ASTR 181 (Summer)

Schedule

section	class / lab
001	M—Th 9:00—12:20	SC 1141 (PDF)

Office Hours

Normally, my office is in the Science Complex, Room 3150M, which is in the same office suite as the Physics depeartment (see the map, it’s a labyrinth up there). But it is summer and it’s going to be much easier to chat after class or by appointment. We can do that after class or at another time, even on Zoom.

About ASTR 181

This is an introduction to astronomy with a focus on the life and evolution of stars, how they organize themselves into galaxies, and how the galaxies shape the large-scale structure of the universe. With a little curiosity, imagination, and some mathematical tools, you will understand how we come to know what we know about the universe, not just what we know.

Because this class is qualitative in nature, we’ll learn astronomy primarily in plain English, with the occasional equation to help us understand physical relationships ¹.

Text & Polling

Grading & Credit

Your final grade will use the TU +/- grading system and will be based on the following:

Component	% Total	Notes
Celebrations of Knowledge (3)	30%	because exam doesn’t sound fun; multiple choice; 10% each
Weekly Quizzes, Online	20%	lowest score dropped, the rest are averaged
Classroom Participation	25%	your total clicker response score as a fraction of the total clicker points possible (which in turn depends on how many poll questions were asked over the course of the semester)
Lab	25%	lowest score dropped, the rest are averaged; mandatory for credit
Total	100%

Note that because of the compressed schedule, and because the last week is the week of July 4, there is no final exam in this class. Instead, all three exams are non-cumulative.

Your final letter grade for the class will be based on the value of your final Class Score and assigned according to the following scale:

A	93–100.00	C+	77–79
A–	90–92	C	70–76
B+	87–89	D+	67–69
B	83–86	D	60–66
B-	80–82	F	00–59 (but seriously, you really gotta want that F)

Celebrations of Knowledge

We’ll have three exams celebrations of knowledge, each worth 10% of your final score. One (1) excused CoK absence can be made up. Unexcused CoK’s will receive a zero (0) score. Except in unusual circumstances, two missed examinations will result in failure of the course.

Weekly Quizzes

Each week, I’ll assign a quiz on Blackboard. The purpose of these quizzes is to get you to review each week, and not the night before the exam. They may be attempted multiple times, and the highest scoring attempt submitted by the deadline is the one that gets recorded.

Late quiz submissions will not be accepted unless arrangements have been made prior to the due date/time of that particular quiz.

Throughout the semester your lowest quiz score is dropped, and 20% of the average of the remaining scores are added to your final score.

Classroom Participation

We will be using Poll Everywhere to record your responses to clicker questions. Each class (and some labs) will feature interactive questions. You’ll have some time to chat with your neighbor to determine the correct response. Points are awarded as follows:

• Correct: 3
• Incorrect: 2
• No response: 0

Responses are imported into Blackboard, and your final score is simply your total number of points as a percentage of the total points possible throughout the semester.

Lab

Although mainly designed to complement what was covered in class, some labs may be used to introduce new topics. Lab experiments will be posted to Blackboard ahead of each session. All lab work is to be completed and turned in at the end of each lab session. Proper grammar is strongly encouraged ².

As this class is 3.5 hours a day in the same room, we’ll split some days between lecture and lab to help break up the monotony as well as give you a chance to apply some of the concepts you’ve learned. Besides, I don’t have to talk as much, which is a good thing for everyone.

Your final lab grade will be the average of all but your lowest-scoring lab and will account for 25% of your final grade. Note that failing the lab will result in an automatic failure of the class.

Attendance

The only things that are mandatory are paying taxes and dying, neither of which are required for this class. Everything else is your call, including whether or not you come to class in the first place.

But let’s get real—this is a 5-week class. Each day we cover something like a week-and-a-half’s worth of regular semester content. Not only that, but skipping class means you will miss out on the participation and lab points that were up for grabs that class session. Missed participation points will not be exempted unless arrangements have been made prior to the date of that particular class.

Tentative Schedule

Since this is a 5-week class, we’re going to be pretty aggressive in our schedule. However, every class is different so there’s no way I can guarantee we’ll hit every one of these topics on every one of these weeks. But to give you some idea of what to look for and when, here’s a possible schedule we might follow, but note that I reserve the right to alter the schedule and content as needed.

Week of	Topics (with relevant text chapter numbers)
5/26	1. Introduction 3. Motion, Orbits, and Gravity 5. Radiation and Spectra
6/2	15. The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star 16. The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse 17. Analyzing Starlight 18. The Stars: A Celestial Census Celebration of Knowledge 1
6/9	20. Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space 21. The Birth of Stars 22. Stars from Adolescence to Old Age 23. The Death of Stars
6/16	Celebration of Knowledge 2 24. Black Holes and Curved Spacetime 25. The Milky Way Galaxy No class Wednesday, June 19 26. Galaxies
6/23	27. Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black Holes 28. The Evolution and Distribution of Galaxies 29. The Big Bang Celebration of Knowledge 3

Conduct

Be excellent to each other

I can’t believe I have to write this, but bullying, distracting comments, trolling, and acting like a jerk will not be tolerated. The penalty for inappropriate behavior will be determined by me and may include failure and/or removal from the class.

Stay on target

Please come to class prepared to learn. As a courtesy to me and your fellow students, do not read extraneous materials, use the computers for non-class purposes, or fiddle with electronic gadgets while you are in class ³.

So turn off your phone—or at the very least, set it to vibrate—when you come to class. Thanks.

Academic Integrity (ChatGPT, I’m Looking at You)

“Cheating” on participation by discussing with class members, working with others in lab, and even on your weekly quizzes are highly encouraged. But if you’re thinking about trying to pass of someone else’s lab work as your own, or cheating on an exam, fuggheddabouttit. That kind of cheating on labs, exams, or any other aspect of the course will result in a penalty. The penalty for cheating will be determined by me and may include failure of the course and the reporting of the incident to the Vice President for Student Life.

Same deal with  ChatGPT and other AI tools – let’s forget about using them as well. Part of what you learn here at Towson University is how to do your work authentically and honorably, and I’m here to help you do that. In my course, you will be given assignments and I will provide you with specific instructions about how to complete them. Sometimes the instructions will tell you to do the work entirely on your own without consulting other people or material, including the internet. At other times, you may be asked to work together or to use certain technology tools. If you are ever uncertain about how you should work on an assignment, just ask!.

Late/Missed Assignments

Assignments, including (but not limited to) labs, will be accepted late on a case-by-case basis if notice is given prior to the due date of the assignment. But I tend to draw a pretty hard line on quizzes though; they’re either submitted by the due date or they may as well not be submitted at all.

Copyright

My lectures and course materials, including, but not limited to Keynote presentations, PDFs, tests, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. I am the exclusive owner of copyright in those materials I create. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use; however, you may not, nor may you allow others to, reproduce or distribute lecture notes and course materials publicly whether or not a fee is charged without my express written consent.

And yes, that includes uploading stuff to sites like Chegg, CourseHero, etc.

Diversity

The Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences (PAGS), in accordance with the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (FCSM) and with the Towson University Strategic Plan, support initiatives that promote diversity among FCSM faculty, staff and students. We are committed to increasing the quality and diversity of our students, faculty and staff while increasing retention and curriculum initiatives. To obtain further information related to diversity initiatives, please visit:

• FCSM Diversity
• PAGS Diversity

---

footnotes