Astro 101 - Should Students Touch the Telescopes?

Sunday, 2:30-5:30pm, May 29, 2005, 204 A/B

What do students gain from looking through telescopes or working with astronomical data? Can you get all your hundreds of Astro 101 students to look through the telescopes each semester? Can they do anything deeper than a quick look at Jupiter? What are some alternatives? In this meeting's contribution to the continuing dialog we will host a panel discussion on topics surrounding getting actual "astronomical observation" experiences to the students. We will then run round-table discussions so that you will have the chance to brainstorm and generate ideas for the issues most relevant to you and your students. Discussions will include: (1) the practicalities of large groups trouping though your observatory, (2) accessing online observations and data sets or running computer simulations without visiting a telescope, and (3) what students gain in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes from such experiences. Confrence attendees who are interested in taking part as panelists or round-table facilitators should contact the organizers Jake Noel-Storr (jnoelstorr@as.arizona.edu) and Renee James (phy\_cry@shsu.edu).