| Professor: Caryl Gronwall | Time: T,Th 11:15 - 12:05 |
| Office: 515A Davey Lab | Lecture Hall: 102 Thomas |
| Office Hours: T,Th 2:00-3:00 or by appointment | URL: http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/caryl/astro10.html |
| Phone: 865-2918 | e-mail: caryl@astro.psu.edu |
| Textbook: "Astronomy -- A Beginner's Guide to the Universe" by Chaisson & McMillan | TA Office Hours/Help Sessions: MTTh 1:00 - 5:30, W 1:00 - 3:00, F 1:00 - 3:00 in 445 Davey Lab |
The lectures for this course will present astronomy as a physical science, and as such, will emphasize the reasons and underlying causes behind each phenomenon. To supplement these lectures, you have several information sources at your disposal. First, a day or two before each class, I'll be putting the day's lecture notes on-line. These notes will be in paragraph-style (like a text), and I HIGHLY recommend skimming the material before attending the lecture -- it'll help you understand what I'm trying to say. Second, in order for you to see the material presented in a completely different manner, there is a textbook. The text does provide a reasonable overview of the subject, but in a bit more detail (and in a very different order) than I do in class. Note that not all sections of the text will be included in this course, and certain topics covered in the lectures (such as current happenings in astronomy) are not in the text at all. To know what to study and what is important, look at the lecture notes and ATTEND THE LECTURES! Finally, if you miss a lecture (or want to concentrate on following the logic of material, rather than scribbling in your notebook), I'll be posting the lecture slides on the web-site after each class. But these slides (and the lecture notes, and the textbook) are not a substitute for class attendance, since all they do is present facts and information. Science is not about facts, or even about truth -- it is about a way of thinking. To learn how to think about the universe, you must attend the lectures. There will also be in-class activities worth 10% of your grade.
In this section, there will be three mid-term exams. You need only take two of these tests; if you take all three, the lowest grade will be dropped. (That way, if you miss an exam, there's no harm done.) If for some reason, you know ahead of time that you cannot make one of the exams, contact me and we can arrange an alternative time/place for the test. But once the exams are handed out to the class, no make-ups will be allowed. The midterms will make up 50% of your course grade. The course will also have a final. This final is mandatory, and will make up 25% of your grade.
The final 15% of your grade will come from weekly homework questions. You will need to login to http://cbt.uts.psu.edu, look at, or print out the questions, do the work, and return to the site to submit your answers via a web form. (There is a link to this site on the class homepage.) These questions will not be easy -- they are meant to challenge you, and promote thought and discussion. (For instance, if you are getting 70% of the questions correct, you're probably doing "A" work.) I strongly encourage you to work in groups and discuss the questions with other students. Make sure to turn in your homework on time -- the computer grades the web-forms automagically, and is not very forgiving. You will get negative points if you do not turn in anything!