Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
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.
The following questions were asked on reading textbook chapters and previewing presentations on reviewing the history of astronomy, Kepler's and Newton's laws, and telescope powers.
Selected/edited responses are given below.
Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.
"I'm excited to get into more insight about telescopes! I'm also intrigued by how things don't always orbit on dead-center."Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"What I knew about Galileo was a lie--Galileo did not in fact invent the telescope. But he was the one to show that Venus goes through a full set of phases--I didn't know that it did that."
"I found the illusion of a retrograding planet to be the most interesting for me once I understood it. It's crazy how planets look like they're moving backwards in the sky."
"Newton's second law--I found it especially interesting when applied to the planets. I hadn't thought about why/how the plants orbit, however, it is very interesting and logical that they are forced to orbit because of the sun's gravitational force. The last thing I expected to be the reason why planets orbit is gravitational force."
"Through Jupiter and its moons, Galileo was able to recognize that the way Jupiter could keep its moons, Earth in the same way was capable of keeping our moon. In a broader picture, the planets could be considered the sun's 'moons.'"
"Retrograde motion still confuses me."Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Reading about all the astronomers was a lot of information, and it was a little confusing, but after you map it out it starts to make sense."
"Why the planets move faster when they are near the sun."
"Reading about telescopes was not too confusing, but I would like to see how they work in class."
"You rock, P-dog! I'm really interested in this class (wish I could say that for any of my other classes)!" (I pity your other classes.)
"Can't wait to see the giant telescope in the observatory." (Me, too.)
"You should bring in Mrs. P-dog's dog." (What about my cat, with her very own Facebook page?)
"Is the rest of the class going to rely on drawing diagrams, or will it have more lecture and concept ideas? After the first quiz, it seemed as if the reading of the textbook didn't really contribute a whole lot to my level of success." (After prograde/retrograde motion, we'll be following the textbook more closely for the remainder of the semester.)
"Do you grade these online reading assignments, or is it a 'just do it' and 'get credit' sort of deal? (As long as you complete the online reading assignment in a conscientious manner (i.e., putting a serious effort in reading the textbook, previewing the presentations, and answering the questions), you'll get full credit.)
"P-dog! I'm learning a lot, and really enjoying your class! Because it is not just lectures, it's you incorporating the students into the learning." (Then it's not just what I do in class--it's what you're doing in class as well. You rock!)
"I really did not enjoy learning the history of these astronomers. Are we going to be heavily tested on that information?" (Emphasis is on what these astronomers contributed to science, whether by building or refuting models of planetary motion, and whether their contribution was based on first principles or the scientific process.)
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