movements."

"The problems that have to do with the diagram of earth, the sun, and other planets and deciding which planet is in view of an observer on earth at a certain time! I was absent for this class plus I am directionaly(probably not a word) challenged."

"The position of the moon becase everything is always backwards."

"I do not thing I will understand the telescopes portion of the exam because I do not understand why telescopes are better than others,and why some are better than others. It's also because I would just rather use a telescope that someone else already decided is good."

"Telescope just confuses me."

"I think the most difficult for me is trying to keep all the different astronomers and their theories and laws straight."

"how telescopes work."