I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

Education NotesRubriques pédagogiquesIMPROVING THE TEACHING OFASTRONOMY 101 THROUGH TUTORIALSby Wayne A. BarkhouseHalifax Centre, RASCElectronic Mail: barkhous@astro.utoronto.caand Chris R. BurnsUniversity of TorontoElectronic Mail: burns@astro.utoronto.caAbstract. While lectures are a vital component to teaching an undergraduate course in astronomy, there are certain topics which aremore efficiently handled in a tutorial setting. In this paper, we discuss the role tutorials can play in helping students understand some ofthe basic concepts in astronomy by presenting specific examples from a first-year astronomy course offered at the University of Toronto.Five activities are described, two of which are excellent examples of the hands-on approach to teaching and learning, and are also suitableto the study of astronomy at the middle or senior high school level.Résumé. Bien que les cours sont d’une importance vitale dans l’enseignement de l’astronomie au niveau premier cycle universitaire, lesclasses dirigées sont plus pratiques pour permettre d’aborder des sujets particuliers. Dans ce rapport, nous discutons du rôle des classesdirigées pour aider les étudiants à comprendre certains principes de base en astronomie, en présentant des exemples particuliers puisésdans le cours de premier cycle offert à l’université de Toronto. Nous décrivons cinq activités, dont deux sont d’excellents exemples de laméthode ‘sur le tas’ d’enseigner et d’apprendre. Ces activités s’appliquent aussi à l’enseignement de l’astronomie au niveau secondaire.SEM1. IntroductionThe traditional method of teaching first-year astronomy studentshas relied upon the use of the so-called “lecture” mode to conveyinformation. Despite its convenient format for instructing largenumbers of students, the “lecture” mode has several disadvantages,including the lack of direct interaction with each student and theinability to teach certain concepts which require different visualizationtechniques. These disadvantages can be addressed through the useof tutorials.For the past several years, the Scarborough College at theUniversity of Toronto has made extensive use of tutorials for teachingfirst-year astronomy students. The tutorials are conducted by graduatestudents and typically contain 15–30 students. The tutorials canprovide a casual environment in which students feel comfortablecontributing to the class.In this article we present several examples of concepts whichare more effectively taught in a tutorial-like atmosphere rather thanthe traditional lecture-style mode.2. Activities and DemonstrationsIn this section, we present several examples of activities we haveperformed in tutorials at Scarborough College. We describe eachactivity, explain its motivation, and list its advantages and disadvantages.2.1 The SeasonsA common problem with teaching astronomy is that students beginthe course with preconceived notions about how the universe works.A good example is the reason why we have different seasons. Intextbooks, students are introduced to the notion that the Earthrevolves around the Sun in an ellipse. Unfortunately, most textbooksexaggerate the ellipticity, and the students can be left with theimpression that the Earth is much closer to the Sun for part of theyear. If students formerly thought that the Earth experiences seasonsbecause of its changing distance to the sun, the ellipticity of the Earth’sorbit will no doubt reinforce this notion.In this activity we try to get the students to re-evaluate thisconcept individually through an active discussion, or debate. Webegin by asking the students to propose any hypotheses to explainwhy there are seasons. Hopefully, the right answer will be suggested,but if not, the tutorial leader can propose it. The goal is not necessarilyto get to the correct answer, but rather to show how one can falsifydifferent hypotheses.Once we have several suggestions, a vote is conducted on whichone is the correct answer, eliminating all but the two (or more) mostpopular choices. We then split the students into teams and have themjustify their choice. Finally, the tutorial leader initiates a discussionbetween the teams, where each team attempts to falsify the other’sposition.252Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 94: 252—254, 2000 DecemberDecember / décembre 2000