The Invisible Universe Online: The Search for Astronomical Origins for Teachers presents our search for astronomical origins from the perspective of multiwavelength astronomy. It will provide an enhanced understanding of how astronomers use all energies of light to unfold the secrets of our universe. We will cover the long chain of events from the birth of the universe in the Big Bang, through the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets by focusing on the scientific questions, technological challenges, and space missions pursuing this search for origins. The course is created in alignment with the goals and emphasis of the National Science Education Standards.

This course builds upon your existing astronomy knowledge and adds layers of understanding so that you have a deeper appreciation for the multiwavelength universe. In addition, many of our homework activities and discussions focus on teaching course concepts as a method to enhance your deeper understandings of the content. It is not necessary that you teach astronomy at this point in your career, only that you are open to critically thinking about how this content can be best taught to deal with learner misconceptions.

This course is being developed and offered with the support of SOFIA and SIRTF EPO Programs, two NASA missions associated with the Origins Program. The course provides a platform for investigating distance learning approaches for future SOFIA and SIRTF education efforts. The CAPER (Conceptual Astronomy and Physics Education Research) Team at the University of Arizona has been charged with investigating, designing, implementing, and evaluating The Invisible Universe Online for SOFIA and SIRTF outreach.

Invisible Universe Online is currently being offered through the Burns Telecom Center at Montana State University and the National Teacher Enhancement Network (NTEN).

Present and past instructors, course managers, course designers, and teaching assistants:

• Two articles by John Keller et al now appear in the current issue of Astronomy Education Review, a free online journal for astronomy educators
  
  
• Invisible Universe Online is highlighted in the January 2003 issue of Voyages in Education and Public Outreach An Office of Space Science Newsletter

• Poster session 88.02 at the Seattle American Astronomical Society Meeting (Jan 5-9, 2002)
  Invisible Universe Online: Designing, Facilitating, and Evaluating an Online Course in Astronomy (Gauthier et al)
  PDF version of Poster here!
  
  
• Poster session 23.06 at the Washington D.C. American Astronomical Society Meeting (January 2002)
  The Invisible Universe Online: A Distance Learning Course on Astronomical Origins for Teachers
  
  
• Upcoming poster session at E-Learn in Phoenix, AZ. (November 2003) Lessons Learned through Design of an Online Learning Environment for K-12 Science Teachers
  
  
• Featured in an upcoming poster session at E-Learn in Phoenix, AZ. (November 2003) Classroom Assessment Techniques for the Asynchronous Online Classroom

• Develop scientific background knowledge of astronomical objects and phenomena with peak emissions outside of the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  
  
• Understand contemporary scientific research questions related to understanding of star formation, planet formation, galaxy formation, and structure of the universe.
  
  
• Describe strategies and technologies for using non-visible wavelengths of EM radiation to study various phenomena.
  
  
• Integrate the related issues of astronomical science, technology, societal issues, and career guidance for classroom teaching.
  
  
• Develop specific strategies for implementing concepts in the National Science Education Standards related to "invisible" astronomy and the search for astronomical origins.

The topics are closely aligned with the concepts emphasized in the NRC National Science Education Standards. The instructional strategy uses collaborative asynchronous group discussions in concert with hands-on laboratories and activities that use NASA data easily accessed via the internet.

During the design phase (SP02 and FA02) semesters, the Invisible Universe Online instructor's used weekly surveys to obtain feedback from the teacher-participants. Questions were asked about the content and structure of the homework, reading, and discussions. The Spring 2003 semester will see a new formative assessment technique as the instructors attempt to round out the feedback loop. Weekly reflections about misconceptions, muddy points, and "gems" will be submitted by the teacher-participants.

End of course evaluation is performed to help the next semester's offering of the course. Areas of improvement are identified and strategies for improvement are constructed.

This course serves as a pilot-course for the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) outreach initiative. Rigorous course evaluation is imperative in designing and facilitating a successful online course to be used as a method to educate teachers who will fly with the astronomers and scientists on the Boeing 747SP in the future.

Many distance learning courses use the format of "online lectures" to deliver content. Instead, this course uses weekly content introductions, textbook and internet readings, interactive web assignments, lab activities, and asynchronous discussions. Much of the interaction between instructors and students takes place in the discussion portion of this course. Peer teaching and learning is a focus of this course as the instructors facilitate the discussion topics.

Each week, you should expect to complete the following:

• Reading assignment from textbook
• Reading assignment from internet
• Interactive sessions (either on the web or with a lab activity)
• Posting to the weekly discussion topics (See Discussion Guidelines for more information)
• Participating in the "feedback loop"

Additional assignments over the course of the semester will include:

• 1 Semester Project (Unit Plan)
• Smaller curriculum projects and assignments
• Midterm Exam (open notes)
• Final Exam-like Activity and Reflection

Facilitating and participating in discussions:

• Discussion groups are formed by the instructor and have between 8-11 teacher-participants
• Each discussion group is assigned an instructor or teaching assistant each week
• Instructor and TAs rotate through discussion groups weekly

Grading Scheme (subject to change for current semester):

Discussion Participation 20%
Weekly Assignments 30%
Midterm Exam 10%
Final Activity/Reflection 15%
Semester Project 15%
Weekly Feedback Participation 10%

The following scale will be used for assigning grades:

94-100 A
90-93 A-
87-89 B+
83-87 B
80-82 B-
77-79 C+
73-77 C
70-72 C-

To make the Invisible Universe a fun learning experience for you and your classmates, we require the following:

General Prerequisites:

• Two years of science teaching experience
• Current teaching certificate
• MANDATORY: Prior college-level astronomy course that covered "stars, galaxies, and the universe". If in doubt, please contact the instructor. You will not be allowed to enroll if you do not meet this prior astronomy requirement.
• Prior online course (please contact instructor if you do not meet this requirement)
• Completion of PHYS 511 - Astronomy for Teachers is highly recommended, but not required.

Technology pre-requisites:

• PC or Mac that can be available to you 10-15 hours per week
• Reliable online service provider with moderate connection speed
• Minimum of 56 Kilobytes per second modem for dial-up connections (contact instructor if you have questions) - we have some heavy downloads!
• Word processing program (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, or Appleworks)
• Ability to save files and/or download programs on your computer.
• Free media players required - Quicktime, Flash, Shockwave, Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Ability to print from the computer.

Technology skills needed prior to the first day of class:

• Able to format word processing documents with header, footer, page numbers
• Familiar with web browsers like Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator
• Check that your computer and browser version are compatible with WebCT
  http://btc.montana.edu/distributed/webct/StudentQuickResourceGuide.html#browser
• Able to view, save, and print Adobe PDF files
• Ability to install new programs or media players on computer
• Ability to save word processing documents in a PC-friendly Rich-Text Format file (if you are on a Mac)
• If using a program other than Microsoft Word, ability to save as a Rich-Text Format file
• Ability to save image files from web pages and incorporate into word processing documents
  

Required Course Texts:

Required texts and other course materials will be mailed to you by the MSU folks.

1. Universe: Stars and Galaxies (6th edition, 2002) by Roger Freedman and William J. Kaufmann, WH Freeman Publishing, ISBN 0-7167-4646-8

2. National Science Education Standards (1996) available in print (ISBN 0-309-05326-9) or online at URL: http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/

3. NASA Office of Space Science Search for Origins Online Library available online at URL: http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/library.html

4. Other readings from websites as assigned

Time Commitment:

Our past teachers/students report devoting 10-15 hours per week to this course. Really, we mean a 10-15 hour commitment! The first few weeks of the course are intense. Basic astronomy/physics principles and content about “light” are covered in depth. During this time, you are also getting used to the schedule, technology, interface of the online course, and building a learning community in your discussion group. Course grades are calculated on performance in discussion, weekly homework activities, mid-term exam/activity, final exam/activity, and course project.

Included in the time commitment above is the amount of time you will spend online. Expect to be online 10-15 hours per week. If you have a slower modem or slow computer, this time may increase slightly due to increased download times for the highly graphical course content. The majority of your work will entail online reading, interactive web activities, online lab activities, and asynchronous class discussions. All of the static reading (non-animation material) and WebCT content pages are easily printed for those who like to read from paper. This course does use a textbook, however, most of the reading/activities are online. The discussion portion of the course requires you to be present on at least two separate occasions per week. Be aware, discussions can move swiftly and we encourage students to skim for new posts, on average, every other day.

If you are unfamiliar with telecommunications or have a relatively slow internet connection, this course may require more of your time.

We would like to set forward the expectations that we have of you as a student. It is sometimes difficult to define the "online learning environment" and what that means to be a student. Historically, distance education courses were "by mail" correspondence courses where you had no interaction with the designer of the instructional materials or the other students in the course. Eventually, the move went into "video courses", where students would gather at education centers once per week to watch a live-video feed of a lecture, then the rest of the work was at home alone. Now the internet is seen as a reliable and convenient method to distributing instruction, irregardless of physical location or time of day/week. Some internet courses are like the "by-mail" correspondence courses, and some are more similar to traditional "physical class" courses where you meet 3-4 times per week and interact with the instructor and other students. Our course is very much like the latter, with the substitution of a physical classroom for your most comfy chair at home and the "meet 3 times per week" is replaced by the asynchronous discussion and feedback loop portions of the course. So - just so we are all clear - this is not a correspondence course where you only need to log-in once per week or turn in all your assignments the last day of the course.

This is a graduate level online course - expectations for participation are the same here as they would be for a graduate course in a physical classroom…the difference being that you can participate in this course at home, with a mug of cocoa, fuzzy slippers, your pet on your lap, and your kids playing outside on the swingset :-) This being said, the expectation is that you will be able to log in a few (3-4) times per week to be active in the dialogue and critical thinking going on in your discussion group and in your lab teams.

If you have any questions about what is expected, please the current course manager with any concerns or curiosities.

DISCUSSIONS:

The class is sorted into discussion groups of ~10 students each. These small discussion groups are where you will interact with your classmates and instructors. Periodically, there are other folders where you can work in smaller teams on a lab or discuss difficulties with homework. Additionally, we have a Milky Way Cafe area where all non-course related discussion will take place.

Each week there will be a discussion topic relating to the current week's material. Please review the Discussion Guidelines about specific expectations. It is encouraged that you log into the course to read discussion posts about every other day to keep up. Notice this does not mean that you have to post every time you log in! However, many students find themselves posting more than twice to keep up with the discussion and to agree with/encourage their classmates. The discussions are facilitated by the instructors, however, they are led by the students! By collaborating and asking questions of your peers, you will help guide the discussions and move them forward into deeper understandings. Active participation by all discussion group members is essential for a successful discussion.

MAKEUP POLICY:

Because of the nature of the class, your involvement throughout each week in discussions is vital both for your success and the success of others in the class. If you miss discussion for a week, there is no opportunity to make up these points. Be aware that there are minimum guidelines for posting of each week.

Assignments are due by Wednesday, 11:59 PM Montana-time each week. Homework solutions are usually posted the Saturday after a homework assignment is due. Homework cannot be handed in after solutions are posted. No exceptions.

The first few days the class is open (a.k.a. Week Zero) you will complete the following in preparation for the semester

• Survey on biographical and demographic information
• Going through a few online resources on "online learning" and "online learning style preferences"

We will be running the course on a Thursday to Wednesday schedule. All discussion topics will begin Thursdays 12:01am (Montana Time) and will conclude on the following Wednesday at 11:59pm (Montana Time).

GENERIC WEEKLY SCHEDULE**: (Subject to change for your current semester)

Fall 2003 will begin on Sept 2nd. Week 1 begins Sept 4th. Semester Project and Final exam/reflection due no later than midnight (Montana time) on Dec. 18th.

*We do not follow K12 calendars and have no "Monday" holidays, February, or April vacations. We try to follow the MSU Academic Calendar, but note that Spring Break runs differently (Thu to Wed). Also note: Thanksgiving Break is *only* that Thursday and Friday.
** Topics subject to change

Questions? Email the current course manager!