Instructor's Expectations for Student Participation

The atmosphere in our class will emphasize student participation and interaction - I don't want you just to memorize a bunch of facts, but to try to understand what science is and how we know what we know. This requires a lot of class time, in discussions and in working through example problems. I will constantly be asking questions beginning with Why and asking you to explain things, and that requires you to keep working steadily.

Only about half the material which you are responsible for will be presented in lectures. The rest of the material will be found in the textbook and on the class Web pages.

Here are the sorts of math skills you will need

• solve simple algebraic equations
• multiply and divide fractions
• understand proportions, such as the inverse-square law of light
• know what a meter and a kilogram are.

Here are a few pointers:

1. Come to every lecture.
2. Don't fall behind! Study well in advance of the scheduled examinations, so there is time to ask questions and participate in discussions.
3. Work though all the example problems and take all the self tests. Ask others for help, and come to the my office hours!
4. Each one of the topics is equivalent to an astronomy lecture. The extensive notes on the Web means you can "attend lecture" (download pages and study them) whenever you want, but you will find that missing class will hurt your chances for a reasonable grade.
5. If you want to get a grade of C or better, study at least three hours for each lecture you attend.
6. Download the material and do the assigned reading BEFORE coming to class!

Now the above expectations are, in your professor's view, not unreasonable. In the regular world after graduation, you would naturally be expected to come to meetings prepared, with your work done in advance. You might as well start practicing for this environment now.

I encourage you to form partnerships with other students in the class, and to work cooperatively. It helps a lot to discuss the material and to work together in solving problems. As you will see, we will emphasize such cooperative behavior in class. Naturally, you will have to do the exams on your own.

As you see from the above, I have high expectations for effort. I don't however, expect that you already are super at math or physics - in this class we'll not only work on Astronomy but on the basic math and computational skills you need.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need some help catching up or if you have personal difficulties this quarter.