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A.J. Gauthier (UVa, Curry School of Education, Instr.Technology)
A cooperative learning activity was designed for use in the undergraduate laboratory course Introduction to Astronomical Observation. This group exercise enhances the student�s learning of constellations and will hopefully increase retention of the material throughout the semester. It also serves as an �ice-breaker� during the first week of lab, promoting student involvement and vested interest in the course. To gain some insight into the student mind, a survey was conducted to evaluate the usefulness and overall opinion of this method. The students who completed the survey had previously been enrolled in a pre-requisite astronomy course that also required a constellation lab. In this previous course they �learned� the constellations from an instructor and a flashlight beam, studied them on their own, and then promptly took a quiz. Both methods are analyzed from an instructional designer�s point of view and suggestions for future activities are presented. The preliminary results and accompanying activity will be discussed in poster and hand-out medium.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: ajg2w@virginia.edu