Exhibit 147

ASTL101 Assessment Fall 2010 

ASSESSMENT PLAN 

An assessment plan has been developed and put in place to ensure that students 

taking the Laboratory Component of Astronomy of the Solar System (ASTL101) 

have achieved the educational objectives and the program outcomes for the GE 

requirements. In addition, a partial assessment of the corresponding lecture 

(AST101) was performed. 

The course syllabus includes one primary General Education objective – NJCC 3a – 

which states that 

• Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw 

conclusions from data and evidence. 

This is assessed via evaluated laboratories. In addition, the course syllabus contains 

about 20 supporting objectives (see Appendix 1), which are used for design (rather 

than assessment) of the content of the course. Analysis of how well the course 

achieves its General Education objective, and developing suggestions for 

improvement, are the primary goals of this assessment. 

The objective data helps provide an understanding of how well we are achieving the 

General Education goal, but does not help us to understand where or how to 

improve. To answer this question, we have asked students to rate elements of the 

course to see how well they achieved the primary General Education objective of the 

last paragraph. In combination with the objective data from analysis of student 

performance in labs, this additional subjective rating data provides a way to 

determine what elements of the course (supporting objectives or specific labs) to 

target for improvement. 

The assessment consisted of the following seven parts: 

1. Determination of the number of students who successfully completed sample 

questions in each lab involving drawing conclusions from data and evidence 

2. Student ranking of how closely they felt each lab met the GE objectives 

3. Student ranking of how effective they felt each lab was in helping them learn 

Astronomy 

4. Capture of data on how students did labs (individually or in teams) 

5. Obective questions on the lecture component of the course to see how well 

students were grasping fundamental concepts 

6. Student subjective evaluation of teaching techniques used in lecture and lab 

7. Free-form student comments used to update specifics in courses 

Data Acquisition Techniques: 

Achievement of General Education objectives is measured by pertinent data from 

their laboratory submissions and by using an online survey made available to 

current students enrolled in Astronomy of the Solar System. The current student

ASTL101 Assessment 

population enrolled includes 5 in-class sections offered in Cranford and Elizabeth 

and 4 online sections. 

This survey asks our students to evaluate each of the individual laboratory exercises 

and includes a limited number of multiple-choice questions about material covered 

in the lectures and laboratories. In addition we will correlate the students 

understanding of concepts being tested in the laboratory exercises with the 

students’ answers to a number of short essay questions given in a subset of the 

laboratory exercises. 

Time Scale 

This survey will be conducted before the present term ends (12/2010). The survey 

will be offered for the next 2 or 3 years to evaluate changes made to the course. 

Action 

We will evaluate what needs to be changed or updated in our laboratory offerings. 

We will then use our survey over the next 2 or 3 years to evaluate the outcome of 

our updated laboratory offerings. 

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SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND 

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS 

This section gives a summary of major findings, along with actions being taken to 

address those findings. Specifics are detailed in the sections below. 

1. In lab, the overall percent of students with correct answers is 63%, short of 

our goal of 70%. 

Corrective action: In Fall 2011, (the next major time AST101 is offered inclass), 

we will implement pre-tests for several labs, requiring students to 

answer several questions on the lab’s concepts before the remainder of the 

lab is made available to them. This will be trialed at first only for in-class labs 

– if successful, it will be extended to web labs. 

2. Students consider lab OP17 as not supporting GE objectives nor helping them 

learn Astronomy. 

Corrective action: OP17 was replaced by OP11 immediately after we received 

feedback from several sections of students. The replacement, OP11, achieved 

student rating scores consistent with other labs. 

3. Students achieved an abysmally low score (29%) on a very fundamental 

question – how many stars are there in the Solar System. 

Corrective action 1: We felt that the problem was that student’s knew the 

correct answer here, but just were trying to complete the questionnaire 

quickly and weren’t fully reading the question. We tested this hypothesis by 

re-asking the same question in class again on paper, but asking the students 

to read the questions carefully. Results improved from the original 29% to 

68.7 This is still short of our target of 70% . 

Corrective action 2: This question is also asked in AST102 (Spring), so we‘ll 

be taking action in Spring to see how to improve scores. Each instructor will 

show a short video on the sizes of objects in the Universe at the beginning of 

the last third of the course, reinforcing material already taught in the first 

lesson, but perhaps forgotten. And we’ll add a note to the assessment 

question to “read the question carefully”. 

Reassessment in Spring 2011: This has been partially successful – in 

reassessment the following semester, 70.4% of students answered this 

correctly. While meeting our target, it is only a small increase from the 

results obtained by corrective action a (above). To try to improve this 

further, we have modified two sets of lecture notes to explicitly require a 

video on the scales of the universe during the last third of each astronomy 

lecture course. 

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Part 1: 


DETAILED ASSESSMENT RESULTS 

There are 12 to 20 questions in each of the 12 labs offered during the semester. 

Students are given a goal to complete 10 labs. We chose 10 questions from 8 of the 

12 labs. The answers to these questions are based on the observations and data 

taken by the student. The questions and answers can be found in Appendix 2 at the 

end of this document. 

Table 1: Student Results. 

In-class students work in teams of 2 or 3 members, online students work 

individually 

OP17 was replace with OP11 

* Online only 

** One section only as new lab 

CONCLUSION 

Laboratory Title Question # Number of 

Students & 

Teams 

completing 

lab 

% of 

Students 

with correct 

answers 

OP1 Starry Night Tutorial 11 93 66 

OP3 Astronomical Coordinates 21 91 73 

OP15 Kepler's Third Law 14 103 64 

Mass of Earth 16 37* 68 

OP17 Parallax 13 55 24 

OP17 Parallax 19 55 31 

OP11 Solar Eclipses 20 14** 85 

OP11 Solar Eclipses 38 14** 46 

OP12 Phases of Venus 15 101 90 

OP12 Phases of Venus 16 101 39 

OP14 Mars and its Moons 6 91 38 

Sky Charts 12 120 68 

Average (not using OP17) 64 

Our goal is to have 70% of the students answer each question correctly. From the 

results in Table 1, the students only met this goal on 3 questions. 

Lab 17, Parallax, had the lowest success rate, and was also reported by students as 

ineffective both in meeting GE requirements and in teaching astronomy (see parts 2 

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and 3 below). It was immediately replaced by lab, OP11, Solar Eclipses, which had a 

large improvement with the single class that completed this lab. 

Four additional questions were close to our goal, having greater than 60% correct 

answers. The results of one of the two questions on each of labs OP11 and OP12, 

and the one question on OP14 are of concern. We plan to look into these seven 

questions in more detail to understand how to improve our students’ performance 

in these labs. 

Part 2: 

In this part, students were reminded of the contents of each lab, then asked how 

well they felt the lab met the General Education objective being measured. 

Appendix 3, questions 1-10 provide specific questions asked for each of the 10 labs. 

A typical question follows the following format: 

• In Lab OP1, Starry Night Tutorial, you learned how to use features of Starry 

Night, and then used the features of Starry Night on your own to determine 

what continent was visible to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they 

landed on the Moon. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying 

the scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw conclusions 

from data and evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer 

blank. 

The scale is 

1 = strongly agree; 2 = agree, 3 = neutral, 4 = disagree, 5 = strongly disagree. 

Results are as follows: 

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From the data, it is clear that lab OP17 was showing a significantly lower score than 

other labs. Since not all class sections had completed OP17 at the time of the 

evaluation, we replaced OP17 with lab OP11. Students who completed OP11 gave 

OP11 a much more favorable rating, in line with the average ratings for other labs. 

Part 3: 

This was similar to part 2, except that it asked “how effective did you feel each lab 

was in helping you learn astronomy? It includes all the labs for which conclusions 

had to be drawn from data (as in part 2), as well as laboratories which help students 

learn astronomy but do not provide objective data (e.g. observatory visits). 

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Again, OP17 is seen as weaker than other labs in helping students learn astronomy. 

Its replacement, OP11, scored among the better OP labs. 

Students were also asked to provide free-form comments on this part – only 5 

comments were obtained, with one student claiming to not get any information out 

of the parallax lab (OP17). 

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Part 4: 

We captured additional data on how each student did the lab (individually or in a 

team) in case we wish to do a subsequent analysis on the impact of teaming on lab 

performance. We also contacted students who had withdrawn from the course or 

stopped attending to see if they would provide reasons for discontinuing the course. 

Unfortunately we had no responses. 

Part 5: 

We asked several objective questions on the lecture component of the course to see 

how well students were grasping fundamental concepts. 

Question 

% of Students with correct answers 

How many stars are there in our Solar 

System 29% 

About how many moons are there in our 

solar system? 53% 

It takes light 8 minutes to travel from the 

Sun to the Earth. About how long (in 36% 

minutes) would it take a radio message 

to travel from the Earth to Pluto (a radio 

wave travels at the speed of light). Select 

the best answer 

If a planet in a solar system is made of 

rock and metal, but has no planet-wide 55% 

magnetic field, you would assume that 

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These results are far lower than expected, and indicate either a lack of 

understanding of the material, student’s being unprepared to answer analytic 

questions during an informal assessment, or not understanding the specific wording 

of the question. 

For question 1, we asked students, “How many stars are there in the Solar System”, 

for which the possible answers were a) none, b) one (the Sun, the correct answer), 

c) hundreds, or d) billions, only 31 students out of 107 (29%) answered correctly, 

with 72 students (67%) answering “billions”. Given the high number of students 

answering “billions”, we thought that some students might not be taking note of the 

words “in the Solar System”, and re-asked this question at the beginning of the 

course final exam, about one week after the deadline for the online 

assessment. Students in different exam sessions were given slightly different 

instructions, explained in the following: 

• In group 1 (our control group) we re-asked the identical question, with no 

special verbal instructions. During the original assessment, 3 out of 19 

students (16%) in this group had answered correctly. On reassessment, 4 

out of 19 (21%) answered correctly, an insignificant difference for this small 

sample size. 

• In group 2, during reassessment we told the students to read the question 

carefully. During the original assessment, 9 out of 26 students (35%) in this 

group had answered correctly. On reassessment, 16 out of 26 (62%) 

answered correctly. Just the admonition to read had a major effect on 

student performance, boosting performing for this group of 26 students by 

almost a factor of 2. 

• In group 3, during reassessment we changed the wording of the question to 

“How many stars are there in the Solar System, not anywhere else”. During 

the original assessment, 16 out of 53 students (30%) in this group had 

answered correctly. On reassessment, 34 out of 53 (64%) answered 

correctly, a very similar result to group 2. 

The data above clearly shows that the way a question is worded (and consequently 

interpreted) can result in major shifts in results. For the purposes of final results, 

we are combining the reassessment scores for group 2 (16 out of 26), group 3 (34 

out of 53), and students who took the reassessment with group 2 or 3 wording but 

never took the original assessment (42 out of 55). That gives a total of 92 correct 

responses out of 134, or 68.7% of all students. 

Part 6: 

Students were asked to evaluate teaching techniques used in lecture and in lab. Text 

and scale of each question is shown in Appendix 3. Results are as follows: 

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For lecture, students indicated wanting to see more open book quizzes and fewer 

closed book quizzes, an expected result. Results for labs were inconclusive and 

imply that we have a suitable mix. 

On question 23 – new labs, the only strong item was “learning to use a telescope”. 

As a result of this assessment, we have purchased 10 portable electromechanical 

telescopes and are developing a telescope lab, with planned availability for Fall 

2011. 

Part 7: 

Free-form student comments were solicited. These are not used as part of the 

formal assessment process, but are reviewed each semester prior to course 

preparation to see if any specifics in courses should be changed. 

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APPENDIX 1 

GENERAL EDUCATION AND SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES 

The Course Objective pertaining to lab component of ASTL101: 

♦ Applying the scientific method, students will obtain data in lab, and then 

apply concepts learned in lecture and lab to solving problems posed in lab. 

♦ Improve computer proficiency by utilizing PC planetarium software to 

perform labs and identify/analyze objects in the sky. 

GE Program Outcomes Student Learning – Course 

Outcomes 

Specific objectives relating to scientific knowledge and reasoning: 

3a. Applying the scientific Applying the scientific method, 

method, students will students will obtain data in lab, 

analyze a problem and and then apply concepts learned 

draw conclusions 

in lecture and lab to solving 

from data and evidence. problems posed in lab 

Assessment of 

Outcomes 

Evaluated 

laboratories 

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES UNDER SCIENCE 

AND TECHNOLOGY FOR ASTRONOMY LABORATORY 

GOAL: SUDENTS WILL USE SCIENTIFIC METHODS AND KNOWLEDGE WITH THEIR 

OBSERVATIONS AND DATA OBTAIN FROM THE COURSE LABORATORIES TO 

EXPLAIN AND VERIFY CURRENTS ASTRONOMY THEORIES AND HYPOTHOSIS. 

Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the underlying physical 

principles governing the Earth and the Solar System. 

OTHER OBJECTIVES: 

1) To develop a general understanding in using scientific method of applying 

their observations and data to the verification of a theory or hypothesis. 

2) Students will be able to demonstrate the taking of data and using this data to 

make objective conclusions. 

3) Students will formulate and evaluate possible solutions to problems, and 

select the solutions that are consent with their data and understanding. 

ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES: 

1) Students will comprehend and evaluate what they read and hear. 

2) Students will state and evaluate the views and findings of others as part of 

some of the assigned labs. 

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3) Students will write and speak clearly and effectively in standard American 

English. 

4) 4. Students will formulate and evaluate possible solutions to problems. 

5) Students will recognize the weakness of some proposed hypotheses because 

of the lack of sufficient observations, experiments and data. 

PARTICULAR COURSE OBJECTIVES 

Upon completion of this course the student should be able to: 

1) Demonstrate knowledge of the components of the solar system, including 

planets, dwarf planets, Sun, satellites, asteroids, meteors, comets 

2) Identify solar system regions including the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, and 

Oort cloud 

3) Understand basic physics concepts pertaining to solar system astronomy, 

including scientific method, concepts of measurement, density, mass, 

Newton’s laws, rotational motion, and heat transfer 

4) Understand basic geology concepts pertaining to solar system astronomy, 

including volcanism, plate tectonics, and the internal structure of the Earth 

5) Understand the difference between discovery and scientific models. 

Students will learn how scientists use experimental evidence to 

confirm/falsify a theory. Students will be asked to evaluate conflicting 

theories in in-class discussions based on available data. Discussion is held on 

geocentric vs. heliocentric views of the solar system 

6) Applying the scientific method, students will obtain data in lab, and then 

apply concepts learned in lecture and lab to solving problems posed in lab. 

7) Gain an expanded awareness of his/her rights and responsibilities as citizens 

of a world community through discussion of topics such as global warming, 

the popular misuse of words such as “theory” and their impact on public 

understanding of scientific method 

8) Put astronomic/physics discoveries into historical perspective 

9) Understand how science affects society, from concepts such as the calendar 

and Earth’s place in the Universe. 

10) Demonstrate internet literacy by researching topics on the web and creating 

a research paper in a topic in Astronomy 

- 12 -


11) Improve computer proficiency by utilizing PC planetarium software to 

perform labs and identify/analyze objects in the sky. 

12) Learn through out-of-class experiences, including attending planetarium 

shows, observatory visits, outside technical talks, and at-home sky 

observation. 

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APPENDIX 2 

LAB QUESTIONS USED FOR QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS 

The following are the set of questions and answers from ASTL101 Labs used for this 

assessment: 

Laboratory OP1 

Question 11. Does the comet move relative to the stars or does it remain stationary? 

(Moving relative to the stars means that, as time moves on, the comet slowly 

changes its position against those stars.) 

Answer: The comet moves relative to the stars. 

OP3 

Question 21. a) What is the altitude of the North Celestial Pole for an observer at 

the North Pole of the Earth? 

b) What is the declination of the North Celestial Pole? 

c) Does your answer to part b depend upon your observing location on the Earth? 

d) Why or why not? 

Answer: a) 90° b) 90° c) No d) Since declination uses the celestial equator rather 

than the horizon as reference plane, the declination of the North Celestial Pole does 

NOT change when an observer changes location on the Earth. 

OP10 

Question 35: Notice that the horizon does not get in the way at any time during this 

sequence. (That is, the Earth always remains in about the same position in the lunar 

sky). Can you explain why? 

Answer: The Moon’s rotational period is the same as its orbital period, and so the 

Earth will remain in approximately the same position in the lunar sky throughout its 

Orbit. 

OP15 

Question 14: From your answers to the above questions, is there any clear 

synchronicity between the orbital periods of Io, Europa, and Ganymede? Explain 

your answer (don't just answer yes or no). 

Answer: The orbital periods of the satellites Io, Europa, and Ganymede are in the 

ratio 1:2:4 if your data above was correct. If one or more of your measurements 

were incorrect, I looked at this answer by hand to determine whether you should 

have answered this yes or no. 

Mass of Earth 

Question 16: Would T (period of pendulum) be larger or smaller on the Moon? 

- 14 -


Answer: The period of the pendulum is inversely proportional to the square root of 

the acceleration due to gravity. The period is larger because the force of gravity on 

the Moon is less than Earth. 

OP11 

Question 20: Is it possible for more than two eclipse seasons to occur in the 

duration of a calendar year? (Hint: An eclipse year is shorter than a solar year.) 

Yes or No and how? 

Answer: Yes, if an eclipse season occurs in the first 19 days of the year, the next 

eclipse season will occur about 173 days later in June, and the following eclipse 

season will occur in December of the same calendar year. 

Question 38: What type of eclipse occurs, as seen from this location, within the 

darkest part of the Moon’s shadow? 

□ Partial □ Annular □ Total 

Answer: Annular 

OP12 

Question 15: Do your observations support the geocentric or the heliocentric 

theory of the universe? Note I'm not looking here for which is the right theory, I'm 

asking you which one is supported based on your results in previous questions. 

a. Geocentric Theory b. Heliocentric Theory 

Answer: The results support the heliocentric theory. 

Question 16: Which specific observations support your answer to the previous 

question? 

Answer: As discussed in the introduction, Venus shows a full range of phases only in 

the heliocentric theory. In the geocentric theory, Venus should always appear as a 

crescent. Moreover, in the heliocentric theory, Venus should appear largest at 

crescent phase, and smallest at full phase, as observed. 

OP14 

Question 6. Why does Phobos appear very faint or invisible when it emerges 

beyond the planet’s limb, and what causes Deimos to appear to wink out at a certain 

position just beyond the planet, on every one of their orbits? 

Answer: These moons move into the shadow of Mars during part of their orbital 

paths. 

OP17 

Question 11: Question 11: Assume that you are using equipment for measuring 

parallax that can detect angular displacements as small as one-half of an arcsecond 

(0.5”) and use the diameter of the Earth as 12,757 km. 

a) What is the distance, in kilometer, to the farthest object for which you could 

measure parallax shift? 

b) What is this distance expressed in AU? [Hint: use eq. 3] 

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c) What is the farthest planet in the solar system for which you could measure 

parallax, using this diameter of the Earth? 

Answer: 11. A) 5.26 x 109 km, B) leave blank, C) Neptune 

Question 20: What distance did you calculate from the parallax shift of: a) Europa, 

b) Iapetus, c) Miranda, d) And Nereid? 

Answer: 20. A) 5.602 AU, accept 5.5 to 5.7”; B) 9.067 AU, accept 9.0 to 9.2 AU; C) 

20.94 AU, accept 20. to 21. AU; D) 30.75 AU, accept 30. to 31. AU 

SkyCharts 

Question 12. Look to the south to see Jupiter – it will be the brightest object in the 

sky. If it is so bright, why isn’t it in your sky map? _______________ 

Answer: Jupiter is a planet and it “wonders” with respect to the stars. 

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APPENDIX 3 

TEXT OF QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OFFERED TO STUDENTS 

Objectives 

Every few years, I do a complete course assessment to obtain student input which helps me 

revise and update the course. Please note that you are being given one point extra credit for 

completing this assessment. My expectation in return is that you will spend a reasonable 

amount of time to provide thoughtful answers. 

One of the stated objectives of ASTL101 is: 

• Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw 

conclusions from data and evidence. 

We do this during lab, in which I ask you to take data, and then come to come to conclusions 

from that data. For the following labs, please identify how well you feel each lab achieves this 

objective. I have given you a brief reminder of what each lab is about, but if you have done the 

lab and don't remember, please take a moment to look at the lab again to refresh your memory - 

this is really important as your evaluations will affect the lab choices available to students for 

the next several years. If you have not done some of the following labs, please leave those labs' 

entries blank. (Note OP17 and OP11 are each only available in selected sections) 

1. In Lab OP1, Starry Night Tutorial, you learned how to use features of Starry Night, and 

then used the features of Starry Night on your own to determine what continent was 

visible to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they landed on the Moon. Do you feel that 

this lab met the objective of "Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a 

problem and draw conclusions from data and evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please 

leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree 

disagree 

2. In Lab OP3, Astronomical Coordinate Systems, you learned the difference between 

Horizontal Coordinates (azimuth and altitude) and Equatorial Coordinates (right 

ascension and declination). Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the 

scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw conclusions from data and 

evidence"? 

Strongly 


disagree 

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3. In Lab OP10, The Moon's Motions and Phases, you learned about the different phases of 

the moon, and noted that the Moon's "horns" always point away from the Sun. Do you feel 

that this lab met the objective of "Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a 

problem and draw conclusions from data and evidence"? 

Strongly 


disagree 

4. In Lab OP15, Kepler's Third Law, you measured the revolutionary period of each of 

Jupiter's moons and the distance of each moon from Jupiter, calculated k = P 2 /a 3 . for each 

moon, and compared values of k to see if the moons of Jupiter obey Kepler's law. Do you 

feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the scientific method, students will 

analyze a problem and draw conclusions from data and evidence"? If you did not do this 

lab, please leave your answer blank 

Strongly 


disagree 

5. In the Mass of the Earth lab, you measured the length and period of a pendulum and 

used those measurements to calculate the mass of the Earth. Additionally, the lab 

discussed precision of numbers (how many decimal points you are entitled to) and 

sources of error. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the scientific 

method, students will analyze a problem and draw conclusions from data and evidence"? 

If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

6. In the Skycharts lab, you learned how to use a skychart to locate objects in the sky. At 

the end of that lab, you were asked to give your reasoning as to why Jupiter doesn't 

appear in your skychart. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the 


evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

7. In Lab OP11, Solar Eclipses, you determined the conditions required for eclipses and 

determined the frequency of eclipses. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of 

"Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw conclusions 

from data and evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

- 18 -


8. In Lab OP17, Parallax, you used measures of parallax to determine the distance to the 

Moon, Vesta, and several other solar system objects. Do you feel that this lab met the 

objective of "Applying the scientific method, students will analyze a problem and draw 

conclusions from data and evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer 

blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

9. In Lab OP12, Phases of Venus, you measured the size of Venus and its phases on several 

different days, and used that to help you determine if Venus has heliocentric or 

geocentric. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the scientific method, 

students will analyze a problem and draw conclusions from data and evidence"? If you did 

not do this lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

10. In Lab OP14, Mars and its Moons, you measured the rotation rate of Mars, the sizes of 

the orbits and the rotational periods of its two moons, and determined how well they 

matched Swift's predictions. Do you feel that this lab met the objective of "Applying the 


evidence"? If you did not do this lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 


disagree 

Effectiveness 

11. For the same set of labs, let me know how how effective you felt each lab was in 

helping you learn astronomy. If you did not do the lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 

Strongly not 

Effective Neutral Not effective 

effective 

effective 

OP1 - Starry 

Night Tutorial 

OP3 - 

Astronomical 

Coordinate 

Systems 

OP10 - 

Moon's 

Motion and 

Phases 

OP15 - 

- 19 -


Kepler's 

Third Law 

Mass of the 

Earth 

Skycharts 

OP11 - Solar 

Eclipses 

OP17 - 

Parallax 

OP12 - Phases 

of Venus 

OP14 - Mars 

and its Moons 

12. For the following additional labs, let me know how how effective you felt each lab was 

in helping you learn astronomy. If you did not do the lab, please leave your answer blank. 

Strongly 

Strongly not 

Effective Neutral Not effective 

effective 

effective 

Friday night 

observatory 

visits 

In-class 

(midweek) 

observatory 

visit 

Planetarium 

visit 

Planetary 

distances 

walk 

Internet lab 

Video 1 - 

America in 

Space 

Video 2 - 

Solar System 

13. Please enter any additional comments you would like to make about the effectiveness 

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of labs. 

Questions about your overall lab program 

14. How did you do your labs 

A) Entirely on your own (i.e. on the web) 

B) Entirely in-class 

C) A mix of both 

15. Did you complete the course? 

A) Yes 

B) No (I dropped out or stopped attending) 

16. If you dropped out or stopped attending, please give a short reason as to why you left 

the course. There are many possible reasons, so I left this as a fill-in field, but some 

possible reasons include course was too difficult, course took too much time, my schedule 

changed, I signed up for too many courses, I did poorly on an exam, family problems, ... 

(whatever you might want to write). Your answer here might help me design the course 

better to reach other students that might be considering dropping the course. 

Metrics 

Please answer the following questions as best as you can WITHOUT looking up answers in 

your textbook. They will not count towards your grade, but will help me understanding how 

effectively you all are learning. 

17. How many stars are there in our 

Solar System 

A) None 

B) One 

C) Several hundred 

D) Billions 

18. About how many moons are there in our solar system? 

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A) None 

B) One 

C) More than one but less than 100 

D) More than 100 

19. It takes light 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. About how long (in 

minutes) would it take a radio message to travel from the Earth to Pluto (a radio wave 

travels at the speed of light). Select the best answer 

A) It would reach Pluto instantly 

B) A few seconds 

C) 8 minutes 

D) 40 minutes 

E) 300 minutes (5 hours) 

F) 600 minutes or more (10 hours) 

20. If a planet in a solar system is made of rock and metal, but has no planet-wide 

magnetic field, you would assume that 

A) the planet is a large Jovian planet 

B) the planet is a small Jovian planet 

C) the planet is a large terrestrial planet 

D) the planet is a small terrestrial planet 

Preferences 

21. Please review each of the following techniques used in teaching lecture. Which would 

you like to see more of or less of? 

The current amount is 

I would like more 

I would like fewer 

OK 

Open book 

quizzes 

Closed book 

quizzes 

Exams 

Discussions 

22. Please review each of the types of lab opportunities offered. Which would you like to 

see more or less of 

Would like more Just enough Would like less 

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Observing 

Projects labs 

Site visits, such 

as planetariums 

or 

observatories 

at other 

colleges 

Observation: 

using 

telescopes at 

Sperry and the 

skycharts lab 

Videos with 

discussion 

Model building 

- e.g. the 

planetary 

distances walk 

Research paper 

or presentation 

Experiments, 

such as the 

mass of the 

earth lab 

23. Which of the following types of additional activities do you think should be added to 

the course (possibly replacing existing material): 

• Online discussions - These would replace a lab. Students would need to post two 

substantive entries each week to a discussion forum, where an entry might 

introduce a new topic (e.g. "why might there be life on Europa") or could be a 

substantive respond to an existing post (e.g. "there's warm water - but why is it 

warm" is fine, but just simply saying "I agree" isn't). 

• Videos with questionnaires. The questionnaire would replace the discussion held 

at the end of a video 

• Learning to use a telescope - each team of 3 would be equipped with a small 

telescope (can only be done at Sperry) 

• Homework - a homework assignment could be assigned each week from the 

questions at the end of each Universe chapter 

• Lab pre-quizzes: A quiz could be given after reading the lab introductory material 

but before starting the lab to help assure that students understand the concepts of 

the lab before beginning to take measurements 

- 23 -


Online 

discussion 

Videos with 

questionnaires 

Learning to 

use a telescope 

Homework 

Strongly 

favorable 

Favorable Neutral Unfavorable 

Strongly 

unfavorable 

Lab prequizzes 

24.There is currently a limit of 6 observatory visits (normally 1 in-class observatory visit 

and 5 Friday night visits to Sperry, but visits on other nights to other observatories are 

also acceptable). The number 6 was chosen as a compromise between several competing 

factors: wanting students to attend talks and view through telescopes at the observatory; 

wanting to assure a reasonable distribution of lab points (e.g. not having observatory 

visits replace too many other labs), and fairness to students who can never attend 

evening observatory sessions. Do you thing the number of permissible observatory visits 

should increase, stay the same, or be decreased. 

Allow 2 or 3 

observatory 

visits (major 

reduction) 

Allow 4 or 5 

observatory 

visits (minor 

reduction) 

Allow 6 

observatory 

visits (no 

change) 

Allow more than 

6 observatory 

visits (increase) 

Allow more 

than 6 only if a 

student has 

completed a 

full 10 labs (i.e. 

the additional 

visits cannot be 

used to replace 

other work) 

25. Please enter any additional comments you would like to make here about your 

preferences for the course 

APPENDIX 4 

FREE FORM STUDENT COMMENTS 

- 24 -


The way the course is broken apart it helps the students to understand the class better. Before I was in the 

dark I didn't know anything about the universe but I had wondered about it. Now with the help of the course my 

eyes are opened I can look up to the sky and point the location of jupiter polaris the seven sisters and so on. 

When nasa has a report on space I will be able to understand it and explain it to someone else. 

1. The skychart lab could be more effective if it can be done with professor's accompany. I went out to look at 

the sky several times when the weather was permitted but I still confuse about what I saw. 2. The lab is quite 

hard for those students who have no Physics and Math background. When we feel hard we lose interest on it. 

3. Overall I like this class very much. It makes me to see our environment with a whole new aspect. There is no 

meaning to fight how long we can live because compare to our universe life is too short. Am I right? 

Even thought it was a lot work to do I really enjoyed this course. I have much better understanding about the 

Solar System and the Universe and how important is to study the Universe. 

I believe homework and online discussions would help students feel more involved into the course. I believe 

they would delve deeper into the material and come out more knowledgable of astronomy. I think a more active 

course would aide in helping students have a better grasp of the sometimes difficult material. I also think it 

might be helpful if you held a lecture on astrology and astronomy. Even though it might not be accurate it might 

help people in learning about the planets if they have something fun to reference their learning to. 

I completely forgot about the online dicussions!! But thank you for your support! 

I did find the course very interesting I just wish I did not miss as much labs as I did. But I know I could have 

done it if I were more focused. 

I don't like that students who don't work very hard for their grade get to make it up with all the extra credit. I 

think the extra credit should help raise your grade by one or two points not by a whole grade level (but yes I 

understand that sometimes the one or two points might move a grade level up but that's not the case I'm 

making). In other words the students that are not putting effort into the curriculium should not be allowed to 

earn a good grade just through extra credit. 

I enjoyed my journey into space with Dr. Strom. The only thing that I did not like was the tricky questions on the 

test...but I guess it helps the student study more to really understand the information. 

I enjoyed the class very much. This maybe in part to the fact that I have a strong interest in astronomy and plan 

on pursuing a degree related to the field. The text for the course has a vast wealth of information that I feel was 

overlooked on the quizzes and exams. In other words they were a little too easy and did not test some of the 

information from our text. More questions on the quizzes and exams with some being a little more challenging 

is my suggestion for the future of the course. Overall awesome course with excellent and thought provoking 

lectures that have me looking forward to AST102. 

I felt the course highly effective as is"." 

I found this class to be very informative. Dr. Strom did a wonderful job I just wish there were more hands on 

experiments such as when we built a comet. 

i had two different lab instructors and it was very hard at times with communitcation. Bouncing back anf forth 

was hard for me sometimes. A lab might be cancelled at last min and i have already taken the bus to the school 

to find that out. 

i have no more additional comments according the course. 

I like going to the planitariums. I just wish there were more shows available. 

I LIKE THE COURSE BUT I HAD TROUBLE GOING TO ANY OF THE OBSERVATORY VISITS BECAUSE 

OF MY WORK IF THERE WAS ANOTHER MEAN OF EXTRA CREDIT OTHER THAN THIS IT WOULD HAVE 

BEEN GREAT.I ENJOYED THE COURSE AND THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION I HAVE LEARNED. 

- 25 -


i really enjoyed Astronomy and to everybody who ask me what course to take for their required lab i always say 

take astronomy because is interesting and you learn a lot things that i did not know before i learned this 

semester.It was a pleasure this class. Even if my grade is not that great i would say if there will be another 

opportunity to learn more about astronomy i will take it.( i do not mean to retake this one.. jaj). As i said before it 

is really interesting. I really enjoyed. 

I really enjoyed taking Astronomy 101 online. I learned a lot! 

I really enjoyed the course and have no major problems. I take a lot of online courses and this one was by far 

run the best. Allowing flexibility for activities in person was helpful. I'm glad there wasn't any difficult math but 

otherwise i think the course was appropriately challenging and shouldn't be any easier. 

I really enjoyed the course. I feel that there is no need for change. 

I really enjoyed this course. I also liked that i could do some labs on my own(i.e OP LABS)which helps because 

of my schedule and some with the classes. The in class discussions really help to understand a concept better 

and participating with others helped me learn new ideas and so on. So thank you for allowing your web 

students to also partake in in-class assignments. Overall i think you have done a fantastic job outlining this 

course! 

I really loved my two astronomy courses and I did learn a lot the only thing that I would suggest for future 

classes is maybe be able to observe more objects with the telescopes. 

I strongly agree the course was very interesting. It highly open my interest in astronomy and labs gave a 

knowledge of understanding better our solar system. 

I think it might be helpful if the starry night lab software includes text-to-speech type of option that can talk to a 

user; or it could have message show up on the screen letting the user knows s/he makes an error or s/he is off 

track. for instance when a student is completing her or his labs assignments if s/he clicks a wrong button so the 

software can tell her or him she makes a mistake and then the software could guide that student to the process 

on how to get to the right button she needs to do or the labs/assignments. I firmly believe it would be a great 

useful tool option. 

I think it would be helpful if there were reviews or outlines for what is most important for the exams. I think it 

would help students focus on the things that the professor feels are more important instead of focusing your 

attention on something that might not be as important. 

I think this class is great...I really enjoy being part of it and also love the professionalism and dedication of the 

instructors.... 

I thoroughly enjoyed the class! 

I very much enjoyed my teacher Professor Strom. He always knew what he was talking about such a smart 

man and always took time out of class to answer my 230000 questions about whatever topic we were 

discussing at that time! =] 

I went into this course a bit hesitant. I thought this course was going to be boring and was not looking forward 

to taking it. Once I sat in one some lectures i became very interested in the solar system and whats out there. It 

was a very interesting class. I thought the lecture notes were incredibly helpful in understanding the material 

and for studying for the exams and quizzes. Professor Strom is a very good teacher and it was a pleasure 

being in his class. 

i wish there were more lab nights other than just friday. It doesnt give me much extra-credit if i cant make it to 

fridays. so people work so having different days other then just friday could help students who cannot make it. 

It think it is important that the lab sheet given in the beginning of each class has questions and answers in the 

same order as the online sheet where we put our answers. it has happened that few question for one of the 

labs has different order and we lost few points. i think that this is important because the answer should be just 

moved to Angel and we should not be paying as much attention as when we first do them. 

its very adequate 

none. overall I am satisfied with the way online course is presented. 

- 26 -


Once again in addition to observatory visits for those not able to alaways get there NAT GEo programs should 

be intertwined they give most of the same info and reinforce the information and also give distance students 

flexability. 

overall the course is effective and students learn a lot about our universe. Maybe professor can think another 

way to give us extra credit. For instance I took astronomy 101 and 102 for extra credit I went to two different 

planetariums but I saw similiar things on both planetariums so the second time I went wasn't that interesting. 

Overall this course is an effective and pretty interesting one from the college's lab courses". I am glad that i 

choose this course as my lab class. " 

Please consider that some students have families and other responsibilities and can not make it to observatory 

visits or trips to the planatarium. 

Scheduling more than 1planetarium visit with class. 

Thank you professor Armstrong and Gottlieb and Strom for teaching this class. I took the class online and you 

were very helpful. You answer my questions very fast and you were alwaya very clear. I enjoyed the visit to the 

planetarium and doing all the labs. I learned a lot about the starts and even how to use a telescope. It was a 

very entertaining class but most importantly I learned a lot. Thank you. 

The class was pretty fun. I loved the Starry Night program. I wasn't crazy about the Kepler's Third Law OP lab. I 

found it rather hard. I like the idea of having to learn on a little telescope. I got to see out of the two big ones in 

Sperry when I came to one of the Friday night observatory visits. I got to see Jupiter which was pretty cool and 

how they move the telescopes. The handouts on each chapter I liked so if we found something interesting then 

we wrote it down near the slide [since I'm not fast in writing it was nice not to copy everything down.] Planetary 

distances walk and the Starry Night Tutorial was my favorites. 

THe course was set up perfectly. I have class on Saturdays and a hectic (schedule fluxuates) works schedule. 

It would be nice to have 2 options a week for the Sperry observatory visits. You can make it so that a student 

can only attend one of them that week. So technically you'd still have 6 visits allowed. Friday nights was/are 

very difficult for me to attend. Also the planetarium Sperry visits should have a set time frame as to when the 

visit (talk) ends. Or at least a rough estimate to accomodate for scheduling purposes. Besides that the course 

is very well drawn out with many different approaches to learning available. Great Class and great Course (i 

took the course online). 

The only think I would say again is that I would like more hands on similar to making the comet. It was a 

tangible lesson which was engaging. I would also like more in class observatory or telescope experience which 

could be an encouragement for students to try it themselves at home. The Galileo telescope taht you build is a 

great example. I would use it at home if I had it and felt more comfortable using it. 

The quizzes and exams are very confusing. 

The room (furniture) could use a facelift! :) 

This class was great and well taught. looking forward to the next session. 

This is to the point I made above as well I find it difficult to attend evening observatory seesions. 

Very well taught course. Excellent information about our galaxy and I learned a lot. Definitely reccommend this 

course to somebody else. 

- 27 -

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