1. Engaging & Energizing All of Our Students!
with Online Resources Delivered with Mastering Astronomy
I’ll share here that I’ve been using Mastering for 5+ years now in both Physics and Astronomy, and have absolutely found it to be THE most important and useful addition to my teaching that I’ve made in over 20 years.
Scott Hildreth
Astronomy & Physics – Chabot College – Hayward, CA

2. Goals for Our Session
Share types of assignments that seem to help my students
Share ideas about using Mastering Astronomy to help online teaching
Share ways I learn whether students are learning.
Your feedback & questions are welcome throughout!
I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students.
Astronomy Classes (~50 students)
1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors
3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s
Online & On-campus sections
Physics (20 – 50 students)
2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors
5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab
unit schedules + outside jobs
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

3. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
A bit about me…
Teaching Astro & Physics since 1989
Chabot = 2-year California Community College
First online classes offered in 1995
Both on-campus & online sections ~ 50 students
I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students.
Astronomy Classes (~50 students)
1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors
3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s
Online & On-campus sections
Physics (20 – 50 students)
2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors
5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab
unit schedules + outside jobs
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

4. A caveat, right from the start…
Teaching Astronomy online doesn’t mean this will go away….
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

5. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

6. Ways I used Mastering initially…
In my online Astronomy courses – for tracking student access and time using animated tutorials
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

7. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
An “Aha” moment
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

8. Ways I Use Mastering Now…
In both ONLINE and On-campus classes
Homework
Weekly homework assignments
Ranking Tasks, Animated Tutorials
Links to additional reading, videos, and resources
Reading quizzes
Required weekly
~20 questions
Two chances at correct answer
What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

9. Ways I Use Mastering Now…
Clicker questions & Visual animations
“Pre-reading questions”
Visual quizzes
Some tutorials
Exam Preparation
Chapter review questions prior to midterm/final
Optional (but strongly correlated to success!)
What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

10. Ways I Use Mastering Now…
Student “Study Area”
Non-tracked access to all resources
Extra Credit & Remedial Help
What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses.
Let’s see each of these!
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

11. In addition to Mastering…
Participative Discussion Assignments
Surveys where students teach concepts to friends and family
Research Questions about Astronomy & Science in Society
What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

12. Yet another caveat…
You don’t have to do all of these at once! Try one new thing a term…
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

13. But are online students learning?
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

14. Mastering Captures Data
Quickly see who is working
Cannon, Annie
Chandrasekhar
Einstein, Albert
Feynman, Richard Hawking, Stephen Herschel, Carol Klumpke-Roberts,
Lightman, Alan Perlmutter, Saul
Rubin, Vera
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

15. Mastering Captures Data
Quickly see time they spend
Cannon, Annie
Chandrasekhar
Einstein, Albert
Feynman, Richard Hawking, Stephen Herschel, Carol Klumpke-Roberts,
Lightman, Alan Perlmutter, Saul
Rubin, Vera
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

16. Mastering Captures Data
Quickly see success on each assignment
Cannon, Annie
Chandrasekhar, S.
Einstein, Albert
Feynman, Richard
Klumpke-Roberts, D
Lightman, Alan
Rubin, Vera
Cannon, Annie
Chandrasekhar, S.
Einstein, Albert
Feynman, Richard
Klumpke-Roberts, D
Lightman, Alan
Rubin, Vera
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

17. Mastering Captures Data
Quickly see time per assignment
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

18. Mastering Captures Data
Quickly what they miss and why
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

19. Mastering Enables Data Analysis
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

20. Mastering Enables Data Analysis
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

21. Mastering Enables Data Analysis
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

22. Mastering Enables Data Analysis: Learning Outcomes
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

23. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
On the horizon…
PhET (University of Colorado) simulations in Mastering
Even better audio/visual/text linkage
Improved adaptive learning
Quiz questions built into online text
Redirection to advanced content and/or
Remediation to review content
What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

24. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
PhET Simulations
My Solar System
Go to online site
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

25. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
PhET Simulations
My Solar System
Go to online site
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

26. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
PhET Simulations
Some thoughts to share…
Try these first in class if you can
Give more credit to match length
Edit (with simple editor) follow-up questions
Encourage students to explore
Wonderful surprises from students!
Go to online site
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

27. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

28. On the horizon? More video
There are great results available graphically for each assignment, providing information on student scores, time, problem difficulty, problem score, and histograms for time and score. Each can be turned on or off as required. I show students the results in general in class, and talk about some of the problems reported generically.
Interactive Questions
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

29. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
Any Questions ?
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

30. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
Getting Started!
OK – so how do you get going?
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

31. Familiarity breeds success…
Over time, you will learn
New Tutorial Problems with effective hints
Which problems need additional hints
Which problems don’t work as well
New ways to use the system for your classes and students.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

32. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
Additional Ideas
Be patient, explore, & experiment!
Have students suggest YouTube clips they like specific to an assignment or problem
Give Extra Credit for the one(s) students found most helpful
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

33. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
Questions? Discussion?
Check out a resource list & research
Login to my classes to look around
me with questions!
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012

34. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012
Cartoons….
Images reprinted in the online presentation and available online were borrowed with permission from " .this.book", The Cartoon Bank, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1996.
Gary Larson Comics are copyrighted and will not be available with this presentation when posted online.
Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - October 2012