Astronomy

1. What should a student know before taking this course?

You should have completed a junior high school level course in physical science that covers the concepts of matter, energy, gravity, basic chemical and nuclear reactions, and light, and if possible, the composition of the solar system (although you may have picked up enough from media coverage of space exploration and Hubble Telescope events). We cover all of these topics in detail, and students have an easier time if they have been exposed to the basic concepts before starting my course. [The Scholars Online (formerly SOLA/RCA) Natural Science course is an adequate prerequisite for the Astronomy course.]

2. What level of mathematics is required?

You should have completed a first year algebra course, know some geometry, and if possible, have taken or be taking trigonometry.

• You certainly should be able to solve a simple expression for one of its components. For example, you should be able to rearrange the equation y + 2x = 3y to solve for y in terms of x.
• It helps if you can understand how sine, cosine, and hypotenuse relate to the adjacent, opposite, and long sides of a right triangle.
• You should understand how to convert units, for example, from meters to miles, if you know that 1 meter = .62 miles.

You should understand how to read a graph and a table of numerical data.

3. How much preparation time is necessary?

This is hard to answer without knowing how fast you read. For each chat meeting, you will need to prepare

• 25-30 pages of text (which may include a lot of graphics which will require study)
• 8-10 homework exercises
• Starry Night or online media exercises
• animations and/or interactive drill exercises
• multiple choice quiz at the text companion website (optional)
• a 10 question on-line quiz at the website (15-20 minutes).

You may also opt to take do labs, which will involve another 2-3 hours per week of your time, depending on what equipment you need to build or collect.

So each week, you should plan to spend 1.5 hours in class, 4-6 hours in preparation, and 1 hour in testing, or a total of 8 hours a week. A normal high school course requires a minimum of 4 hours of class time and 4 hours of homework. This course is somewhat less intense than a normal high school chemistry or physics course, so it requires somewhat less effort on your part.

4. What is a passing score?

My examinations tend to be very thorough, since I am interested in assessing what you have actually learned and understand. The tests are written as though you were a college student (because that is the level of the material we cover), and so are more challenging that a high school science test would be. Because of this, I tend to actually grade rather easily: passing for the course is 50% or better on each of the fall and spring semester finals.

5. What kind of grade will I get?

I do not give conventional A-B-C-D-F grades. All "grades" are pass/fail, based on a performance of 50% or better on the semester examinations, chapter quizzes, attendance, and participation in discussion and homework solution sessions. I report these, along with general comments on your work, each semester. In the past, these evaluations have been adequate for most state or local school district reporting requirements.

If you require a formal transcript or score, we will scale your performance percentage to a generally accepted standard. The adjustment is based on the general class performance on the examination, your grade level, and the difficulty of the course, so may vary from course to course and from student to student (seniors should perform better than freshman!). If you are reporting scores to NARHS, for example, you would use this adjusted formal score.

6. Will you be able to write me a letter of recommendation for my college (or secondary school) application?

Yes, I do write letters of recommendation for students on occasion. However, I cannot write such a letter on the basis of a few months' work. I require that you finish a complete year of instruction with me first, so that I have a basis for making an evaluation that reflects your true strengths and weaknesses. If this is your first Scholars Online class and your senior year, I will not be able to write your letter. Please see my policy on letters of recommendation for further information.

This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through Internet-based courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently enrolled in this course for the Academic Year 2008/2009 or Summer 2008. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.