Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Synopsis
ASTRONAUTICS COURSE
Harald Schenk
Physics/Astronomy Department; UW-Sheboygan
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC) provided UW-Sheboygan a
Higher Education Initiatives grant for organizing a new interdisciplinary course in
ASTRONAUTICS for first and second year students in the Sheboygan area. It was the
first such course offered on any UW-C campus. It may be adapted for other UW-C
campuses. The new course included a High-Altitude balloon component. This was to give
the students a chance to collect first-hand scientific data.
Project Goals
The focus of this class was to create engaging and scientifically compelling
experiences for first and second year students in the Sheboygan area. With Sheboygan’s
selection as a mid-west Spaceport, it was felt that the content of this course would blend
in with the objectives of our new Great Lakes Aerospace Science and Education Center
(GLASEC). The strategic focus of GLASEC is the same as the objective of the National
Space Grant Program. UW-Sheboygan currently offers three Astronomy courses during
the year. A course in ASTRONAUTICS would give students another option to continue a
possible career in one of the space sciences. It was also hoped that it would attract some
of the new engineering students that were scheduled to start attending the campus starting
in 2008.
Completed Activities
It was decided to use a team-teaching approach for this class. Professor Dennis
Crossley teaches all Physics classes on the campus. Harald Schenk teaches all Astronomy
classes at UW-Sheboygan. By having two instructors, it would give students a look at
how the subject is seen from different perspectives.
Prof Crossley volunteered to handle the administrative job of getting the course
approved by the UW-C curriculum committee. It was thought that by making the course
interdisciplinary, we would get a larger variety of students. The course was initially
approved to start in the fall of the 2008 semester. Due to conflicts with other classes, the
start was delayed until the spring of 2009.
In the meantime, Harald Schenk attended a High-Altitude balloon workshop at
Taylor University in Indiana. It was paid for, in part, by the WSGC grant. Taylor
promised attendees of the workshop a $200 stipend toward future balloon launches that
were to be made from their home campus. The workshop took place during May, 2008. It
was one of two High-Altitude workshops being held at Taylor that year.
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