Table Of Contents:
Foreword vii

Eric Mazur
Preface ix

Introduction 1(6)

Peer Instruction for Astronomy 7(12)

Active Learning: Engaging the Ego and the Mind 7(1)

Cooperation and Communication 8(1)

Critical Thinking 9(1)

Benefiting From Diversity, and Enhancing it 9(2)

Key Components of Cooperative Learning 11(1)

Unearthing Prior Knowledge 11(2)

Overcoming Potential Barriers to Peer Instruction 13(6)

Recipes for the Classroom 19(14)

Day One 19(2)

A Brief Recipe 21(2)

How to Gauge Student Understanding in Real- Time 23(2)

How to Select Groups 25(2)

How to Build Student Collaborative Skills 27(2)

How to Facilitate Discussions 29(4)

Conceptests 33(8)

Accessing Conceptests 33(1)

Creating Conceptests 34(3)

Using Conceptests 37(1)

Conceptest Feedback 38(3)

Feedback from Students 38(1)

Feedback from Instructors 39(2)

A Library of Conceptests 41(84)

The Night Sky 41(6)

General 41(1)

The Celestial Sphere 41(2)

Seasons 43(2)

Time 45(1)

Eclipses 46(1)

Measures and Methods 47(6)

Measures and Units 47(2)

Distance 49(2)

Magnitude 51(1)

Astronomical Methods 52(1)

Telescopes 53(2)

History 55(3)

General Motion/Forces 58(6)

Orbital Motion 58(1)

Forces and Acceleration 59(3)

Gravity 62(2)

Scales of Size, Distance, Mass, and Power 64(2)

The Elements 66(2)

Radiation and the Electromagnetic Spectrum 68(7)

General Properties of Light 68(2)

Continuous Radiation, Emission, and Absorption 70(2)

Doppler Effect 72(1)

Spectral Lines and Energy Levels 73(2)

The Earth 75(3)

The Earth and Moon 78(2)

The Moon 80(3)

The Planets 83(7)

Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets 90(2)

The Sun 92(2)

Basic Stellar Properties 94(2)

Star Formation 96(2)

Energy Generation in Stars and Stellar Evolution 98(5)

Energy Generation in Stars 98(2)

Stellar Evolution 100(3)

Black Holes 103(1)

Binary Star Systems 103(3)

General Concepts of Binary Stars 103(1)

Binary Classifications and Uses 104(2)

Binary System Light Curves 106(1)

Stellar Populations 106(2)

Constellations 106(1)

Star Clusters 107(1)

Our Galaxy 108(3)

Normal Galaxies 111(2)

Active Galaxies and Quasars 113(2)

Cosmology 115(5)

The Hubble Expansion 115(2)

Cosmology 117(2)

Large Scale Structure and the Cosmic Background Radiation 119(1)

Dark Matter and Lensing 120(1)

The Origin and Evolution of Life 120(5)

Assessment 125(16)

Early Diagnostic Assessment 126(1)

The Astronomy Diagnostic Test 127(2)

Interactive Class Assessment 129(1)

Reading Assignments and Reading Quizzes 130(3)

Exams 133(1)

Overall Class Grading 134(2)

Evaluating Your Implementation 136(2)

Group Instructional Feedback 136(1)

Course-End Evaluations 137(1)

Instructor Feedback 138(1)

Cross-Institutional Evaluation 138(3)

Epilog 141(2)

Readings and Resources 143(8)

Readings 143(2)

Web Resources 145(6)
References 151(6)
Appendix I: CD-ROM Instructions 157(2)
Appendix II: The Astronomy Diagnostic Test 159(10)
Index 169