Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

Traditional lectures have been shown to have limited effectiveness in conveying unfamiliar concepts. To increase student engagement and understanding of concepts students in an introductory astronomy course were instructed to record and analyze their naked-eye astronomical observations over a semester. Pre- and post-course evaluations including an astronomy concept diagnostic test and an attitudes survey were used to determine the effect this activity had on studentsŐ learning. The results suggest that observing diaries are a positive learning experience for the majority of students. However, the diary task must be carefully integrated into the course content to derive maximum effectiveness.

About David Gozzard

David Gozzard is an experimental physicist in the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. His primary research interests focus on optical metrology and laser sensor and communications. Dr Gozzard maintains a firm interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning in order to improve his own teaching skills and efforts.

Watch a recording of this talk (external link)