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 Earth's rotation/precession/revolution/tilt, the moon's motions and cycles, and on reading advice from previous semester Astr 210 students.
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.
"Precession--it's crazy to think that in a number of years, Polaris won't be the north star anymore."
"How we 'invented' the zodiac signs. I was completely unaware about how we labeled each month's zodiac with the sun's alignment of each sign's constellation."
"How Australians have many different views of stars and constellations not visible to North Americans."
"The different moon phases, because I've never really known what any of them are besides a full moon."
"While I was aware of the meaning of summer/winter solstice, it hadn't occurred to me what equinox meant."
"Reading the tips from past students was super-useful, not all teachers base their questions off the quizzes but it seems that you do and I would not know that without their help."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"Precession was the most confusing thing to me, although I didn't find it difficult after re-reading a few times."
"I am having trouble understanding rotation, revolution, and precession. When I read the textbook I had a hard time visualizing the motions in my head, but the presentation slides helped me understand the topics more than just reading the text. Still, I feel like I would have to have someone else explain these subjects to me in order to completely grasp what I am learning."
"The phases of the moon were the most confusing because there were just too many for me to recollect."
The constellation Virgo is just above the east horizon, as seen by an observer at 11 PM in San Luis Obispo, CA. What date is this? (Ignore daylight saving time.)
February 20. ***************** [17] April 25. ** [2] July 4. [0] August 20. ** [2] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ******************* [19]
Match these cycles with their approximate duration.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Earth's rotation: 24 hours [93%]I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (This is just an opinion question, there are no right answers.)
Earth's revolution: one year [95%]
Earth's precession: 26,000 years [98%]
The moon's revolution: one month [80%]
Strongly disagree. ******** [8] Disagree. *********** [11] Neutral. *************** [15] Agree. ****** [6] Strongly agree. [0]
Briefly explain your answer regarding your belief/disbelief in astrology. (This is just an opinion question, there are no right answers.)
"I just haven't ever seen any evidence to back up astrology or any of the associated beliefs, so I don't put any stock into it."
"I would whole-heartedly disagree, however I have heard stories from my parents about older people correctly guessing their zodiac sign by judging their character, so that's kinda odd."
"Don't care about it, people are entitled to their own opinions and beliefs as long as they don't intrude upon others' rights."
"I don't really place a strong belief in astrology, but I do have an app on my phone that has freakishly correct advice/predictions that are way too much of a coincidence for my liking. Other than that, I feel that astrology was used in the past for predictions, because people were searching for ways to find answers to their problems."
"I'm a Christian, so I believe that we have free will and that stars, as awesome as they are, are only physical objects that cannot predict one's future. They can tell you what season, month, and even day it is by their position, but they cannot tell you about your own personal future. I still think it is fun to read horoscopes every once in a while, however, I do not believe them."
"It's just against my religion to base your future off of the astrology."
"I believe that most can be superstition that is bias due to generality."
"I am neutral towards the topic of astrology because I doubt that it can affect my life in significant ways. But it always will fascinate me how spot on some people are with their astronomical signs."
"I think that most of the information is very general and can be taken in a lot of ways, making it easy for people to become attached. There are a few predictions that seem very accurate though."
"I think it's possible to make somewhat accurate predictions about the future using astrology but there is really no proof or good way to prove the predictions."
"I strongly believe that astrology is able to make accurate predictions of one's traits/way of thinking, but not predict the future."
Place these moon phases in chronological order in their cycle (starting with new moon).
(Only correct responses shown, in unscrambled order.)
New moon: first [93%]Pick one piece of student advice from the previous semester, and discuss why you agree (or disagree) with it.
Waxing crescent: second [88%]
First quarter: third [90%]
Waxing gibbous: fourth [80%]
Full moon: fifth [85%]
Waning gibbous: sixth [78%]
Third quarter: seventh [83%]
Waning crescent: eighth [75%]
"'Show up to class.' Seems about right. It's probably the most real advice in the whole page, especially considering how pretty much every other student recommends it. Considering the class is once a week and is three hours of lecture, not showing up to class once equates to not showing up to class for a whole week. It would make sense if this was a bad decision to make."
"'I would recommend focusing on the relationship between the concepts discussed, and perhaps forming visual models to help remember. Also, if nothing else, read the blog.' I think this advice is one of the best. Astronomy is a very visual field of study, but it can be very easy to get flustered and just give up if one just reads a whole bunch. I think it's important to watch YouTube videos about different subjects throughout the course in order to wrap our heads around some concepts."
"'Stay up to date with the readings. There were times when I fell behind with the book readings and it was twice as hard to read double the material and understand it.' I like this piece of advice, mostly because I have been in the place where I've fallen behind in class and it is so so difficult to come back from that. I've found that it is easier to keep up with the work, then forgot about it and then do it all at once. Especially because, I don't learn much (if at all), if I'm cramming it all into my brain before the midterm or test or whatever."
"'Don't be afraid to ask questions.' To me this makes a lot of sense. Because if you do all of the textbook and online reading obviously you are going to have specialized questions. Google may not be able to answer all of the questions. Asking the professor may be able to clear up some of that confusion. I think this could be a benefiting factor towards a students success in the classroom."
"'Do your best to do all of the online reading assignments.' I agree with this statement because showing up does affect how much you learn and also doing the homework will help understand what was taught in class."
"'Do all things early.' I think this is important because if you choose to procrastinate with a class you don't really understand you will fall further behind and then you won't be able to pass the class. So getting things done early makes you organized and focused more." "
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"I would like to learn how to use the starwheel--I'm still confused on how to use it."
"How did the zodiac constellations come to turn into the belief system it is are today? How do these constellations relate to the time we are born?"
"Are there any tricks to memorizing the phases of the moon?" (We'll go over this in class tonight.)
"How do we determine the age of the universe? And how can we tell how big it actually is, given that there is light from really, really, really, far away that hasn't even reached us yet. So how can we really know the size of the universe? Does it just keep going?" (Those are really, really deep questions that we will get to ask (and answer) much later this semester. Stay tuned.)
"I was told in a class I took long ago that the shift in magnetic field was due to an effect similar to having shoes in a clothes dryer; the iron in Earth's core shifts due to fluid mechanics, and during certain periods 'knocks around,' until it becomes stable again for a little bit. Is this an accurate analogy, too simplistic or completely wrong? (Because now it is stuck in my head.)" (That sounds like a great explanation for how Earth's magnetic dynamo works, based on current understanding.)
"Will we be learning about blood moons?" (Yes--many lunar eclipses are dark brown, but some are orange or reddish, and those would be called "blood moons." More on that phenomena next week, after you take the first quiz.)
"What is your passion outside of teaching?" (Living the #vanlife with Mrs. P-dog.)
"What is your personal opinion on astrology?" (Let me consult my Magic 8Ball® and see what it says.)
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