Astronomy 101 and the Universe

Arts & Sciences, Astronomy Department

Reinventing Astronomy 101

The Astronomy Department has taught two popular introductory courses for many years, one of them a survey of astronomy (Astronomy 101) and another a survey of the solar system (Astronomy 150). A new set of interactive labs and exercises for Astronomy 101 is being developed based on browser technology. The new labs empower even beginning students to perform quantitative analysis of real science-grade data,. as well as allowing greater flexibility in teaching the courses and wider access for other uses, including off-campus applications such as K-12 outreach.

Bringing the Universe into the University

The Astronomy Department is establishing a new set of hands-on research courses for undergraduate majors in Physics and Astronomy, for which a new undergraduate research lab is being assembled on campus. Tools for Transformation funding is providing key components of infrastructure to implement a digital observatory on an observing deck in the Physics-Astronomy building, including ethernet connectivity, telescope hardware, new wide-field CCD camera, and a laptop computer for taking data. A data-reduction lab being installed is devoted to undergraduate majors; they can use the lab for working on their own data or on data taken by faculty at major research facilities such as the Apache Point Telescope or the Hubble Space Telescope.

Contact:	Craig Hogan Professor, Physics and Astronomy hogan@astro.washington.edu
Allocation:	$55,319
Date Funded:	October 1999

Tools for Transformation Funded Proposals