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.
"The animated GIFs in the presentation were helpful and interesting the ones used for rotation helped with my understanding."
"That the stars are actually present in the daytime, and that the reason for that is the atmosphere's scattering of sunlight overpowers our naked eye to only seeing the sky as clear and blue."
"The length of the precession really shows just how insignificant we are even though our perception of time makes us seem all important with how we measure history."
"The changing of our north star. I knew that it wouldn't be Polaris forever but I didn't know the timeframe. At what point do we not have a 'north star?'"
"The fact that one day there won't be a 'north star' and that the 'north star' has been and will be something other than Polaris is so weird!"
"I never knew what people meant when they would talk about their 'sun-sign' until going through the presentation slides and reading about it so that interested me a lot and I can't wait to learn more about it. (Side note: I would have done the reading in the book, but it has not arrived in the mail, therefore I haven't been able to.)"
"The reason that each zodiac sign is assigned to the stretch of time that it is. I didn't realize that it had to do with the sun being in between Earth and the constellation during that period of time."
"I did not know that seasons are caused by changes in the amount of solar energy that Earth's hemispheres receive at different times of the year."
"Even through all the phases of the moon there is still a side of the moon that we don't see because it rotates to be make us see the same side."
"That the moon orbits around Earth in about a month. I honestly never thought it would take that long for it to orbit around Earth."
"Moon cycles. This was personally interesting to me, because I never realized how many different phases there were. I didn't know about the waxing and waning phases until this class. The waxing phase gets more full over time, while the waning phase gets less full overtime. Moon cycles in general are just very interesting to me, and I look forward to learning more about them."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"I find the starwheel confusing."
"I'm wondering if there is a way to easily remember the different terms given! There are a lot of 'r's [rotation, revolution, precession] and I fear mixing them up."
"I found the vocabulary confusing because of the sheer amount of it and because of the fact that the later concepts regularly made reference to the vocabulary that was just introduced, making me have to go back and reread a lot."
"'Sun-sign' astrology was a little confusing for me at first. Is this the same thing as the zodiac signs?"
"Seasons. I don't know why I haven't thought about what causes seasons or the science behind them since I first learned an overview in elementary school. It seems like a simple concept but paired with the rotation of the planet, it starts to get confusing with how it all works."
"I have a hard time identifying the different moon phases. When looking at pictures, I still have a hard time telling whether the phase is waxing or waning and a crescent or gibbous moon."
"I found it a little confused how to tell the difference between a new moon and a full moon, because I quite honestly don't remember what a new moon even is! Figuring between the waning and waxing will need some practice as well, and so on."
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. ******************* [19] April 25. [0] July 4. * [1] August 20. ** [2] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) **************** [16]
Match these cycles with their approximate duration.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Earth's rotation: 24 hours [89%]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 [89%]
Earth's precession: 26,000 years [100%]
The moon's revolution: one month [78%]
Strongly disagree. ***** [5] Disagree. *********** [11] Neutral. ***************** [17] Agree. **** [4] 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 somewhat agree because with my sign, Aquarius, my personality does not match up with the description of what an Aquarius is."
"Just because I was told we come from the stars."
"I don't think that astrology can predict how we will feel on a certain day or what we will experience exactly, but I feel like our zodiac signs do match our personalities and the kind of people we are. I think because of that it wouldn't be to hard to guess what that group of people in a certain month may be feeling or going through as a whole but I don't think astrology can tell the future, I just think it can hit a vague sense of what people could be going through based off a wide range of people born in the same month."
"I dont believe astrology is capable of influencing our decisions or events that happen to us. It is hard to believe that a certain position of a star in the sky can directly influence ones life, but I have seen people with similar tendencies share zodiac signs. Whether that is due to generalized traits or the influence of space on humans, I am not sure."
"I believe astrology has a good portion of science to it and I feel that beliefs discerned from the stars is a matter of opinion. Such as saying personality traits of each zodiac are very vague."
"I do belief in astrology because it speaks to me."
"This has nothing to do with what happens on Earth there is way too many variables that happened throughout our day that astrology cant predict the future."
"I answered neutral because some of the things it says is true and other times it's totally incorrect."
"I think astrology can do a lot of things, but I don't think it is capable of making accurate predictions about my future. I don't understand how astrology can tell you what your personality is, what your job should be, or what kind of person you should be friends with. I think astrology is a relic from a time when we understood much less about the world around us."
"Pseudoscience was explained in the reading and it was said that astrology made be the oldest pseudoscience. I found the astrology predictions interesting, but I don't believe that some how the stars can predict how my week or life is going to go based on when I was born."
"I don't believe in astrology but I do find it interesting that people believe that the way the stars are aligned determine your future and personality but for me I would need a little more proof that this is actually true."
"I do not agree with this because it is a pseudoscience, and it can't be proven that the positions of the sun, moon, stars and planets have an affect on the outcomes of the future of any of our lives. I believe that when reading predictions in astrology, we give meaning to the things we relate to, and they are often very general to be able to reach a larger target audience. We are the ones that put the power and meaning into the things astrology tells us."
"I'm not sure what this means. I believe that astrology is a helpful tool and will effect our future as a whole but I don't think if will predict my future. i am not too sure yet as well."
"I do not believe that the stars in the sky when I was born has any effect on my personality or fate an more than what was on the TV at the time would."
"I love astrology but I don't think life decisions should be based on it. I think because of the slight fluctuations in the earth's gravitational pull marked by the constellations, it holds some weight. That is probably just my crazy talking though. I truly believe that who you are, your character traits, your likes/dislikes, the people you choose to like, the people you choose to dislike, etc, can all be based on astrology. I believe it can predict your future."
"With absolutely no science behind it and based solely on my own experiences, I do think astrology is interesting and relevant to learning more about yourself. I don't think that horoscopes hold much weight as most of them are just made up for magazines, etc. However, I deeply identify with my zodiac sign and feel that we are connected to the stars. How, exactly, I don't know and doubt I'll ever know for sure."
"I just don't see the connection between space and people. I think its foolish to believe whatever our sign in telling us because in reality we won't know what is happening and it can't in any way predict the future."
"Well, I read the article saying astrology was 'pseudoscience,' so I know now it's not factual, but it's kind of fun, so I'm a little bummed."
"I believe in it and study it a lot. It's interesting and fun for me and I don't think it's 100% accurate, but I enjoy it. To me it's shown me a lot of insight."
"I believe that astrology holds the same merit as religion does. I do believe that people with the same sign tend to have certain similarities, but I don't think astrology determines what kind of person you are or will be."
"My answer is neutral because I really am not sure about any of it, I have no knowledge on the subject, so I don't have an opinion on it really. If I had to say, I would believe it is involved with our futures."
"I don't think that my future is set in stone, nor is it directly related to the concepts/system of zodiacs if that makes any sense."
"I have always thought that it was absurd to group everybody who was born in similar months with the same personality types, and predictions of the future. The aspects that I do enjoy are ancient myths and stories that surround these star formations."
"I believe that astrology can make correct assumptions, but I don't believe that you are the way you are simply because of the day you were born. People don't have any one behavior, so its easy for astrologists to throw out things and wait for things to stick."
"Like all girls I used to look to astrology and believe it. I dont really know how I feel about it know, I think it's a bit vague."
"I think there are some basic predictors but at the same time, I don't think it completely navigates your life or your actions/decisions. I don't know about making predictions about your future but I think certain signs share certain distinct characteristics."
"I am pretty convinced that most information you read about your astrological sign that seems 'accurate' is cherry-picked. In a recent study for instance, the researcher told the participants he could supposedly guess their astrological signs. He gave each person a handout (corresponding with their sign) that included a personality description. Everyone was in awe about how personal and accurate their astrology results were. However, the researcher disclosed that he had handed everyone the same piece of paper. This comes to show how our brains selectively find information that confirms our beliefs, even if we are unaware. Thus when reading about your astrological sign, it is difficult to take an objective approach and thoughtfully assess whether the information is truly accurate or inaccurate."
"I believe the more that we advance in astrology the better off we will be for the future when we start sending mass amounts of people up into space."
"Well now we're getting into philosophy, but I disagree for a few reasons, chief among them is that I don't believe our future is predetermined. So with that belief and the belief that your future is constantly changing with the choices you make, there cannot, in my mind, be a way to 'predict' it."
"A lot of the predictions regarding astrology are very generic and have either been way off or spot on."
"I have never seen scientific proof about the accuracy of astrology."
"I don't believe in astrology enough to actually base any decisions on it. But it is a fun thing to think about when it comes to personality traits. It can be surprisingly accurate at times. The telling the future through horoscopes part I don't really pay attention to."
"I believe that many of the comments relating to signs can be seen in people when you really look into their lives, but I do not believe that astrology can make predictions about the future."
"I don't believe that astrology is a good predictor of the future. I think that astrology readings tend to seem 'surprisingly accurate' because they involve information that is typically accurate for a lot of different types of people, and tend to be fairly vague to be more applicable. "
Place these moon phases in chronological order in their cycle (starting with new moon).
(Only correct responses shown, in unscrambled order.)
New moon: first [97%]Pick one piece of student advice from the previous semester, and discuss why you agree (or disagree) with it.
Waxing crescent: second [76%]
First quarter: third [86%]
Waxing gibbous: fourth [82%]
Full moon: fifth [87%]
Waning gibbous: sixth [74%]
Third quarter: seventh [74%]
Waning crescent: eighth [68%]
"'Prepare by doing the reading assignments to provide a rough assessment of your understanding, and questions to bring for the lecture.' Important because the reading assignments help to gauge comprehension of the material, and if there are challenging topics, to ask questions in order to have them clarified."
"'Do your homework and pay attention to the presentation slides posted on the blog. If you don't understand something, Google it. But come to class prepared enough to teach the subject to another student and you'll be fine.' I agree with this students advice, because I have heard that you can learn best by teaching someone else the subject, which ends up helping both students in the situation. Keeping up with homework and not forgetting to do it is important as well."
"'Come to every class--most important thing.' I chose this one because last year was my first semester at Cuesta and towards the end of it I my attendance was not the best. I need to make sure I come since this class is only once a week."
"'Be genuinely interested' was a funny piece of advice because you cannot choose what you're interested in. I did pick this course though because I'm interested so luckily that won't be a problem."
"'Turn off your phone in class.' I agree with this statement because the phone is one the biggest distractions in school and since this is just a one day a week class we cram in a bunch of material, so it's good to stay focused and have no distractions."
"'GO TO CLASS!' Anytime I've struggled in a class is because I didn't attend and failed to stay engaged. Showing up is half the battle for me."
"'Simply review your quizzes because they will be re-written on the exams.' I agree with this bit of advice coming from a former student of this class it helps the person taking realize there is more importance to the quiz sooner rather than later. I also feel that is an overlooked part of many classes because I tend forget about the quizzes and there is definitely answers that will help you later on."
"'Go to office hours with the practice quizzes, get help answering them, study up those sheets and you'll never worry about failing a quiz.' I agree, because office hours are perfect for getting clarification on anything. It's accessible to get help on understanding some of the homework assignments, study guides, or even getting clarification on past quizzes. Asking questions and getting help is the best thing a student can do to succeed in a course."
"'In order to succeed in astronomy, you need to do be in class every day. Skipping any class day will cause you to lose points for the in-class activities. You also need to do the online reading assignments as missing them will hurt your grade. Finally, study for the exams and the final, they are the most important to do and getting a good grade on them will boost your grade significantly.' I agree with this persons advice because I think this is true for every class in college. Doing all the work and showing up to class will benefit you, not hurt you. It is the smarter decision to show up to class and interact in group activities. Also, to study for the test and quizzes is so important and a must do."
"Tackle the material covered with general curiosity. In a sense 'trip out' and invest your time into genuinely and you will do great!" I agree with this past student because all we can do is tackle the information in front of us. Its up to us to be able to take in this new information, and I'm very excited to see what astronomy has to offer."
"'Do the reading assignments on time. It's easy to forget, and the lost points add up.' I Agree with it because it is easy to forget when you only have the class once a week."
"'Keep up with the blogs, not just the reading.' I strongly agree with this advice because the readng explains the material, but the blog shows many examples. The blog helped me better understand the material that I read."
"'Keep up with the blogs, not just the reading.' I agree with this piece of advice already because my first impressions of the blogs is that they are handy tools that seem to compress the information in the book into broken down slides with helpful visuals. I feel the blogs will help reinforce what we will be engaging with in the book."
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"This reading had interesting topics, and please go over the readings a little more in depth for a student that learns better from auditory learning."
"Can you please put up the instructions for each type of starwheel question again? (The notes on that (along with all other written notes from class this semester) are posted on Twitter using the #CuestaAstr210 hashtag.)
"I'm having a bit of trouble knowing just by looking at a moon whether it is waxing or waning. It usually takes a lot of thinking and comparing to get the right answer. Do you have any tips or tricks for identifying which of those it is quickly?" (We'll be going over that in class tonight.)
"Will we be memorizing a lot of vocabulary for this course?" (Yes, but we will introduce, drill, and review these terms quite a bit in each class.)
"Have you watched the movie Interstellar?" (Yeah. I liked the robots the best.)
"I'm wondering what length you're looking for with these responses. I tried to dedicate several sentences to each one but I'm wondering if that's enough or if they need to be a paragraph or two." (Just a sentence or two, as I'm basically looking to see if you're engaged with material. If you are really engaged, then feel free to write more.)
"Do you think time travel is possible?" (Well, maybe only in the forward sense.)
"In astrology was wondering if you know about houses and rising/ascendant signs? And if you've ever done your natal chart with birth time and place? Or if you've heard about trines/squares/opposition/and sextiles in astrology?" (Sounds like you know quite a bit more about astrology than I do. However, we will cover "sun-signs" (which essentially is your "house") in class this week, and later discuss your rising and setting signs, all of which we can find using a starwheel (and your birth date/time).)
"I am ready to get going in this class."
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