Yes, an astronomy class right here on BAUT is the idea at hand. What are your thoughts about it?

The goal is to establish a semi-formal approach in learning about astronomy by dedicating a thread to be used as a class-like learning experience. Since many here do not have the time or money for formal schooling, maybe a dedicated BAUT thread can serve as a great alternative.

Just how this could be done most effectively is now "on the table". Perhaps those interested would all purchase a selected textbook to use and we would go through it chapter by chapter, maybe one chapter a week. Having tests are certainly a possibility, too.

What if some university someday allows advanced placement? This would allow folks who already have a degree - which means they may have completed all the non-astronomy course requirements - a chance for advance placing through the easier courses and enter at the appropriate level. Maybe this is already happening; I am too long out of college to know.

Anyway, what say thee?
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Updated from subsequent posts.....

Considerations and Recommendations Summary, thus far….
[Note that some are just ideas and may be mutually exclusive with others]

Course Speed and Time:
..... Take it slow, half the normal rate [antoniseb]
.......... Assign time frame per chapter [George]
.......... Let chapter test dates set pace [George]
….. Hours? [Tobin Dax]

Course Level:
..... Establish one [Tobin Dax]
..... Introductory level (minimal math) [danscope/Moose/
..... Two course levels offered [Kelfazin]

Course Material:
..... Web based [antoniseb/George]
.......... Wiki books (similar to or upgrade these “books”) [Fraser 17/davidlpf 20/Tobin Dax 21]
..... Actual textbook [George]
..... Create a new one [George]
.......... Parcel out the lesson creations [Kelfazin 19]
….. CGI [Argos 24]

Format:
..... One master thread [George]
..... One thread per chapter [George/antoniseb]
.......... Single thread for teaching text, then separate discussion subforum for discussion threads [Nicholas Bostaph]
......... Allow only instructors to answer questions [Kelfazin 19]
......... Each chapter on separate web page [antoniseb 65]
….. Subclass (eg math) [Serenitude 23]
..... Mini course first step [Fraser 65/Swift 70]

Tests:
..... Yes [George/
.......... Post scores [George]

Class Membership:
..... Limit to subscribed members only [Fazor]

Equipment requirements:
..... Keep to a minimum (eg binoculars) [Moose]
..... Be mindful of limited computer capability of members

Course Recognitions:
..... Certificates for completion [George/Serenitude 23]
..... Gold stars for high test scores [Fazor]

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

College board advanced placement has 37 courses and exams across 22 subject areas, but not astronomy. Coming soon: Chinese, and Japanese.

I would recommend doing the course at one half the normal pace as normal instructor lead training. There are probably better people on the forum to teach this class, but as a fallback position, I am willing to teach it. We'll need to get a list of who is interested, and identify a text-book. It would be a plus for some if the text-book was on the web.

Question for would-be students: What should we assume for your level of understanding of math, chemistry, and physics? This strongly affects the content of what would be presented.

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Forming opinions as we speak

This is an interesting idea. I like it. antonioseb's half-pace suggestion is a good one. I would be willing to help with the teaching and administrative stuff if I'm not too busy. My biggest question is what level are we teaching at?

Hopefully that changes and when it does, some of us will be ready.

Except for the two Australian on-line programs, there is no on-line degree program that I know of either. This should change, too, hopefully.

Yes, most of us are busy with other irons in the fire. Perhaps a stated time frame for chapters or maybe a test date will be a delineator, if tests are given.


Thanks for the support.

Hopefully, many will be interested in doing this.

Are there any? [If not] I would be willing to order one if necessary.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

I would also highly recommend proofing it in at least two ways--once for fact and once for grammar/spelling. The simple fact is, I don't even proof my own stuff, because I tend to see what I meant to be there instead of what is. I'm no good at the former, as we all know, but I'm willing to volunteer for the latter.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I would expect to be capable of handling a college sophmore or junior level course. A lesser level would still interest me but would be less enjoyable.

There are likely some great benefits to doing a course here. Asking questions here are much easier than in a real classroom, as well as, answering them when more time and thought is allowed. As for graphics, as one Apple IIG salesman once said about his computer, there are "limitless capabilities" here.

I would be glad to assist any teacher.

Some other questions to ponder....
1) Will this class be all on one thread, or a thread per chapter, or what?
2) What ways can tests be done? Is annoymity - like we don't have it already - desired or do we post test results? [The only course I ever had that posted my grades on the wall for all to see was chemistry where I once scored a -8 (out of 100), so my feelings have been indifferent ever since. . BTW, I am a little weak in chemistry.]
3) Will certificates of accomplishment be issued?

I would assume this would already be done if we find an internet textbook or if we all purchase an existing course book. Nevertheless, it would be fun to write one from scratch with everyone's help, but it would be a much slower process, I expect.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

Hi, I should welcome this class. My astronomy background has been
formed over the years in parts, fragmented as such, a past time hobby.
It would be wonderfull to polish it a little, with the guidance of gentlemen
schooled in the disciplines, and with patience for the novice.
A good reading list would help. Television and the odd magazine have been my primary influences. Thank you for your interest, and kind generosity.
Your efforts will be greatly appreciated.
Best regards, Dan

Yeah, I'd definitely be interested, so long as the math isn't too far over my head. I can handle freshman college math and physics without too much assistance. Past that, I'll need some remedial.

The other thing to remember is not all of us have access to hardware for practical work. I have a pair of general-use binocs and a reasonably sheltered back porch, but the weather's been lousy this entire season. I'd rather not throw money into a junk scope, and that's all I could hypothetically afford this year.

Antoniseb's suggestion of half-pacing such a course is a very good one.

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What about me? I read alot about physics and chemistry so I've got alot of the basics of a some concepts worked out already. Which is a bit vauge but I'm not entirly sure what I'm not aware of otherwise I would be, if you know what I mean...

I've got a bit of a handle on astronomy anyway(can never remember the angle of orbits and such like though). I've got a fair few parts of the visual observing sussed out(been amatur astonoming for 3 years). Not sure so much about the optical side ot thing (like how to build telescopes).

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If this writing is blue you're going too fast!

I am able to help whoever is teaching this course, I have taking some 2nd and 3rd year astronomy courses.

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If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan

I would really welcome a course like this. I think the math would have to be relatively basic for many of us. I personally never even took calculus in school. I'm sure many others did, but over the years you tend to forget a lot of this stuff...




If we could get the support of the mods I think the best format would be to have a single sticky thread with each post covering a chapter. Then, setup a seperate subforum solely for this class and post a thread for each chapter. As a chapter is covered students could post comments and questions to that chapter's thread. This keeps the 'classroom' all in a single place and easily accessible, yet still allows everyone to comment and question.

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Nicholas Bostaph
http://NicholasBostaph.com
http://NightscapeCreations.com
http://FantasyMasterOnline.com

This seems like a good idea. Another benefit I see with your idea is the quality of those textbook threads as they get modified by the teacher due to the subsequent posts in those other threads. One simply needs to read the locked textbook thread without digging through many posts for answers.

As for those concerned with math, Hester's textbook seems to go out of the way to avoid math and atempts to get the reader to experience what scientists see. This may be only a freshman level course, however.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

I definately like the idea. Of course, I love free (or relatively free) learning. Wouldn't mind a textbook, altho most cost between $80 and $140 USD. Just wondering, is there any way to limit the thread to suscribed participants? Definately don't want to exclude anyone, but "hit and run" posters, and people who aren't serious about the thread could be a serious detrement.

...PS. if you give tests, you better mail out gold star stickers so i can show them off on my fridge! YEAH!

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

If we are taking a vote, I would be interested too.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

I like the idea as well. Perhaps if there are enough of each of us with different levels of knowledge in the subject matter you could consider a "basic" astronomy course and an "advanced" astronomy course. Those of us with little math experience could certainly reap the benefits of a freshman course while those already deeper into the subject could be working at a junior level. You could just post the prerequisite skillset for each class and let us select which forum to subscribe to.

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I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

I just wanted to lend my support to this idea. Let me know if you need additional software installed, configured, etc. I'm also happy to promote this in all my available channels (UT, Astronomy Cast, etc).

Perhaps a Wiki might be a good format to do this? Maybe something similar to the Wikibooks.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Astronomy

There are a lot of unwritten sections in their book which we could complete, since it's open for editing by anyone. We could then integrate the wikibook entries back into this forum as part of the course. That would probably take a lot of hassle off everyone's hands, and encourage other people to contribute.

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Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today - Free space news delivered by email every weekday.

I like the wiki idea for a textbook. I think that works in a lot of ways. That does lead in to my next question, which is what exactly the chapter threads would be? Would they be lectures? (If so, how would they different than the textbook chapters? Spoken lectures aren't easily done here.) Would they be "office hours," the posting and answering of questions? Either way, they should include links to online animations and demos where possible. These would be things that exist on the web, but shouldn't be included in the wiki for whatever reason. Those are my thoughts on the topic.

(That book also has *a lot* of holes and articles that are severely lacking.)