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| Paper: |
Evolution of Astronomy Education at a Small Four-Year Institution: Studio Astronomy at The University of Michigan-Flint |
| Volume: |
473, Communicating Science |
| Page: |
341 |
| Authors: |
Ganguly, R.; Stark, M. A. |
| Abstract: |
As an independent satellite campus, The University of
Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint) is a typical, small four-year,
primarily undergraduate, institution, having just passed an
enrollment of 8000 students in fall 2011. Astronomy courses are
offered under the physics program, which itself is part of the
Department of Computer Science, Engineering, and Physics. In
this poster, we present a timeline for how astronomy course
offerings have evolved from four separate lecture/lab courses
to a single survey-style class. We plan to offer this survey
course in a studio model inspired by our introductory physics
courses. This presents a format that is manageable by a small
program with very limited resources and also makes use of
learning strategies that have been successful in teaching
introductory physics. We present some of these proposed
learning strategies and invite community input on potential
changes and avenues for improvement. In addition to the new
studio format for the course, the university also leases time
from the local planetarium. We present a sample of the labs
that utilize the unique environment of the planetarium, and
associated learning goals. |
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