TURNING THE NVO INTO AN “EVO” An Educational Virtual Observatory

1. TURNING THE NVO INTO AN “EVO”An Educational Virtual Observatory Larry Marschall Project CLEA Gettysburg College NVO EPO Workshop, JHU/STScI, July 11, 2002

2. THE TWO PRIME DIRECTIVES IN DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS • Consider your Audience • Consider your educational objectives

3. AUDIENCES FOR CLASSROOM MATERIALS • Students :Science Majors or Non-Science Majors? • Faculty: Trained Astronomers or Not? • Institutions: HS, 2 yr, 4 yr, Univ?

4. Example: Introductory College Level Astronomy • Who takes introductory astronomy in the US? • 200 – 250 K students/year; mostly non-science majors. • Who teaches introductory astronomy in the US? • Most classes are taught by instructors whose Ph.D. is NOT in astronomy.

5. EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR LABORATORY EXERCISES DIRECTED AT NON-SCIENCE MAJORS • Keep it simple • Highlight fundamental astrophysical research techniques • Avoid “black boxiness” --- methods should be transparent to user.

6. EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR LABORATORY EXERCISES DIRECTED AT PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY MAJORS • Complexities and tricks can be included • Clever variations on basic techniques or exotic applications are acceptable • Avoid “black boxiness” --- methods should be transparent to user. • What about teaching data mining itself? Is “Data Mining” a black box?

7. An Example:PROJECT CLEAContemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy • Laboratory exercises illustrating modern astronomical techniques • Designed for non-science majors, but adaptable. • Simulation of measurement process. • Modern digital data and analysis techniques, using, wherever possible, real data. • Modular: each module includes software, student workbook(s) technical guide. • Funded by Gettysburg College and the NSF

8. PROJECT CLEAContemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy Project Staff • Larry Marschall: P.I.; Graphic Design and Manuals • Glenn Snyder: Software • P.Richard Cooper: Manager and Outreach Coordinator • Also Mike Hayden, Rhonda Good, Mia Luehrmann, Helenmarie Hofmann, Marcus Lieberman, • Students: Shawn Baker, Erin Walsh, Brin Finnigan, Julia Lynch, Lauren Jones, Michell Vojtush

9. PROJECT CLEAContemporary Laboratory Experiences in AstronomyDISSEMINATION • Freeware (to educational users). • Software and manuals downloadable from website: • http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/physics/clea/CLEAhome.html • Users in all states and > 60 countries • Manuals available in Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Hebrew, Kiwi, ???

10. PROJECT CLEAContemporary Laboratory Experiences in AstronomyTRAINING • Workshops at AAPT Sectional meetings • Workshops at AAPT national meetings • For Physics faculty who are teaching Astronomy courses: 9-day workshops on Research Techniques in Astronomy, at Gettysburg and Green Bank: June 2000, 2001, and coming up: 2003 and 2004.

11. PROJECT CLEAContemporary Laboratory Experiences in AstronomyASSESSMENT • Pre and post concept tests available for downloading. • Satisfaction survey available on line. • Site visits by external evaluator. • Study of lab and non-lab classes by Gina Brissenden, University of Wisconsin.

12. EXERCISES FROM PROJECT CLEA (1)

13. EXERCISES FROM PROJECT CLEA (2)

14. EXERCISES FROM PROJECT CLEA (3) Collaboration over the LAN

15. THE SEARCH FOR OBJECT XA “Capstone” Exercise • Students are given the coordinates of an unknown object and a summary of identification criteria • Access to Optical, Radio, IR and X-ray telescopes & instruments: VIREO: The Virtual Educational Observatory • Carry out an observing program of their own design, identify type of object. • Measure its physical characteristics • Write report in specified format (Journal article, lab report, etc). • Note: The Object X database currently contains 20 million stars, 50,000 galaxies, 6000 qso’s, 20,000 asteroids, 1000 pulsars, 50 million IR sources. Under development: X-ray

16. THE SEARCH FOR OBJECT X and the Virtual Educational Observatory

17. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONSin making EVO’s from the NVO • SELECTED DATA SETS, not access to the entire database, is what is required • THE USER INTERFACE is of prime importance, and should be designed, if not created, by teachers. The advice and collaboration of the research community is essential, however. • BOTH DATA and PROCESSING can be distributed, but servers may have to handle the onslaught of classes rather than sporadic users.

18. WHAT’S NEXT FOR PROJECT CLEA? • X-Ray Astronomy: Integrating CHANDRA data via the web and DS-9 • OLEO: The On-Line Educational Observatory on the web • “I Can’t believe it’s not a real telescope” • Teacher’s guides and more alternative student manuals.

19. THENATIONAL VIRTUAL OBSERVATORYis the line between observation and simulation blurring?

20. CLEA MANUALS IN SPANISH

21. CLEA MANUALS IN ITALIAN

22. CLEA MANUALS IN DUTCH

23. CLEA MANUALS IN HEBREW

24. CLEA MANUALS IN POLISH

25. CLEA MANUALS IN KIWI

26. An older “Canned Lab” on Spectral Classification

27. Modern Astronomy uses digital spectra displayed graphically.

28. An Older “Canned Lab” on Hubble’s Law

29. The CLEA WEBSITE: http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/physics/CLEAhome.html