My Teaching Philosophy

The UF catalog lists AST1002 Discovering the Universe as “An elementary, largely non-mathematical survey of our universe of stars, planets, and galaxies. Acquaints the student with the development of astronomy as a human activity - with how we know as well as what we know.” I interpret this as a mandate to take the course beyond a simple recitation and regurgitation of facts and figures. In particular, I attempt to make the student aware of the process of science as observation, interpretation, application, and extrapolation. I attempt to bring to the student’s minds their own (sometimes sub- or perhaps un-conscious) observations of astronomical phenomena and the conclusions that they might have drawn from these observations. I will occasionally take a few minutes of class time to talk about newly announced astronomical discoveries and I always welcome questions about astronomy, in class or out. We will occasionally interrupt the lecture portion of the class for some sort of “in-class exercise” which may involve breaking the class into smaller discussion groups for a short while.

Attendance Policy

I do not take attendance, but that does not mean that I do not feel that attendance is necessary. In general, I have noted that students who do not attend class regularly also usually do not do well on the tests (and of course they miss required inclass exercises).

The Nature of Exams

Exams in this course are multiple choice. They are printed by a computer program that randomly rearranges the order of the questions and the order of the answers for each exam. A code number identifies each exam so that it can be graded. It is important that you keep the first page of your exam with this number so you can find your grade when grades are posted.

It is important that all students arrive at the exams on time (especially for the first exam of the semester), and that careful attention is paid to the instructions. Be sure to bring a pencil and a photo ID card to the exams. The Department of Astronomy administers thousands of exams each semester. More than 95% of these exams go through the grading process with no problems. On the other hand, 2% to 5% of the answer sheets handed in have not been filled out properly and thus have not been graded. It may be several weeks before it is possible to correct and grade these answer sheets.

Food and Drink in the Classroom

The Florida Gym is a “no food or drink” building. More particularly, the FG 280 Multimedia classroom is a “no food or drink” classroom. You will be asked to leave if you bring food or drink into the room. All of us, students and teachers alike, will benefit from a clean, attractive classroom.

Academic Dishonesty

Each exam has on it the statement “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination. My signature above indicates my compliance with this statement.” I assume all students are honest and truthful. On the other hand, the computer grading system will detect two exams that are too similar for the explanation to be random chance. I will not ignore dishonesty and cheating on an exam or assignment will result in loss of all credit for that exam or assignment as well as referral to the student honor court.