ASTRONOMY 154L OL INFO SHEET

Online Astronomy Laboratory Spring 2011

 

INSTRUCTORS: Dr. Eric Collins

OFFICE HOURS:  LIVE OAK 1126A MW 11-12

ONLINE DISCUSSIONS:    To be announced.

                                                    

COURSE QUESTIONS:       Use the appropriate FORUM on the course Moodle page.

 

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

  1. Starry Night College software
  2. Webassign Login *
  3. SC001 Equatorial Constellation Chart
  4. Edmund Scientific Star and Planet Locator

 

*NOTE: Even if you are taking the ASTR 152 OL course, you need a SEPARATE CODE for this class.

 

This course covers the basic techniques used in gathering and analyzing data obtained from observations of the heavenly bodies.  What we measure, how we measure it, and how we analyze it.

 

The course assignments, exercises, and quizzes are accessed through the Moodle system though the office of online instruction.  http://moodle.csun.edu .   The username and password is the same as for your CSUN email account.  The course webpage should appear under the selection within 24 hours after SOLAR registration.

 

The course material is divided into sections called LABS.

Each lab is broken up into sections.  The sections present vary for different labs.  The types of sections are:

  1. LECTURE: A video presentation of new concepts introduced by the module.
  2. READING: The laboratory manual reiterating the concepts and providing procedural instructions where applicable. 
  3. EXERCISES: Laboratory exercises are accessed via the webassign site. These include step by step instructions on how to manipulate the Starry Night Software.  This contains any tables on which to record data, graphs to plot an analyze data, conclusions to be drawn from the data, questions posed by the lecture or reading, and exercises emphasizing a particular skill.  The different types of sections vary depending on the content of the module.
  4. QUIZ: Certain labs will have a quiz at the end accessed through Moodle.  These quizzes contain exercises which are generally repeating skills used to fill out the data sheet, or questions emphasizing the overall concepts covered in the material.  These quizzes mimic in class quizzes and are to only be done individually, within the set time limit, and performed only once.

 

 

LAB POLICIES

  1. The due dates for the lab are listed in the calendar, and are also reflected as the availability date on the quiz page itself.  Students are free to work ahead on future labs.  However, students are required to COMPLETE EACH LAB BEFORE ITS DUE DATE.
  2. Any student wishing to complete a laboratory exercise for partial credit, may do so by using the extension feature of Webassign.  However, there can be NO MAKEUP QUIZZES.
  3. Answers to quiz questions will be released after the due date.

 

LABORATORY FINAL

After the completion of all labs, students will be given a laboratory final that will include both data taking skills and concept understanding.  This final requires the use of the Equatorial Star Chart and the Star and Planet Locator but does not require Starry Night.  The point value of the lab final and the time limit are yet to be determined. However, it is known that this final will be no more than 20% of your total lab grade.  Like all other quizzes it is to be done individually, within the time limit and taken only once.

 

 

 

 

GRADING

The Online Astronomy Laboratory is graded on a point scale.  Each point  for an exercise or quiz counts equally.  The amount of points for each exercise/quiz varies depending on the content of the module.  The final grade for the laboratory will be based on a percentage of the total possible points

 

SCALE:

90 – 100           = a or a- 

80 – 89             = b+, b, or b-

65 – 79             = c+, c, or c-

54 – 64             = d+, d, or d-

  0 – 53             = f

 

GETTINGHELP

  1. FORUMS (Bulliten Boards): The Moodle page includes a links to bulliten boards on which students may ask questions about concepts, procedures, or other data taking question.  Other students may respond to these questions however please do not give a direct answer to any exercise or data.  Instead, provide hints or instructions to help the question asker find the answer on their own.  I will provide an answer to a question upon login if it has not been sufficiently answered already by a student.  Please read other student’s posts before posting your own question as your answer may already be there.  Please, post the questions within the topic for which it is most suited. 

Quiz questions are not to be discussed in the public forum section with the exception of calling attention to possible bugs in the questions as this is the first full semester that Moodle is being used for this course. Please be patient.

 

  1. MESSAGES (email): Please use the message feature in Moodle to correspond only for questions not pertaining to the course in general.  (When in doubt about which correspondence to use, remember, the bulliten board is public and the lab mail is private.)  We will also use the lab mail to send some general course announcements that may otherwise be missed. 

 

  1. ONLINE DISCUSSIONS: The live chat link on the course Moodle page connects students to an online java chat session.  The primary topic for discussion will be the module currently in progress.  However, all questions are welcome.  These sessions are optional and students may join at any time during a session.