Learning science requires much more than just learning science. -- Joe Heafner
Every course you take is the most important course you take. -- Joe Heafner
In my introductory astronomy courses, I want to incorporate topics that are usually omitted from the traditional courses. As they are currently implemented at most colleges and universities, such courses usually neglect fundamental critical thinking skills which are absolutely necessary in science.
On this page, I will describe materials that I have developed and tested in my own courses. Some of these materials will be digital presentations while others will be pencil-and-paper activities designed to emphasize critical thinking. Presentations will always be available in Apple Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint, and PDF formats. I will sometimes release a resource that has not been classroom tested for the purpose of getting feedback from other users. I will always welcome contructive ctiricism and feedback on my materials.
For convenience, all materials on this page are available from the download page.
The Wedge Document
This document, unknown to most people, outlines the political movement that seeks to undermine science education in this country.
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Ruling
This is a landmark document and should be studies by all science students.
LaTeX Package
I have created a LaTeX package called mandi which defines over two hundred commands for typesetting documents in introductory physics and astronomy. You can download a zip file that contains the package along with some rudimentary documentation. I assume you know how to install LaTeX packages on your computer.
LaTeXiT Library
I have created a growing collection of equations using LaTeXiT, a fantastic free program (Mac only!) that lets me build libraries of frequently used LaTeX expressions as PDF images that can be included in documents created by most any application (annoyingly, except Keynote).
Astronomy Course Syllabi
These are the syllabi from my introductory astronomy course. They reflect my desired learning objectives and are, by design, very general. Because the lecture sections and lab sections are listed separately in my institution's course catalog, I have to hand out a separate syllabus for each. However, I now integrate lectures and lab activities but I am still required to hand out separate syllabi despite being pressured to save paper. Note that you will not find a detailed outline of topics covered in the course. I have found that it is pointless to try to stick to such a rigid schedule because every population of students is different. The more I have tried to adhere to a rigid course outline, the less I feel like trying new things when they come to me. My advice is to not even try it. Just go with the flow.
Astronomy Course Daily Logs
These logs contain daily entries describing what was done in class each day. I confess that I sometimes forgot to make an entry and sometimes I was just too lazy to make an entry. Note that I did not keep logs for my spring 2006 classes.
Handouts
These handouts will eventually be turned into inquiry activities.
Logarithms And Astronomical Magnitudes
This handout motivates the need for logarithms within the context of astronomical magnitudes.
A Short Primer On Photons
This handout describes the properties of photons that are needed in introductory astronomy.
MiniLabs/Activities
These activities are designed to promote critical thinking by getting students to actively engaged in scientific reasoning. They can be used as interactive classroom discussions or as inquiry minilabs. They incorporate a heavy writing component. While intended to form the basis of the introductory astronomy textbook I am writing, there's absolutely no reason at all why creative and competent kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school science teachers cannot adapt these activities to other grade levels. Feel free to download these activities, try them out, and give me feedback so I can improve them. Many more are forthcoming as time permits.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Scientific Validity
This activity gives students practice with the essential criteria for scientific validity.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Bayes' Rule
This is an activitiy in which students explore what they're traditionally been taught about the statistics of tossing a coin. Certain questions are meaningless when posed to frequentists but are quite legitimate when posed to Bayesians. Students apply Bayes' rule to tossing a coin and to predicting the next occurrance of sunrise. This activity is also intended to get students accustomed to seeing and manipulating meaningful numbers.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Observing A Stick's Shadow In The Northern Hemisphere
Practice With Critical Thinking: Observing A Stick's Shadow In The Southern Hemisphere
Practice With Critical Thinking: Observing A Stick's Shadow At The Equator
Practice With Critical Thinking: Extreme Shadows
I build my entire introductory astronomy course around the behavior of a stick's shadow. It sounds crazy, but it's a nearly perfect illustration of many scientific concepts and provides a firm foundation for other astronomical concepts.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Eratosthenes And Scientific Models
This activity is an excellent initial experience in discriminating among scientific models. If properly implemented, it should take at least two class days to complete.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Relative Motion (in preparation)
This activity gives students experience with precisely defining relative motion.
Practice WIth Critical Thinking: Sun's Motion
This activity introduces celestial geometry and patterns in Sun's motion as an explanation for shadow behavior.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Lunar Illumination
This activity avoids the word "phase" and emphasizes the underlying cause of Moon's changing visual appearance.
Practice With Critical Thinking: Validating Newtonian Gravitation (in preparation)
This activity leads students through the reasoning behind Newton's expression for gravitational attraction.
Activity Assessments
Each inquiry activity will have antetest and posttest assessments. For obvious reasons, I will not distribute these assessments from this website but I will share them privately with other astronomy instructors.