AY 375 - Fall 2016: Fifth Day Lesson Plan

(5 minutes) Students will take a few minutes to pick partners for this week's homework (see below). We'll record who's visiting who on the wiki in real time.

Take each other's quizzes and provide feedback as to the structure, wording and efficacy of the quiz.

• Quizzes are not just assessments of a student's understanding but opportunities to teach as well.
• Well constructed quizzes reward engagement with the material, test multiple levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, incorporates questions of various types, tests what was taught, and encourages deeper learning and understanding.
• Remember to take your own quiz slowly and time yourself. Multiply that time by ~3 to estimate how long it'll take your students.
• Don't grade in red pen!

(15 minutes) Group Activity

• Groups of 3-4: Each person takes a turn using their mini whiteboard. The others in the group get to choose one question off that person's quiz and ask it. The person must answer that question using the whiteboard.

(25 minutes) Class Activity

• As a class: Introduce Jason's photometry activity and explain centroiding procedure. Groups will work on their mini whiteboards to show why sky background can lead to biases in astrometry. Class discusses results and importance of breaking down a difficult problem into a simpler, tangible one and using fake data and graphs/pictures to elucidate an analytic concept.

• Sometimes a point is better made with a visual aid such as a video or a digital demo.
• As a class: Watch examples of educational videos and critique. What works and what doesn't? What is best suited for use in a discussion section setting?
  • Size of the Sun - Version 1 | Size of the Sun - Version 2 | Size of the Sun - Version 3
• Videos and interactive programming can be a useful tool to demonstrate difficult mathematical concepts.
  • Galaxy Rotation Speed | Retrograde Motion

• Front: What is one useful thing you have learned in class so far and want to implement in your teaching?
• Back: Do you have any concrete ideas to improve our class? What topics would you like to cover this semester?

1. Find a partner with whom you will visit each other's sections. Aim to complete both visits and meet up for discussion by 9/28. Make sure to complete the Peer Visitation Worksheet.