Syllabus

Course Information
Prerequisites: High-school algebra and geometry
Credits:

4 credits for Astron 101, which also requires a separate lab section (meets the new PS gen-ed requirement)

3 credits for Astron 190Z, which does not include the lab (but meets the old PS gen-ed requirement)

Instructor Information
Name Prof. Stephen Schneider & Prof. Min Yun
Personal Email For absences, problems, or other matters that should be seen only by your professor, email to: schneider (at) astro.umass.edu or myun (at) astro.umass.edu (you must include the course “Astro 101” and describe your subject clearly on the subject line and include your full name and student ID number within the message)
Course Email For homework questions, general subject matter questions, or other messages that can be answered by your TAs, use the mail system inside Spark and address it to “All Section Instructors”
Office location Prof. Schneider: 619E Lederle Graduate Research Tower

Prof. Yun: 522 Lederle Graduate Research Tower

Office hours Please email to arrange a meeting time. Include several different possible times when you are available to come in.
Phone 545-2076
Course Goals
The Solar System is a fascinating place, and we will focus on some of its most intriguing aspects this semester. In addition, we will examine many powerful ideas from the physical sciences, because the same physical principles appear to operate throughout the universe.We will piece together these ideas to study objects that we may not ever visit, and to understand events billions of years in the future and the past. In the process, we have several goals:

  • that you learn where, when and what we are in the cosmic scheme of things,
  • that you understand how science works and how we know what we know, and
  • that you gain skills in applying math and science to evaluate new ideas.

One question that this course cannot answer is the ultimate why? But we hope you will gain some new insights into that ultimate question. In the end you must decide what that question means to you.

You are your “why?”

Textbook
Required Reading Pathways to Astronomy,
3rd or 2nd edition, by Schneider and Arny, McGraw-Hill (ISBN 0-07-249965-6)If you plan to sell your book at the end of the semester, keep in mind that the 3rd edition will have more resale value.
This text covers the whole field of astronomy, though in this course we will be skipping over many of the chapters on stars and galaxies. The book is available at the textbook annex and online from many outlets. You can also order an electronic edition that is delivered to you at reduced cost at www.coursesmart.com (type in “Pathways” in the search box).
Course Structure and Grading
Introduction The semester is divided up into three Parts, with an in-class exam at the end of each:

  1. The View from a Spinning Rock (Lectures 1-8)
  2. Exploring the Solar System (Lectures 9-16)
  3. Our Past and Future (Lectures 17-24)

Throughout the semester there will be in-class activities that will require an “”i>clicker” transmitter, and there will be 6 online OWL homeworks. An in-class exam will be given on each Part, and there is a cumulative final exam.

Requirements Each of the four exams (the exams on each Part and the cumulative final) is worth 250 points. In addition, the combination of your in-class activities and OWL assignments that make up your “Participation Grade” are worth 250 points, the equivalent of one exam. Thus, you will have five grades each worth 250 points. We will take the best 4 of the five and add these up to determine your overall course grade based on the following scale:

Exam or Participation Score Course Score (sum of all 4) Letter Grade
225 and up 900 and up A
216 to 224 864 to 899 A?
207 to 215 828 to 863 B+
198 to 206 792 to 827 B
189 to 197 756 to 791 B?
180 to 188 720 to 755 C+
171 to 179 684 to 719 C
162 to 170 648 to 683 C?
140 to 161 560 to 647 D
139 or lower 559 or lower F

If your are taking Astro 101 (which includes a 1-credit lab), your score will be averaged 75% from your in-class grade, and 25% from your lab score.

Exams (each worth 25% of final grade)
Exam Format Exam questions are multiple choice. The exams are given in a two-stage, collaborative format. In the first stage, you answer the questions on your own–this makes up 75% of your exam score. In the second stage, you may work with your notes, the textbook, or other students to solve some problems a second time–this makes up 25% of your exam grade.
Exam Policies
  1. You must bring an ID and #2 pencil to all exams.
  2. No calculators or computers are allowed.
  3. No reference materials may be used during the first stage of an exam.
Emergency Closings In case the University closes for snow or any other reason on the date of an in-class Exam, the Exam will take place during the next regularly scheduled class period. If the University closes during our Final Exam, we will follow the make-up schedule that is announced by the University.
Homework and Participation (25% of final grade)
On-line Web Learning (OWL) Homework There will be six homework assignments each worth 40 points to be completed using the OWL system via the link in Spark. These will be more complex questions and often require a calculator. You will generally have 3 tries to answer each question. Numerical values will change each time you try a question. If you don’t get a question right on your first attempt, it’s a good idea to ask questions before trying again. OWL can be accessed through Spark using any computer connected to the Web. A detailed OWL handout on how to access your account is available on the course website.
In-Class Clicker Score Each lecture will include a variety of questions and activities that will require the use of a “Clicker”. You need to purchase an “i>clicker” unit (available from the textbook annex, online, or second-hand). You will need to register your unit in Spark in order to receive credit.Your participation in each lecture will contribute to your homework/participation grade based on your answers using your Clicker. Many of the activities have no “correct” answer, and for those that do, you will earn extra points if you select the correct answer. Clicker questions are often given at the beginning or end of class, so try not to schedule anything at times that conflict.
Homework/Participation Grading The Homework/Participation grade is calculated in a way to give you flexibility in deciding how you want to interact with this course. The grade is based primarily on your homework results, but it can be improved based on your participation on the in-class Clicker questions.The six homeworks add up to 240 points overall. Thus if you get near 40 points on each homework, you can earn an A for this portion of your course grade without doing Clicker at all. If you do participate with Clicker, it can improve your homework grade, helping you to earn a better grade.

Your Clicker points from the 4 lectures prior to each homework earn you a percentage of the points you missed on you homework. Thus if you missed 10 points on Homework #1, but earned 40 Clicker points, you would earn back 4 (40% of 10) points on your homework. To add an incentive, even if you get a perfect score on the homework, we will give you a percentage of the difference between your score and 45 points (so you would have earned 2 points in the above example). Your Clicker score can raise a low homework score to a higher value, but it will not make as much of an improvement if your homework score was already high.

Extra Credit
There will be opportunities for extra credit that will be announced throughout the semester, but mostly from an extra credit paper/project. The extra-credit points are added on top of your course score, and they offer an opportunity to improve your overall course grade–sometimes by as much as a full letter grade.The detailed topic of the extra-credit paper/project will be announced at the beginning of Part 3 of the course. It will probably be a paper involving creative writing or a project in an alternate format with prior approval (for example, students have made short videos and comic books in the past). Please note that papers/projects that are off-topic will receive very few or zero points.
Absences and Make-Ups
Missing Lectures No adjustments are made for missing a regular class, or forgetting your Clicker unit, or it doesn’t work, etc. This will not have a significant effect on your grade because Clicker grades only serve to improve your homework grade.
In the case of extended absences, you must provide documentation within a week of returning from the absence. We will normally only examine this in the event that you are very close to the next higher grade at the end of the semester.
Missing an Exam If you must miss an exam because of illness or a family emergency, please contact us by email as soon as possible. You must arrange to provide written documentation explaining your absence and provide us with the phone number of someone to contact regarding your absence. We will arrange a time for a make-up exam with you.
If you must miss an exam because of participation in a university-related event or for a religious observance, you must notify us by email at least a week in advance. For university-related events, you will need to provide documentation from your coach/event organizer. If possible, we will try to arrange a time for a make-up exam in advance of the regular exam, otherwise before the next regular class meeting after the exam.
For undocumented excuses, oversleeping, etc., we will normally just count a missed exam as a zero and use the other three exams to determine your course grade. At our discretion we may allow you to take a make-up exam with a 25-point penalty.
Missing OWL Homework No extensions will normally be permitted for the OWL computer-based assignments, since they can be completed over a range of dates from many locations.
If you do not complete an OWL assignment on time as a result of unforeseeable problems, go on OWL and complete the assignment within 3-days of the due date. The assignment will be available under the “Past Due Assignment” link in OWL. After you complete the past-due assignment, contact us by email to explain the circumstances.  We may accept the late work with or without a penalty at my discretion.
Academic Honesty
It is highly destructive when anyone cheats. It corrodes the academic environment and cheapens the value of your education. We will not tolerate cheating, nor should you. If you are aware of any cheating, or if you are unsure if a practice is academically honest, speak to us.Cheating on an exam will result in a zero for that exam, and it will not be dropped as your lowest grade.

Having someone else submit Clicker answers for you will result in a zero for the homework/participation portion of your grade for the entire course.

Posting of Grades
To protect the privacy of your grades, we will post them to your Spark account. If for some reason you are unable to retrieve your grades from Spark, you must see us in person and bring your student ID.

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