Gilroy's Space Science & Astrophysics Blog » discussion

Reminder: Survey

gilroy0 — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:56:57 +0000

If you get a chance, please fill out the course evaluation on SurveyMonkey. As of May 28, only 2 people have. Your feedback will be used to improve future offerings of the course.

The password is the same as the one needed to download articles.

ICE-02

gilroy0 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:22:29 +0000

In class on Fri Mar 6 we listened to President Kennedy and Tasmin Archer. As an in-class exercise, I would like you to complete the following assignment. It should only be a handful of paragraphs and is meant to engage you creatively.

H030-001A: Instructions
H030-001B: Text of President Kennedy’s Address to the Joint Session of Congress
H030-001C: Lyrics of “Sleeping Satellite” by Tasmin Archer
Audio of the President’s Address
Audio of “Sleeping Satellite” (to be added later)

Your writing will be collected on Tue Mar 24.

The great state of Illinois weighs in on the Pluto debate

gilroy0 — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:12:19 +0000

From Bad Astronomy:

The government of Illinois, an an obvious attempt to distract America from Blagojevich’s hair, has declared that Pluto is a planet.

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that as Pluto passes overhead through Illinois’ night skies, that it be reestablished with full planetary status, and that March 13, 2009 be declared “Pluto Day” in the State of Illinois in honor of the date its discovery was announced in 1930.

Thank heavens — so to speak — Pluto doesn’t pass over any other states. That could propagate a Constitutional crisis.

Protected: Unit 05 Articles: Planetary Formation

gilroy0 — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:40:52 +0000

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Replacing Reading Quizzes

gilroy0 — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:23:57 +0000

As mentioned in class, I am no more fond of giving reading quizzes as you are of taking them. They consume class time, my time to write and to grade, and your time to prepare. All that being said, they do serve a purpose: They associate a direct cost with failing to do the reading. If students do not do the reading, then a seminar course cannot function and we are all wasting our time. Although I would love to think that you will do the reading just because you find it interesting, I am realistic enough to know that this will not be the case for everyone. Hence, the reading quiz.

I am very open to evaluating the reading in a different manner but I am at a loss as to what would be effective. Your input would be very much appreciated. Please use the comment section on this post to offer suggestions.

Your mechanism must help me distinguish among

students who have done the reading well, engaging with it
students who have done the reading superficially but not in depth
students who have not done the reading

Your mechanism should not involve excessive work on the part of students or me. The point is to encourage and reward engaging with the articles, so as to enrich class discussions and deepen student understanding.

As an incentive, I will offer between 1 and 5 bonus points for participating in this exercise. The more you offer up, or the more you comment on other people’s ideas, the more of the points you will earn. The comment period will end on Wed Feb 18 at 11:59 PM.

Protected: First Blog Assignment

gilroy0 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:45:11 +0000

This assignment contains a link to "Weightless & the Human Body".