Syllabus
Introduction
Astro 20S is the freshman seminar, it is intended for students with serious interest in majoring in astronomy and astrophysics, or taking a minor in astronomy.
The format of the class will be discussion and lectures, covering both aspects of life at university and the study, work and career aspects of astronomy.
Office hours are wednesday 1:00-2:00 in 426 Davey or by appointment.
There will be 8-10 assignments during the semester, and a longer final assingment.
Grading will be 40% homework, 25% attendance, 15% participation in the Race Relation Project (Sep 10 - Oct 2),
, and 20% for the final assignment.
Textbook
There is no recommended textbooks for this course.
As time and resources permit, discussion material, class lecture notes
and ancillary material will be provided on the class web site.
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/steinn/Astro20/index.html
Auxilliary material may be used and will typically be provided
as handouts or web material.
Readings may be recommended as part of assignments.
Final assignment.
The list of suggested topics for the final assignmentr will be provided later this semester.
The topic of the assignment must be from this list or chosen by explicit agreement with the instructor.
The assignment should, generally, present an overview
of the topic, in your own words, with appropriate citations and quantitative analysis.
Appropriate sources and approaches to write the paper may be discussed
with the instructor at any time.
Integrity
This class follows the Integrity Policy of the Department of Astronomy \& Astrophysics
and the Eberly College of Science.
see Astro Integrity Policy.
In short, you are not allowed to cheat. Infractions will be reported
to the College Academic Integrity Committee and punished in accordance with policy.
Last updated 08/08
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