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דיווח מקורס אסטרופיסיקה

6/4/05: ASTROPHYSICS

BACKGROUND

The astrophysics course developed in the best tradition of democratic education. I happened to bring a telescope to last year's school trip to the north, and it generated a great deal of interest from the kids.

In general they were two types of interest in astronomy: the "wanna see", and the "wanna know". Fortunately these two types are not mutually exclusive. There were way more "wanna sees" than "wanna knows", so after looking at the moon and Jupiter, we were left with about 10 people that wanted to learn more about the way the universe is put together.

Someone asked a question about black holes and time to which I didn't have an answer ready, so we agreed to meet in school later in the month. We did, and what was planned as a half-hour session turned into 1.5 hour lesson, which in time turned into the two astronomy courses that were taught: Astrophysics (6th and up), and Space Exploration (3rd to 5th).

The courses really sprung from the ground up, prompted by the natural curiosity of the students.

This report refers exclusively to the Astrophysics course; there will be another report on Space Exploration under separate cover.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

I'm not entirely sure that the students had any clear goals going into the course, other than satisfying a very healthy curiosity about the more bizarre phenomena in the universe like wormholes, black holes and similar animals.

This allowed me considerable freedom in setting the specific goals and objectives of the course.

GOALS
  1. For the course participants to reach an understanding and appreciation of the scientific method and the philosophy of science by learning about descriptive astrophysics.


  2. A secondary goal of mine was to test the theory of democratic education in terms of its ability to promote achievement and excellence without coercion, artificially created competitive situations, and the like.


  3. Incorporate logical positivism as a useful way of understanding the world.

OBJECTIVES

Objectives in my world should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-constrained (SMART - get it?). So here goes:
  1. To acquire the basic vocabulary of science and astrophysics necessary for an intelligent discussion of the subject at hand. This required familiarity with terms and concepts such as (partial list): Waves, particles, frequency, spectra, transparency, dimensions, velocity (as opposed to speed), and others.


  2. To acquire an understanding of the workings of the scientific method including: observation, hypothesis, testing, evaluation, conclusions. Understand the methodology of science and its philosophy of "standing on the shoulders of giants."


  3. To gain a working understanding and command of the following subjects:


    1. 4 Fundamental forces: Gravity, electromagnetism, strong force, weak force.


    2. Light


    3. Space-time - nature, geometry, implications


    4. Star birth and death


    5. Big Bang Theory


    6. Black holes and other weird stuff: strings, wormholes, etc.


    7. Relativity. Special theory of relativity, general theory of relativity, beyond Einstein.

1stTRIMESTER (NOT TOO WEIRD ASTROPHYSICS)
  1. Basic concepts for understanding the universe. Light, space-time, relativity.


  2. Four fundamental forces


    1. Gravity


    2. Electromagnetism


    3. Strong force


    4. Weak force


  3. The Big Bang


  4. Star birth and star death


  5. Black holes

2ndTRIMESTER (SERIOIUSLY WEIRD ASTROPHYSICS)
  1. Logical positivism as a working epistemology (yep, I'm showing off my $5 vocabulary here. Look it up.)


  2. Why Newtonian physics are insufficient to describe the universe.


  3. Relativistic physics - Einstein and Co.


    1. Special relativity


    2. General relativity


    3. Time is relative


  4. Hawking and Co.


    1. A 4-dimmensional universe


    2. A many-dimensional universe


    3. The geometry of space


    4. The geometry of time


    5. Quantum physics - uncertainty rules the world

EVALUATION & SUMMARY

SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION

The course rocked. The kids are wicked smart, interested, curious, imaginative, motivated, hard-working, unconventional, undisciplined, loud, demanding and an absolute joy to work with.

The system works like a charm. At the beginning I was very tentative with the level and quantity of the material. I shouldn't have worried. Although the constraints imposed on us by 40min-long classes are a curse on learning, the level was just fine. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the more we invested in the course, the more the class demanded. The tougher the material, the easier it was to assimilate. The more I expected from the students the more they delivered.

OBJECTIVE EVALUATION

How to measure success and failure objectively in a democratic environment? Tough question. Here are some measures that emerged throughout our work.
  1. Attendance. Non-compulsory. If you showed up you did so because you wanted to learn. We allowed participants to skip a class or two, although we didn't make any effort in class to bring people up to date if they'd miss a lesson. We consistently had about 10 students in the class. Mind you, this is supposedly "boring" stuff, and quite difficult too.


  2. Testing. Yes, regardless of what you might have heard, testing is allowed in democratic education. Near the end of the 1st trimester I asked the class whether they'd want to be evaluated. They all said yes. When the subject of an exam came up, they all said they'd want one (with one notable exception who ended doing it anyway). Here are some notes and results from what I called "The Dreaded Exam".


    1. It was open book, open question.


    2. Don't make the mistake of thinking that an open exam is easy. The Dreaded Exam is composed of 35 questions to raise the hackles in the back of your neck. I made the questions as difficult and involved as I could. No, really. Go to the school's website and download the thing. Then try to answer it without cursing me. It's a challenge (both answering and not cursing).


    3. The exam was scored in a non-normative fashion. That is, point scores are valid only for the student answering the exam and cannot be compared. Here's why:


      1. Almost every question had flexible value. That is, it could be answered for say 10 points, it could also be answered for 15. That means that an answer might be perfectly correct and worth 10 points, or half-right, and be worth 7.


      2. Feedback was given first and foremost in written format, at length, examining each question. A point score was given only when specifically requested.


      3. Answering of questions was also non-compulsory. Students were at liberty to answer as many, or as few, questions as they felt like. Scores, when given, reflected only the total possible out of the answers given. There was no theoretical upper limit to the score.


    4. Participation in the exam was almost universal. The fact that not every single student participated is a little disappointing, but on the other hand most of them did participate with great results.


    5. The exams themselves are a joy to behold. I heartily recommend that you try to get your hands on one of them. These people worked hard. Reports of late nights, blood, sweat and tears came in frequently. But they did it and they did it right. They exceeded my expectations (high to start with), and more importantly, I think they exceeded their own expectations.

The 2nd trimester was more difficult to evaluate for several reasons.

The most notable problem was a failed attempt at the beginning of the trimester to learn backyard astronomy. This might come as a surprise to you, but it turns out that to learn how to use a telescope to practice astronomy on your own, you need at least two things: a telescope and a clear sky full of stars. Both of these things were difficult to come by in our present situation. We had only one telescope for 10 people, and we are in the middle of a city and very far away from so-called "dark skies".

We did invest about 5 classes trying to bring this idea to fruition. We had some moderate success in learning how to set up and use a telescope, but again, very limited.

The remainder of the 2nd trimester was dedicated to quantum physics and post-Einstein astrophysics. Students are now engaged in preparing end-of-the-course research projects. Timing will not allow me to include those results in this report, so I'll add and update when appropriate.

CONCLUSIONS & CLOSING

This part is rather more personal than the rest. If you're already tired of the report, skip this. If not, here are my personal, subjective opinions of what went on:
  1. Damn fine system of education. It's a wonderful tool, one that needs to be wielded with enthusiasm.


  2. Students really do rise to meet the level of what is expected from them. If the teachers, the system, the school, and their peers expect little from them - they'll deliver little. If much is expected, they'll deliver VERY much.


  3. Excellence can be taught. Excellence is its own reward.


  4. Kids know when they've done their level best, and they know when they've "skated by". They have a built-in, finely-tuned BS meter and they know how to turn it on anyone and everyone, themselves included.


  5. The school needs a stronger science component. One that is disciplined, rich and demanding.

A heartfelt "THANKS" to the students that participated in the course. They made it fun, demanding, challenging, and instructive. I learned at least as much as I taught. Not only that, in the final analysis, I think I had more fun than they did.

I am humbled by their incredible capacity for achievement under what can only be described as terrible learning conditions. I am grateful for their friendship, and I am honored to have been able to teach something of value.


This report was prepared by:
Benjamin Levy
Instructor, Astrophysics. Fall '04, Spring '05.









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