Does anyone knows if there is a similar discussion group on the topic of physics
education? Thanks!
Vera

There are four that might be of interest. Physlrnr is for physics education
research, while phys-l is focused more on teaching aspects. This separation
is a bit different than what is here on astrolrner (where both discussions
occur regularly), so something to be aware of. Tap-l focuses on labs, demos,
etc, while physhare is aimed at high school level.



See http://www.ncsu.edu/per/lists.html for information on all four and how
to subscribe.



Janelle



------------------------------------------------------
Janelle M. Bailey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Science Education
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Office: CEB 360A
702-895-4756 office
702-513-8763 mobile
702-895-4898 fax

Department of Curriculum & Instruction
4505 S Maryland Pkwy, Box 453005
Las Vegas, NV 89154-3005
------------------------------------------------------



From: vera.margoniner
Subject: [Astrolrner@CAE] Physics learning list?

Does anyone knows if there is a similar discussion group on the topic of
physics education? Thanks!

On Tue, May 03, 2011 at 05:43:13PM +0000, vera.margoniner wrote:
> Does anyone knows if there is a similar discussion group on the topic
> of physics education? Thanks! Vera

PHYSLRNR: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/physlrnr.html

-- Mike

Hi, Vera. Yes there is - through the AAPT (American Association of Physics
Teachers). They have a list I belong to regarding teacher preparation. Another
organization is PTEC (Physics Teacher Education Coalition).

Chris Sirola
Southern Miss

________________________________
From: vera.margoniner
Subject: [Astrolrner@CAE] Physics learning list?

Does anyone knows if there is a similar discussion group on the topic of
physics education? Thanks!

Interesting... 3 replies and 7 different answers.  It would be nice if there was
a single "go to" group for Physics Teaching and another one for Physics
Education Research.  Even better would be a single portal like what we have here
with AstroLrner.  I'm all for variety and multiple outlets, but I'm more for
fewer, and more comprehensive, sources of information.

Christopher J. Wood
Instructor
Physics/Astronomy
Schoolcraft College



-----Original Message-----
From: astrolrner@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Janelle M. Bailey
Subject: RE: [Astrolrner@CAE]    Physics learning list?

There are four that might be of interest. Physlrnr is for physics education
research, while phys-l is focused more on teaching aspects. This separation
is a bit different than what is here on astrolrner (where both discussions
occur regularly), so something to be aware of. Tap-l focuses on labs, demos,
etc, while physhare is aimed at high school level.

See http://www.ncsu.edu/per/lists.html for information on all four and how
to subscribe.

The nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific is happy to announce the
publication of a DVD-ROM of activities and resources for teaching astronomy:

The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0 contains:

* 133 classroom-tested hands-on activities, from programs and projects around
the US
* 17 topical guides to the best sources of information in print and on the web
* 52 background articles on astronomy and education
* 55 of the best introductory astronomy images with detailed captions (and a
guide to finding hundreds more)
* 12 short videos with instructions for doing some of the most often-used
activities.

All written materials are presented in easy-to-print PDF format.

Activities come with full instructions and class/audience handouts.  Most can be
used in both classroom settings and in informal programs such as museums and
nature centers.  While most of the activities are for grades 4 - 12 or for
public audiences, a good number of them are easily adapted as labs and group
activities at the Astro 101 level.

A special introductory offer takes $3 off the price of the disk if you order
before the end of May.  It is available exclusively through the Society's
on-line AstroShop.

To  see the full table of contents and to order the disk, please go to:
http://astrosociety.org/uayf/

This disk is an expanded and completely updated version of the print guide to
astronomy activities and resources published by the Society since 1995 and in
use in thousands of K-12 classrooms, teacher training programs, college labs,
planetariums, museums, parks, and amateur astronomy clubs around the world.  The
new edition includes dozens of new activities and resources, including coverage
of such recent topics as the search for planets around other stars, why Pluto
got kicked out of the planet club, and how to respond to the Internet scare of
the world ending in 2012 as a result of astronomical events.

The 133 activities, ranging from short discussions to sequences that take
several hours, cover a host of topics that are the staple of national and state
science frameworks and standards.  Themes include scales of size, distance, and
time; comparing planets; understanding basic sky phenomena, such as phases of
the Moon, the daily motion of the Sun, seasons on Earth and other worlds, and
the multi-cultural origins of the constellations; the lives of stars; the
expansion of the universe; and ways of involving astronomy learning with other
fields such as geography, math, writing, and history.

This past February I attended the CAE workshop at Penn State. The semester was
already in full swing, but I was able to successfully incorporate methods
learned during the workshop. In particular I found that careful implementation
of TPS in my classroom yielded great results. In just one class I was able to
see what my students were and weren't getting. They debated answers and
convinced each other. It was great to see the interaction. The technique worked
exactly as predicted. It was awesome!

The TPS method was so successful in my astronomy class that I started using it
in my physics class too. :)

I'm a new instructor and still figuring out the best way to do things. The
workshop was incredibly helpful to me and I want to thank Gina and Ed for
running the workshop, as belated as I am in doing so! Thank you so much!! I'm
looking forward to attending another one in the future.

best,
carrie fitzgerald
(Montgomery College)

Our Pleasure Carrie.  Glad it made a difference in your class.  You just made
our day.  See you at another workshop sometime soon :-)

Cheers,
Ed and Gina


--------------------------------------------------
Dr. Edward Prather

Executive Director
Center for Astronomy Education (CAE)
astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov

Associate Professor
University of Arizona
Department of Astronomy
Steward Observatory, Rm. 207
933 N. Cherry Ave.
Tucson, AZ  85721
520.621.6530 (phone)
520.621.1532 (fax)
eprather@...

On May 4, 2011, at 4:44 PM, carrie.fitzgerald wrote:
This past February I attended the CAE workshop at Penn State. The semester was
already in full swing, but I was able to successfully incorporate methods
learned during the workshop. In particular I found that careful implementation
of TPS in my classroom yielded great results. In just one class I was able to
see what my students were and weren't getting. They debated answers and
convinced each other. It was great to see the interaction. The technique worked
exactly as predicted. It was awesome!

The TPS method was so successful in my astronomy class that I started using it
in my physics class too. :)

I'm a new instructor and still figuring out the best way to do things. The
workshop was incredibly helpful to me and I want to thank Gina and Ed for
running the workshop, as belated as I am in doing so! Thank you so much!! I'm
looking forward to attending another one in the future.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

I've been teaching for almost 10 years now and I'd been experimenting with
making my big lectures more interactive for a few semesters.  I attended the
workshop at Oberlin in September of last year and I really got a lot out of it. 
At the time I wasn't teaching astronomy (I usually only teach it in the spring),
but Gina and Ed helped me to clarify a few things that weren't quite working and
I tweaked my method as soon as I got back to teaching in my large physics class.
The change was almost immediate and for the better.  And, of course, I also used
the TPS questions and the lecture tutorials in my astronomy class this semester
and it was equally great.

Kathy Shan
University of Toledo


--- In astrolrner@yahoogroups.com, "carrie.fitzgerald" <carrie.fitzgerald@...>
wrote:
This past February I attended the CAE workshop at Penn State. The semester was
already in full swing, but I was able to successfully incorporate methods
learned during the workshop. In particular I found that careful implementation
of TPS in my classroom yielded great results...

I hope you've all seen this wonderful pan-and-zoom sky map...  I think I
recently ran into it on Bad Astronomy:
http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html  Great to show in
class!

This made me wonder:  is there a similar pan-and-zoom mapping of the
WMAP Cosmic Microwave Background data?  I would love to show that to my
students, to hopefully give them more of a feel for how it's a "background".

Thanks,
Melissa Hayes-Gehrke
mhayesge@...

** please excuse the cross posting , but I wanted to be sure you had a
chance to respond ...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: *Seth Bush* <csu.sfes.researchteam@...>
Subject: Please Respond: A National Study of SFES in the United States

Greetings Colleague,

You have received this email because you may be a Science Faculty with an
Education Specialty (SFES) or work with an SFES.  As a research team of SFES
ourselves, we conducted a study of SFES in the California State University
system and published findings in Science magazine and CBE-Life Sciences
Education.  To better characterize SFES, we are expanding the scope of our
study to the national level in the United States and would like to hear from
you.

While all college and university science faculty are education specialists
in some regard, we define SFES here as individuals who either: 1) have been
specifically hired in science departments to specialize in science
education, OR 2) have transitioned to a role as a science faculty member
focused on issues in science education after their initial hire.  This study
continues to characterize SFES and their diverse roles in science
education.

If you are an SFES or think you might be an SFES, we would very much
appreciate your participation in a national survey of SFES across the U.S.
at the link below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UnitedStatesSFES

Your voluntary participation in this study would:

1) consist of answering questions in an on-line survey
2) be anonymous and voluntary.
3) require about 45 minutes of your time.
4) invite you to forward this email to colleagues in the U.S. who might be
SFES.

You may find the survey enhances your awareness of one or more issues that
impact your professional success. Reported findings may include information
that could enhance your own career, as well as the fields of higher
education and science education.

Please let us know you are out there and complete this survey today!

Thank you in advance for your time and willingness to participate in this
research.

Sincerely,

Seth Bush, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Nancy Pelaez, Purdue University
James Rudd, California State University, Los Angeles
Michael Stevens, Utah Valley University
Kimberly Tanner, San Francisco State University
Kathy Williams, San Diego State University

Please note: We will NOT share your information with third parties...

Latest News on a National Conference of Interest

"Connecting People to Science"
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific's
Conference on Science Education and Outreach
July 30 - Aug. 3, 2011
Baltimore, Maryland

Hundreds of people working at all levels of education and outreach in space,
earth, and physical science will gather at a meeting this summer cosponsored by
the American Geophysical Union and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Plenary speakers include:

* Best selling author and commentator on "science wars," Chris Mooney;
* NASA's Chief Scientist, Waleed Abdalati, discussing how a          
space-based perspective can give us a new understanding of planet Earth;
* Neil deGrasse Tyson, America's favorite public astronomer,
          on his adventures with social media;
* Randi Korn, one of the most creative of science education program
          evaluators, on how best to plan and evaluate your projects.

For more information and to register, please go to:
http://www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html

Sessions and presentations at the meeting will consider citizen science,
communicating global warming in today's political climate, "Marketing 101 for
Scientists,"  how to write up and publish educational work, engaging girls in
science, the Pluto debate as a role-playing game, data visualization tools,
getting more science into after-school programs, how to view the 2012 transit of
Venus, the new national science education standards, special days and years for
science as large public EPO events, the latest discoveries from the Hubble Space
Telescope, and many other topics of interest.

While the regular deadline for submitting abstracts has now passed, late
abstracts for both oral presentations and posters are still welcome and will be
included in the program as space allows. The deadline for late abstracts for
workshops, special interest groups, and 10-minute oral papers is May 20, 2011.
The deadline for late abstracts for poster papers is June 13.

The meeting offers a superb opportunity to learn from mentor educators from
around the country, to network with professionals whose projects and tasks
resemble yours, and to share with appreciative peers the programs and resources
that you are working on.

Special Note for K-12 Teachers:

Workshops and short courses for K-12 teachers are also being offered from July
30 - Aug. 3 in conjunction with this meeting. Teachers will explore the most
recent developments in our understanding of the universe and the Earth's
climate, with science content and resources tied directly to national and local
standards. You can download a flyer detailing the seven professional development
programs for teachers at:
http://astrosociety.org/events/2011mtg/teacher_flyer.pdf

Hi Karen!
I don't have direct experience with ST8s, but I think you're on track
consulting with SBIG.  We've used an ST6 at Pine Mountain and in our
classroom outreach for many years with great success. I know of colleagues
pleased with ST7s, and I have no hesitation recommending service and
products from SBIG from my personal experience with SBIG over the years.
Apogee would be my other brand recommendation for CCD Cameras.

A number of projects come to mind: (part of my job function is to organize
observing projects for beginners that use small telescopes)

a. Asteroid/Comet search by blinking images from consecutive nights,
you're almost guaranteed to catch something (although probably a known
object) if you image anywhere near the ecliptic.  Lowell Observatory has
several digital catalogs and tools that are helpful with sorting out
objects.

b. Monitoring galaxies for supernovas.  (might bore students to death as
highly unlikely they'll catch anything but the serendipitous discovery is
way cool.)

c. Measuring position angle and separation of double stars: lots of
Neglected Doubles need measurement, you can do this optically or with CCD,
optically you'll need an illuminated etched reticle eyepiece.  Journal for
Double Star Observers (JDSO) is the publication with info.

d. Inventory counts: simple project but an eye opener for a lot of
students: counting stars, galaxies, or perhaps classes of stars and in
different areas of the sky.

e. Photometric variations: We often start students with very short period
(several hour) variables so they can produce a light curve with just one
night's data.  XX Cygni and W U Maj are two of Richard Berry's favorites.
Light curves of tumbling asteroids can be interesting.  We had one student
team last summer use a CCD to try to image with an 8 inch scope an egress
of an exoplanet, their data did show a change but borderline significant.
AAVSO of course has a plethora of targets listed.

You might look at Prof. Russell M. Genet's new book, Small Telescopes and
Astronomical Research, Russ and colleagues describe quite a few projects.
He and Richard founded our Pine Mountain Research Camp project, now in its
third year, our attendees have concentrated on the double star and the
short period variable projects so far.  We use 8-14 inch aperture portable
instruments rather then the 24" and 32" fixed scopes onsite.

Hope this helps!   Rick

--
Rick Kang (in Eugene)  rkang@...
Pine Mountain Observatory Outreach
http://oregonsky.org



=====
From: Karen Lewis <ktlewis_astro@...>
Date: Thu May 5, 2011 3:06 pm

> Hello,
>    We've got a 12" LX90-SC and we're finally on the campus master plan to
> have a modest little observatory out past the golf course.  The primary
> users of these telescopes will be the astronomy club (newly formed) and
> upper level physics majors who will have the option of doing some
> astronomy experiments in our Junior independent study (rotating through
> "key" experiments and then a self-designed project). I'm envisioning that
> they might make color-magnitude diagrams of open clusters, monitor
> variable stars, and similar activities. I've just been on the phone with
> SBIG and I'm pretty sure I need the ST8 to get a large enough field of
> view to do any kind of stellar cluster work.  So, I have two questions
>
> 1) Does anybody have experience with the ST8. Are you fairly happy?
>
> 2) I'm also wondering why other types of projects might be doable with
> this telescope and CCD combination (of course with a filter wheel). We're
> in rural Ohio, but not that dark since the campus is close to the town
> (~18-19 mag/sq arcsec). I'm going to spend some time this summer getting a
> better feel for the conditions.

Hello Karen,

To Rick's list of possible projects for your new telescope I would add
monitoring blazars. Like searching for supernovae, not the most exciting work,
but it is scientifically useful. Basically you just grab a few images a week to
see of the objects are in outburst. Your magnitudes can be archived with the
AAVSO, who keep continuously updated light curves for many blazars. We have a
program to monitor a set of bright blazars which is described on our website:
http://gtn.sonoma.edu. We are always happy to have new members contributing
observations of these objects.

Good luck with your new observatory, and have loads of fun with it.

Kevin

.............................
Dr. Kevin McLin
GTN Director
NASA EPO Group
Sonoma State University
707-664-4308
mclin@...


> =====
> From: Karen Lewis <ktlewis_astro@...>
> Date: Thu May 5, 2011 3:06 pm
>
> > We've got a 12" LX90-SC and we're finally on the campus master plan to
> > have a modest little observatory out past the golf course...
>
> > I'm also wondering why other types of projects might be doable with
> > this telescope and CCD combination (of course with a filter wheel). We're
> > in rural Ohio, but not that dark since the campus is close to the town
> > (~18-19 mag/sq arcsec). I'm going to spend some time this summer getting a
> > better feel for the conditions.

Hi Karen,
Our college observatory, at the College of San Mateo,  doesn't have an ST8, but
uses an ST-7XME in lots of student projects.  We are really happy with it and we
use it for photometry and spectroscopy.   A few photometric projects that our
students are doing include photometry of the contact binary W UMa, the
cataclysmic variable WZ Sge, the pulsating variable BL Cam, the supernova SN
2011k, and the exoplanet Hat-P-5b.  All of this work is done using a TEC 140
refractor.  You'll have no problem using your 12" LX90.  Here are a couple of
links to their projects:

http://collegeofsanmateo.edu/astronomy/astrophotoweek.asp

http://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/astronomy/photometry.asp

One thing that you may want to consider is getting a diffraction grating
spectroscope.  We use the Rainbow Optics one, 200 l/mm but there is also the
Star Analyser 100 l/mm.  Our Rainbow Optics cost ~ $200.  We hook ours up to an
inexpensive webcam and a Meade 8" and use the spectroscopy program RSpec. 
Students can see live spectra and can do lots of analysis on them.  You can show
them the contrasting spectra of an A star, such as Sirius and a K star, such as
Arcturus.

Our observatory is located on campus, on the 4th floor of our science building. 
We are above the trees, but get hit with some campus light pollution.  However,
the students are still able to get results.


Darryl



On 5/5/11 3:06 PM, "Karen Lewis" <ktlewis_astro@...> wrote:

1) Does anybody have experience with the ST8. Are you fairly happy?

2) I'm also wondering why other types of projects might be doable with this
telescope and CCD combination (of course with a filter wheel). We're in rural
Ohio, but not that dark since the campus is close to the town (~18-19 mag/sq
arcsec). I'm going to spend some time this summer getting a better feel for the
conditions.

I'm thinking the time of reckoning is here... that email and BlackBoard (or
similar CMS) just aren't good enough to communicate effectively with my
students.  It seems like a Facebook page would be best.  I'm finding that most
of my students seldom check email more than a couple of times per week, but
everyone keeps up with Facebook on a daily basis.

What's the best way to set this up?  Should I create a Facebook group under my
existing Facebook account?  Should a create a whole different Facebook page,
called "Schoolcraft Astronomy" (for example)? What other tips and tricks should
I be aware of?  I'd like to keep this Facebook page disconnected from my
personal Facebook account, if possible.

Thanks!

Christopher J. Wood
Instructor
Physics/Astronomy
Schoolcraft College

Dear Chris,
Using social networks (such as Facebook) for teaching/communicate is a step
forward. These are excellent tools and serve many purposes.

To answer your question, I would advise you to create a Facebook Group than a
Page. Note that these two serve very distinct purposes. Groups are good for a
specific community. You can also set it up as private where it will not be
visible publicly. It has a handy tool to create documents which can be used to
share homework, announcements, questions, etc...

It's fine to create a Group using your personal account. But your students might
add you on Facebook if they are not already friends. If you don't want the
students to add you, you could either disable someone adding you through your
account settings or you could create a new profile to run the group - which is
more work.

Here's good article on Facebook Groups and Pages -
http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-page-or-group-2010-07

You can create a group here - http://www.facebook.com/groups

I'm sure students will get excited about the idea of using Facebook to
communicate, but at the same time be careful about not pushing it too hard. Most
use Facebook as a "leisure" tool, some might not like the idea of bringing
classroom into their playground.

Also, make sure all your students are actually using Facebook. There are 600
million active users currently on Facebook, but... there are many who simply
hate it and find it as a waste of time.

I'm in EPO field and use social networking extensively for our programs, if you
need further help, feel free to write directly.

For those who are interested in social media for science, "Communicating
Astronomy with the Public 2011" meeting in October focus on "Social Media, the
new territory for science outreach". More info -
http://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2011/firstannouncement.html


Cheers!
Thilina


=======================================================
Thilina Heenatigala.
Project Coordinator
Astronomers Without Borders (AWB)

email: thilina@...  phone:   +94 716 245 545
web:   http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/  twitter:  @ThilinaH
blog:   http://thilinaheenatigala.blogspot.com  facebook: thilina.heenatigala
=======================================================

Perception of Science: in popular culture vs. actual science -
http://ow.ly/4O8Rp

--- On Fri, 5/6/11, Christopher J. Wood <cwood@...> wrote:
From: Christopher J. Wood <cwood@...>
Subject: [Astrolrner@CAE]    Facebook for Astronomy Class?
To: astrolrner@yahoogroups.com

Date: Friday, May 6, 2011, 9:54 PM
       I'm thinking the time of reckoning is here... that email and BlackBoard
(or similar CMS) just aren't good enough to communicate effectively with my
students.  It seems like a Facebook page would be best.  I'm finding that most
of my students seldom check email more than a couple of times per week, but
everyone keeps up with Facebook on a daily basis.

What's the best way to set this up?  Should I create a Facebook group under my
existing Facebook account?  Should a create a whole different Facebook page,
called "Schoolcraft Astronomy" (for example)? What other tips and tricks should
I be aware of?  I'd like to keep this Facebook page disconnected from my
personal Facebook account, if possible.

I have set up a Facebook page for myself as a 'public figure' named "Professor
Paul Robinson" which my students can "like" and thus follow. I can manage it and
post and internet as "Professor Paul Robinson" without my students ever knowing
about my personal Facebook profile. Facebook now allows you to switch seamlessly
between them.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Valhalla-NY/Professor-Paul-Robinson/1751568425172\
00

About half of my students this semester are subscribed to the page, and I have
used it to make announcements, clarifications and reminders. It's also a nice
place to post videos and links from class. When I'm in class and I show a cool
clip or mention a website, I can say "I'll put this on Facebook for you." The
nice thing about using the public figure "page" for yourself is it gives you
some usage statistics, so that I know students are seeing the posts, even if
only a few are responding directly or "liking" a comment, etc. As an anecdote, I
have had many students tell me in class that the Facebook reminders are more
useful than the emails I send them in Blackboard.

This semester has been kind of a small-scale pilot of using Facebook with
students, and I would like to expand the role it plays in interacting with them.
Facebook is so pervasive in their lives, so having course reminders and
announcements in their newsfeed may reap more rewards than messages in isolated
course management systems. Not that I'm gung ho for monopolization via Facebook,
but I think it's only a matter of time before an effective Facebook application
is made with which to manage a college course.

***************************
Paul E. Robinson
Assistant Professor, Physical Sciences
Westchester Community College
***************************
________________________________________
From: Christopher J. Wood [cwood@...]
Subject: [Astrolrner@CAE]    Facebook for Astronomy Class?

I'm thinking the time of reckoning is here... that email and BlackBoard (or
similar CMS) just aren't good enough to communicate effectively with my
students. It seems like a Facebook page would be best. I'm finding that most of
my students seldom check email more than a couple of times per week, but
everyone keeps up with Facebook on a daily basis.

What's the best way to set this up? Should I create a Facebook group under my
existing Facebook account? Should a create a whole different Facebook page,
called "Schoolcraft Astronomy" (for example)? What other tips and tricks should
I be aware of? I'd like to keep this Facebook page disconnected from my personal
Facebook account, if possible.

I've been using Facebook with my online courses as a substitute for traditional
online discussions.  I set up Facebook groups (I agree with groups over friends)
where students and I post astronomy-related articles to discuss.  The great
thing about Facebook is that you can "like" so many astronomy-themed groups that
there are a plethora of articles ripe for discussion.  In addition, students can
receive email updates when someone responds to a article they've posted or
responded to, which helps facilitate the discussion.

I'm still sifting through the data (hopefully in time to present a poster at the
ASP meeting in Baltimore this summer), but based on my experience so far, I find
that my students are more responsive to online discussions via Facebook compared
to the traditional online discussion forums.  It's like the others have been
saying, most students are already using Facebook and so it's just natural for
them to respond to a Facebook post rather than log into the course and comment
there.

As someone else pointed out in their response, be careful as to how much
emphasis you place on Facebook.  In an effort to collect data on its usage, I
essentially required students to participate in discussions via Facebook.  I
took steps to show non-users how to set up their accounts, change all the
defaults to maximize their privacy, etc. and I still got one or two who
absolutely refused to use it (one even wrote an entire paragraph on my
end-of-semester evaluation about how I forced them to use Facebook against their
will!)  While I think it is a very valuable tool, there will always be some who
just refuse to use it.

Scott


________________________________________
From: Christopher J. Wood [cwood@...]
Subject: Facebook for Astronomy Class?

I'm thinking the time of reckoning is here... that email and BlackBoard (or
similar CMS) just aren't good enough to communicate effectively with my
students. It seems like a Facebook page would be best. I'm finding that most of
my students seldom check email more than a couple of times per week, but
everyone keeps up with Facebook on a daily basis.

What's the best way to set this up? Should I create a Facebook group under my
existing Facebook account? Should a create a whole different Facebook page,
called "Schoolcraft Astronomy" (for example)? What other tips and tricks should
I be aware of? I'd like to keep this Facebook page disconnected from my personal
Facebook account, if possible.

I too have a "fan page"... "Jim Caffey Astronomer/Professor" that I allow my
students to "like".  I will not add or allow any current students to add me to
my personal page, unless the class is over and they are no longer my student. 
My fan page has 50-70 other pages that send info to it, so they get a whole
wealth of science info if they want.  I don't require it, as you will always
have someone who refuses... but the students do like to email me on facebook,
rather than on Black board or email.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Miller, Scott
Subject: Facebook for Astronomy Class?

I've been using Facebook with my online courses as a substitute for traditional
online discussions.  I set up Facebook groups (I agree with groups over friends)
where students and I post astronomy-related articles to discuss.  The great
thing about Facebook is that you can "like" so many astronomy-themed groups that
there are a plethora of articles ripe for discussion.  In addition, students can
receive email updates when someone responds to a article they've posted or
responded to, which helps facilitate the discussion.

Interestingly, my experience has been almost the opposite: while I get many
students who have added onto my Facebook class group, I get very little
interaction with them there. I'm suspect that I'm just not using it as
effectively as I could be, but so far my class Blackboard site is still my
primary way of communicating with my students outside of class (and with my
online classes).

I'm also concerned about some of the same things that a couple of others have
mentioned: the students are required to be on the class Blackboard site, but
many don't have a Facebook site and/or aren't interested in making Facebook part
of their "schoolwork". Since I already make them use both Blackboard and the
textbook web site, I'm not sure it's reasonable to insist that they also have to
start using yet another electronic tool.

Dave Kary
Astronomy Instructor
Citrus Community College
Glendora, CA

Now that I think about it, I am on FB way more than I'm on BB...I'd probably
share more links and post more reminders and announcements on FB than I
would ever do on BB!

Questions:

- How do you handle multiple semesters? Do you create a new group each
semester or just use the same one over and over again? Is there a way to
flush the group members?

- I would prefer the group be private, but then how do I get all of my
students invitations to join? Can I generate a link that I then send to them
in an email via BB?

FWIW, I will use my personal profile and just not accept the friend requests
from my students. I will also state very clearly on the first day to not
send me friend requests. I bet it won't be an issue.

great thread!
kelle

--
Kelle Cruz, PhD — http://kellecruz.com/
917.725.1334 — Hunter ext: 16486 — AMNH ext: 3404

Why flush the group members? Let the students decide if they want to keep the
page on their newsfeed or not. On my page, I have a handful of former students
who follow and who occasionally post.

With FB groups, you can micromanage it so that only certain people or groups see
your posts, just like with posts on your personal profile.

Personally, I don't think I'm interested in managing access on FB for students.
Let anyone join, and if there's something sensitive or proprietary that can't be
posted publicly, just put it on Blackboard or whatever course management system
is in use.

***************************
Paul E. Robinson
Assistant Professor, Physical Sciences
Westchester Community College
***************************
________________________________________
From: Kelle Cruz [kellecruz@...]
Subject: Facebook for Astronomy Class?

- How do you handle multiple semesters? Do you create a new group each
semester or just use the same one over and over again? Is there a way to
flush the group members?

- I would prefer the group be private, but then how do I get all of my
students invitations to join? Can I generate a link that I then send to them
in an email via BB?

Preview of the links students study for their current events quiz for next week:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb/gpb_results.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/news/dawn20110503.html
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news171.html

Use/adapt the above links, and questions below for your own purposes in the
following week, as long as public dissemination beyond the confines of the
Astrolrner@CAE listserv not occur until after 5/13 (when the last of my students
have taken their current events quiz).

When asteroid 2005 YU55 makes it closest approach to Earth this November, it
will:
(A) cause higher than normal tides.
(B) disrupt GPS and cell phone communications.
(C) be visible in the sky later that evening.
(D) transit across the face of the moon.
(E) have developed a long, bright tail.

This July, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will fly by:
(A) Vesta, an asteroid.
(B) Saturn's rings.
(C) Halley's comet.
(D) Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
(E) Space Shuttle Endeavour, on its final mission.

NASA's Gravity Probe B spacecraft confirmed general theory of relativity
predictions by:
(A) monitoring bacterial aging in space relative to on Earth.
(B) comparing the timing of back-and-forth laser pulses.
(C) measuring minute temperature fluctuations in space.
(D) accelerating to near the speed of light.
(E) tracking changes in alignment with a reference star.


Compiled student responses will be posted (publicly) online on my education
research blog on 5/13.

Results from previous current events questions below:
http://t.co/t5SAjWh
http://t.co/FmkFIN8
http://t.co/HizT27u
http://t.co/Wz3f9td

Regards,
Patrick M. Len
Physical Sciences Division, Cuesta College
San Luis Obispo, CA
(pmL@...)

=====

Hello fellow astronomy educators,

What do you close with at the end of the last class of the semester?

As for me, I'm handing out Astronomy Certificates of Achievement:
http://waiferx.blogspot.com/2011/05/astronomy-certificate-of-achievement.html

Students from previous years come up to me and talk about how they still display
their certificates.

Regards,
Patrick M. Len
Physical Sciences Division, Cuesta College
San Luis Obispo, CA
(pmL@...)

=====

I like showing the Hubble video "revelations" and say it's a class summary in 3
minutes

Sent from my iPhone

=====
On May 9, 2011, at 5:42 PM, pml@... wrote:

What do you close with at the end of the last class of the semester?

Patrick,

That certificate is an interesting idea.

I hand out a 'photo collage' of pictures I have taken throughout the term
similar to what is shown below:

Also, one thought I have about your certificate is that it tells them they
are an 'Astronomer', which could tread on those who pride themselves as PhD
Astronomers (I'm not one of those).  Instead, maybe they could be 'Amateur
Astronomers' or 'Introductory Astronomers'.

Thanks for sharing this concept with us.

Tony George
Astronomy Instructor
Description: AAW Moon Observing 016
Columbia Basin College
Pasco, Washington
(541) 922-2517(h)  (541) 922-2973

=====
From: Of waiferx
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 3:42 PM
Subject: [Astrolrner@CAE] Moderator Monday: last class closers

What do you close with at the end of the last class of the semester?

Dear Tony,

Like the photo collage idea--like a yearbook of sorts.  Do students ask you and
each other to sign their photos?

Also the "Astronomer" title is an in-class joke.  I remind the students that
I've never taken an astronomy class, undergraduate or graduate, but at the end
of this semester they will all be better qualified "astronomers" than I could
ever be, at least, according to their transcripts (and this certificate).

Regards,
Patrick M. Len
Physical Sciences Division, Cuesta College
San Luis Obispo, CA
(pmL@...)

=====
--- In astrolrner@yahoogroups.com, "Tony George" <triastro@...> wrote:
> That certificate is an interesting idea.
>
> I hand out a 'photo collage' of pictures I have taken throughout the term
> similar to what is shown below:
>
> Also, one thought I have about your certificate is that it tells them they
> are an 'Astronomer', which could tread on those who pride themselves as PhD
> Astronomers (I'm not one of those).  Instead, maybe they could be 'Amateur
> Astronomers' or 'Introductory Astronomers'.

I end with reasons for why we might choose to go to space. I remind students of
our reflections of "The Pale Blue Dot" at the start of the semester, and then
show the clip "The Frontier Is Everywhere".

Cheers.
- Dan

On May 9, 2011, at 3:41 PM, "waiferx" <pml@...> wrote:
> What do you close with at the end of the last class of the semester?