Cosmos in the Classroom 2004: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Astronomy

In July 2004, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the New England Space Science Initiative in Education hosted "Cosmos in the Classroom", a 3-day conference at Tufts University devoted to the teaching of introductory astronomy for non-science majors. About 200 instructors from around the country attended from a broad range of institutions, including many community colleges.

This 390 page loose-leaf notebook includes all of the handouts and papers from the meeting Cosmos in the Classroom 2004: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Introductory Astronomy. Find out how to engage your students during lectures, use technology in astronomy education, create inquiry-based, in-class activities, and use the planetarium in teaching astronomy.

We've included below a sample list, from our table of contents, of the 68 papers included in this book. Papers, Handouts, and Resource Guides from a National Meeting

Edited by Andrew Fraknoi and William Waller. 3-hole punched, loose-leaf paper, 8.5"x 11", 390 pages.

The full Table of Contents can be reviewed as well as the original meeting program.

Table of Contents Excerpt:

A. Astronomy Education Research and the Introductory Astronomy Classroom

The Astronomy Diagnostic Test: Guidelines and the Test

The Use of Personal Responder Devices to Assess Student Understanding, and Student Beliefs about their Effectiveness, in Astro 101 -- Erin Dokter (University of Arizona), et al.

Insights from a Survey of Astronomy Instructors in Community and Other Teaching-Oriented Colleges in the U.S. -- Andrew Fraknoi (A.S.P. and Foothill College)

Probing the Effectiveness of the Conventional Introductory Astronomy Lecture -- Edward Prather, Timothy Slater, and Janelle Bailey (University of Arizona)

Effects of Collaborative Learning on Communication Apprehension, Class Satisfaction, and Academic Achievement -- Myung-Hyun Rhee, Sug-Whan Kim, Eun-Joo Kim, Joohan Kim (Yonsei University, Korea)

Utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognition to Develop Constructivist Methodologies for Teaching Astronomy -- Brock Schroeder (Olivet Nazarine University)