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 Kirchhoff's laws.
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 find the section on star distances interesting because stars are SO FAR AWAY."Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The whole idea of measuring the distances in the stars was pretty interesting. It seems so simple, just basic trigonometry, but it is so much more complex."
"I thought it was interesting to learn about apparent magnitude, because that's something that I can relate to by just looking at the sky at night with my own eyes."
"Knowing that there is an actual name for the wavelengths that lower or raise in volume when they become closer or farther (Doppler effect). This is interesting because I didn't think there was an actual specific word for it."
"How did I never think to do a Doppler effect video for science class in high school?"Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"The Doppler effect is confusing. I get it kind of, but I can never remember which color goes with receding and which one goes with approaching."
"Spectra."
"I have to admit that I haven't been studying or reading for the last couple of weeks. That is definitely why I scored so low on Quiz 2. I do not feel good about it, as I really do like astronomy. And you seem to be an awesome educator/human. Much respect." (Word. But yes, get on studying more for this class.)
"Can we not have a 'celebration of learning' today?" (Party-pooper.)
"This class is fun but it's very difficult so far. Can you make it easier somehow?" (Come see me just before/after class, or during office hours (make an appointment if you can't come during the regularly-scheduled office hours), or e-mail. Let's find out what you're doing right (or wrong) in studying for this class, and see how you can best study to improve your standing in this course.)
"I HATE the quizzes. I feel like I know all of the material, then I bomb the quizzes...how do I not bomb the quizzes?" (Go through the unused flashcard questions. More than half of the quiz questions so far are from the flashcard question packets.)
"Please explain what an isotope is so it makes more sense in my brain! Still throws me off. Not sure how it relates to the quantum leaps, photon absorbing, and changing orbits." (Eh, it's not really related, so you don't need to know about isotopes for this course. That said, isotopes are a group of atoms that all have the same number of protons (iso = "equal," tope = "place" on a periodic table chart), but have different numbers of neutrons. Some helium atoms have two protons and two neutrons, but some helium atoms have two protons and only one neutron. These different forms of helium are said to be isotopes.)
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