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Topics & Speakers | Agenda | Registration | Hotel Information | Driving Directions
Topics & Speakers
KEYNOTE: Strategies for Teaching Science
Whether you are teaching school children, undergraduates, or colleagues, a few key strategies are always useful. After an introduction on teaching philosophy, I will discuss five key strategies for teaching science, all designed to help non-science majors learn about the nature of science and key scientific ideas. The ideas apply across the science curriculum, although most of my examples will be drawn from astronomy and physics.
Jeffrey Bennett holds a B.A. (1981) in biophysics from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.S. and Ph.D. (1987) in astrophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has taught at every level from preschool through graduate school, including more than fifty college classes in astronomy, physics, mathematics, and education. He served two years as a visiting senior scientist at NASA headquarters, where he created NASA’s “IDEAS” grant program, started a program to fly teachers aboard NASA’s airborne observatories (including the hopefully soon-to-be-flying SOFIA), and worked on numerous educational programs for the Hubble Space Telescope and other space science missions. He has written college-level textbooks in astrobiology, mathematics and statistics, and a book for the general public.
Using MasteringAstronomy for Effective Homework Assignments and Personalized Tutoring
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to MasteringAstronomy, the most advanced astronomy tutorial and homework system available. It is the first to tutor students by responding with feedback specific to their errors and simpler questions when they get stuck. The system automatically processes the step-by-step work of every student to provide instructor diagnostics which pinpoint areas of difficulty for individuals or for the whole class. The session will begin with an overview of the presenter's experience teaching with the program, followed by demonstrations of how to create homework assignments of ideal difficulty and duration, check the work of an individual student, and compare results against the “national average.”
Dr. Thomas A. Fleming is an Associate Astronomer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. He coordinates the general education program in astronomy and public outreach for Steward Observatory. Tom received the UA Provost’s General Education Award in 2000 and authored a 28-chapter set of PowerPoint lecture slides for Addison-Wesley’s Cosmic Lecture Launcher CD-ROM in 2003. In 2005, he was also featured in the PBS documentary Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk and the Naked Science episode “The Birth of the Earth” on the National Geographic Channel.
Group Learning Activities to Help Students Really See
One of the attractions of astronomy is that it involves so many pretty pictures. These images can be extremely instructive; after all, pictures are worth a thousand words. Yet it is all too common for a student to be unable to get any meaningful interpretation from the images they see. Because learning to really see is something that must be discovered on one's own, it has been demonstrated that student-centered peer instruction activities are much more effective than standard lectures at helping to teach observation skills. Collaborative, small group, activities can be used in all class settings to engage the students, build teamwork and communication skills, and assess their learning. Several low-tech examples of such activities will be presented, using visuals related to the Sun and stars.
Dr. Richard Gelderman teaches all levels of physics and astronomy at Western Kentucky University. For the last seven years he has been working with colleagues and students to develop a global network of robotic astronomical observatories. As a member of the International Astronomical Union, he participated in the recent discussions that led to the demotion of Pluto as one of the planets in our solar system; but thinks his boys can eventually forgive him.
Astronomy Exercises
A number of exercises will be presented which may prove useful in lectures, laboratories, and honors sections. My favorite: at the start of the semester, half of my students think they have signed up for Astrology A100. I oblige them. During the lecture on precession (shift of sun signs) I pick a ‘volunteer’ and ‘do’ their horoscope. I show them how easy it is an encourage them to do the same. I pray they see there is no ‘magic’ here and that any fool can do a horoscope. Come and see for yourself! We will also discuss some exercises on meteorites, planetarium programs, and astrophotography (constellations and the moon) which have been time tested over the years.
Fritz (FW) Kleinhans is Associate Professor of Physics at IUPUI. He has taught regular astronomy lectures for the past 31 years, for which he has won many teaching awards, as well as a short course on “Backyard Astronomy” more recently. His astronomy presentations have ranged from 3rd graders to the local astronomy society. He likes to think of him self as a professional ‘Amateur Astronomer’ and an amateur ‘Professional Physicist’. When not thinking about the stars he is engaged in membrane biophysics and cryobiology research.
Special Thanks To:
Dr. Martin Vaughan and the Department of Biology, Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis.
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