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, along with advice from students from the previous semester.
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.
"Australians see a lot of stars and constellations that we can't and we see a lot of constellations that they can't see. It's really obvious once you think about it, but it had never crossed my mind until now. It is weird to me that the Australians can't see the Big Dipper, which is why this fact stuck with me and why I found it interesting."
"That Earth takes 24 hours to fully rotate and also there are 24 hours in a day. I know that seems like something I should have already put together but I didn't."
"Earth spins like a top for precession. It blows my mind that it takes 26,000 years for one full cycle to occur."
"That eventually the North Star won't be what it is now. I thought that Polaris was always the North Star and that it wouldn't change."
"Earth's orbit around the sun doesn't make up the seasons on Earth because the Earth's orbit is essentially the same distance around the sun throughout the year."
"Astrological sun-signs, because when you think of stars and their constellation you don't think that they are also during the day."
"We only see the same one side of the moon as it passes through its cycles of phases."
"If you watch the moon throughout the night, the markings on its face don't change."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The motions and cycles. Specifically the tilt of Earth's rotation axis, but I understand that this tilt makes the seasons change."
"Fully memorizing all the moon phases at the moment seemed confusing to me, but eventually ill figure it out."
"The difference between rotation and revolution. Also, I would like to go more in depth about how seasons change. Lastly, more examples of pictures between waxing, waning, crescent, gibbous, first quarter, and third quarter."
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. ********************** [22] April 25. [0] July 4. [0] August 20. ** [2] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ******** [8]
Match these cycles with their approximate duration.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Earth's rotation: 24 hours [91%]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 [81%]
Earth's precession: 26,000 years [94%]
The moon's revolution: one month [75%]
Strongly disagree. ** [2] Disagree. ********* [9] Neutral. ***************** [17] Agree. *** [3] Strongly agree. * [1]
Briefly explain your answer regarding your belief/disbelief in astrology. (This is just an opinion question, there are no right answers.)
"I believe astrology has a lot to do with how you feel and act. The way the seasons and weather changes your mood."
"It's an ancient superstition not really based on anything concrete."
"Well, astrology can be entertaining but it's against my religion."
"I don't fully agree with this, but I also don't disagree. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes it predicts stuff that is sorta accurate."
"I'm not fully convinced that the universe is as large as we think, how would we know?"
"Astrology is pretty amazing and I definitely believe it can show us how our planets work but not specifically are own life's future."
"Nothing can predict my future."
"I feel like from the astrology I have read (from Buzzfeed, and Seventeen magazine) that it is just made up and is for fun. But I'm interested in hearing how and if it really does have an impact."
"I have seen so many people obsess over their zodiac signs and heavily emphasize how 'relatable' their sign is. I have seen some things about my zodiac sign that I can relate to, but I have seen some that are unrelatable. Regarding whether or not I believe that astrology can predict my future, I am unsure because I haven't been educated on it or learned anything that would make me feel a certain way."
"I am a very hard facts kind of person. though I take novelty in things like being a Aries, I do not put stock in divination."
"The reason that I have a neutral opinion is that I'm not sure if it does or doesn't, and haven't really looked into it. So I'm not going to pre-judge something that I'm not sure about. If it does predict the future then I will definitely look more into it because that sounds cool. But if it doesn't I will still have a neutral opinion because I don't want to negatively affect someone who does believe in it."
"I don't really believe it, but I do sometimes."
"I say neutral due to the fact of not really knowing the knowledge I am going to obtain from this course over the semester."
"I am open to learning the reasoning behind astrological beliefs, but I don't actively believe in it currently."
"I don't feel any particular way about astrology since I myself haven't delved into it."
"I do believe on how astrology works but I don't believe that there Is life on other planets."
"My belief regarding astrology is that it is to be true, but only in a sense. I think it is a matter of opinion and if you choose to take the predictions into consideration then you will choose the right steps to your future."
"I have always believed in astrology. This is so because I feel this has a huge impact on our astrological signs and the way we act as well how our lives are each day. I am that type of person who is always looking at my sign as well as those around me and I think maybe this is why certain things are happening because of the signs."
"I'm not sure I've never had any personal experience with astronomy in that way but it would be cool I don't believe that astrology can define my future."
"I don't believe that any provable evidence has come to light."
"I do listen once in a while my zodiac sign but I don't fully believe in it. I grew up in a house where we have the believe that astrology doesn't control our future/daily lives."
"I disagree with this because most of the time it seems that the signs predict similar scenarios with only little difference between them."
"There is no way to tell what your future will be or what will happen."
"The personality traits are just vague enough to fit most people anyways. I also think it could be some self-fulfillment, like if a Gemini is funny and also has some anxiety then it reinforces the idea that astrology is true because sharp wit and anxiety are supposed to be Gemini traits? And so that Gemini goes, 'Oh yeah I *do* have anxiety and make good jokes, maybe this is a real legit thing,' and notices less that they also have traits of all the other signs."
"I know people who really believe it can predict their futures however, personally I don't see how it would be associated with the future, maybe I'd believe it if it predicted something right."
"I disagree because they can predict something very vague and you might make a connection that isn't connected to it or just barely connected. Nothing against it and I like the constellations but I just find them as a waste of time."
"There's no scientific basis to astrology but it can be fun to believe in things that are not based in fact and considered 'magical.'"
"I'm neutral on this topic because I don't know that much about astronomy so far to make a yes or no answer. Im leaning more to the disagree side, because I don't understand how it would predict an individuals future thats more up to themselves as a person."
"I do not believe that astrology has an influence on our future or personalities because it is a pseudoscience, so it has been disproved by various sciences. It shows no sufficient scientific evidence that it has a connection between the planets and the personalities of people."
"I'm not quite sure about astrological predictions so I cant say yes but I would like to be educated on the topic to be able to draw a confident conclusion."
"I have never really thought about it, some people say yes and I am open to anything, and would love to know more."
Place these moon phases in chronological order in their cycle (starting with new moon).
(Only correct responses shown, in unscrambled order.)
New moon: first [88%]Pick one piece of student advice from the previous semester, and discuss why you agree (or disagree) with it.
Waxing crescent: second [81%]
First quarter: third [84%]
Waxing gibbous: fourth [75%]
Full moon: fifth [78%]
Waning gibbous: sixth [75%]
Third quarter: seventh [78%]
Waning crescent: eighth [66%]
"'Come to every class--most important thing.' I agree because bad attendance is the easiest way to fail."
"'Do the quiz question packets! Those will help you in preparing for the quizzes and tests which make up the majority of your grade. Helps you get a good grasp of the material. And of course showing up to class!' I agree that I should review the quiz packets and do them on my own in preparations for in-class quizzes and exams. I also read that I should answer the questions on the quiz packet by myself and then visit you during your office hours and make corrections and ask questions."
"'Something I had to learn during this course is to try and open my mind to the universe and using lots of visuals to understand how everything is connected. Specifically for this class I would say showing up for class and participating in lecture is super-important.' I find this piece of advice very helpful because I will definitely have that issue where I wont open and think 'out of this world'. It will get overwhelming if I don't open up because the universe is SO BIG and there is a lot of information on it. I will have to channel my inner sponge and soak up all the information and as they said to actively participate so I can comprehend it as well. (actively talking through a confusing topic for it to make sense too)."
"'Do the reading assignments on time. It's easy to forget, and the lost points add up.' This has to be the advice I took the strongest. As someone who has a busy work life it becomes easy to forget about smaller assignments given."
"'Come to class prepared enough to teach the subject to another student and you'll be fine.' I think if you're prepared enough to teach the subject to another student I think you'll be most prepared for quizzes/exams as well."
"'Simply review your quizzes because they will be re-written on the exams.' I think this was a good piece of advice because it gives me an extra study to go off of for exams while I'm studying."
"'Tackle the material covered with general curiosity. In a sense 'trip out' and invest your time into genuinely and you will do great!' This is my favorite one because that's what space and the sky does to me is trip out!"
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Why do circumpolar constellation never rise or set from the mid-northern latitude?" (Circumstellar constellations are located are very close to Polaris. Since all stars rotate counterclockwise around Polaris, the circumstellar constellations just go around and around Polaris without actually touching the horizon, so they never get below the horizon.)
"Are the quiz packets essentially a study guide? Have you created an easy way to remember all of this information? Maybe an anagram? How many classes can we miss before it heavily hurts our grade?" (Many of the questions from the quiz packets are "templates" used to construct new quiz questions. Also you can miss about two weeks of in-class activities without impacting your grade (as there are approximately two weeks' worth of extra in-class activities this semester.)
"How long are the quizzes and tests? What percentage of our grade are the quizzes and test? Just a general breakdown of points for the whole semester would be great to know." (From the syllabus, quizzes are 20 minutes long, and midterms are 80 minutes long. (The final exam is 120 minutes long.) A whole letter grade jump for this class is 100 points; all of your quizzes are worth a total of 150 points, while your first midterm, second midterm, and final exam are each worth 100 points. So it's important to do decently on all these tests.)
"I appreciate that you offer this reading assignment to see where we need extra help on in class because it shows us that you care to focus on where we are struggling most." (I appreciate the effort you all are taking in to letting me know what we need to spend time on for the upcoming class.)
"From what I understand, what you go over in class will partially decided by what students answer on these assignments. If the majority of students seem okay with a section, will there still be time for the students who are struggling with a particular section? Or will they have to reach you after class for further help?" (I plan to address what most of the students seem to need for each class; so if you need further clarification on a particular topic, see me after class, or during office hours, or e-mail me.)
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