Welcome to AST2002
AST2002
The observational science of astronomy was born out of humanity's attempts to understand what we see when we look towards the sky, and has grown to encompass explanations of how the universe evolved to its current state, and to even explain where the atoms that make up our bodies come from.
This course is a survey of Astronomy topics and is intended to be of interest to students of any major, and as such, will be largely quantitative in nature. This is not to say that there will be no mathematics used, but the mathematics will be simple and limited. And since we are talking about nature, there is no avoiding physics -- this course will include discussions of important relevant physics topics, but again will be restricted to simple descriptions and a few rules.
I am Dr. Moussa, and I will be your guide on this 15 week journey.
(You can read about my physics journey on my profile page on the physics department website.)
Please know that I am keen on providing you with a fun and informative learning experience, and that I am really invested in your learning, so do not hesitate to reach out during office hours if you have any questions or if you simply want to chat about any of the course topics. I am also reachable via inbox messages on webcourses.
Learning Goals
Understand what science is and how we have come to know what we know about the universe.
1
Scientific Thinking
Understand the scale of different structures in the universe (planets, stars, galaxies, clusters) and our place in it.
2
Scale & Structure
Understand the composition of objects in the universe, including our own bodies, and how it all came to be.
3
Composition
The following is a brief list of big picture things that I really want you to take from the course:
Connect the physics of the cosmos with that of everyday life.
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Physics
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Online Learning
You have elected to take this course in the asynchronous online modality; and while we will not be congregating in any physical space, we will be using an online community space (on a platform called YellowDig) to support each other as we learn, and I will be available on Zoom to support your learning.
Community
Speaking of community, an ongoing social media-esque discussion forum will take place in an application called YellowDig™. This is your opportunity to interact with, and learn from, other students. Your contribution to the community is rewarded with a significant portion of your course grade. Interacting with other students is extremely important for assessing your growth and comprehension of the material. Be respectful, kind, and professional with your comments and criticism of other students posts. Here is a link to proper “Netiquette” to consider for your discussion posts and replies. It is okay to disagree with someone or to point out a error or flaw in their logic, just do it respectfully. More details are provided in the syllabus.
Time on Task
While taking the class online means that you save time on commuting to campus and that there is no prescribed time when you have to attend lectures etc, you still have to spend an equivalent amount of time studying the provided resources -- whether you are doing the required reading or watching the videos, aim for a total of 2-3 hours per week.
Additionally, expect to spend about the same amount of time learning the concepts and examining the ideas.
What is the difference between studying and learning, you ask
Dr. McGuire (author of Teach Yourself How to Learn) explains
?
Instructor's
role
In this asynchronous online format, I believe that my role is to be a guide and a coach.
I curate and create learning experiences for you, laying out the stepping stones to help you achieve the learning outcomes in an efficient manner.
I also offer feedback and other forms of support, and I cheer for you as you make progress in your learning.
As well, I provide you with opportunities to self-assess as you learn, and with opportunities to showcase your learning on your way to earning a successful grade in the course.
OER
I have opted to use open educational resources for this course, & to create most of the worksheets/ learning-activities myself
click "view online" to browse our textbook
OER
I have opted to use open educational resources for this course, and to create most of the worksheets/learning-activities myself, for two main reasons:
1
most of the learners in this course are not going to specialize in astronomy, so I imagine that perhaps there might be other educational avenues they would rather invest the $100 cost of an eText/learning platform on top of the tuition. Of course, the enterprising learner should always seek additional resources, and I have listed a few in the Syllabus.
2
as a guide, I would like to chart a particular course that I think would be beneficial and enjoyable.
OER
The flip side of this is that I am investing quite a bit of energy into coming up with a product from scratch, with all the risks associated with that.
*
I mention this here mainly to be upfront and clear about my intention to defend my intellectual property --some websites pose as tutoring websites with your interest in mind, where in my opinion all they offer are shortcuts that does not further your education in any meaningful way
*
I am available to support you, and UCF offers tutoring services, plus you have a community of learners in this class that you can engage with.
Motivation
While the subject matter of this course is inherently fascinating, and should provide plenty of inspiration to fan the flames of your curiosity, we have to acknowledge that this will not always be sufficiently motivating to keep pace with the course requirements.
I will try to play my part on this front with weekly content addressing motivation and metacognition, but you should be clear-eyed that the responsibility here falls squarely on your shoulders -- self-motivation is a great skill to develop as you go through college, and just like every other skill, it takes conscious effort to develop. If it does not come easy to you, then research some techniques to help you develop it -- and there is no better time to do that than now.
In my own life, it happened that I had typically experienced motivation as a pre-cursor to action so I had always thought that this was the nature of things… but then recently I have come to realize how action itself is great source of motivation… sometimes all you have to do is start the process, and let motivation follow.
What does it actually mean to "start" a task?
All it really means is to commit your attention!
$Attention$
$Attention$
I believe that our attention is truly the only thing in our control, and therefore is the most valuable thing in our possession, so pay attention where you direct your attention. This is relevant to this course in two ways.
On the short term, when you are engaged in a particular activity, you are paying from your most valuable resource, so it would behoove you to get the most out of your investment.
On the long term, when you are engaged with long projects or courses, you have to pay attention to the flow of the project or course. The pace, the milestones, and the deliverable(s). Realize that this course is condensed, time-wise, but requires a lot of attention. There are quite a few interesting concepts that we want to learn in this course, and quite a few tasks that require devoted attention.
1
Make any activity finite, both in your mind and in reality. Give everything a beginning, a middle, and an end. For example, "For the next 20 minutes, I will read on xyz topic"
2
The beginning is the statement of intent, and it is really important because it signals commitment in your mind.
3
minimize distractions -- every time the phone dings (just dings) your mind loses the equivalent of 60 seconds of concentration.
4
The best way I found of wrapping-up any activity is declaring out loud or in writing what you have learned from it, or what you have accomplished, or any other reflection you might have.
$Attention$
$Attention$
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