AST 301

Introduction to Astronomy

Fall 1998

TTH 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
WEL 3.502
Unique No. 44910

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Paul Harvey
Office: RLM 16.230
Phone: 471-3452
E-mail: pmh@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: TTH 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., or just call ahead

CLASS ASSISTANT: Tommy Greathouse
Office: RLM 16.216 (before 9/15/98); RLM 17.307 (after 9/15/98)
Phone: 471-0445 (before 9:15 a.m.); 471-3415 (after 9:15 a.m.)
E-mail: tommyg@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: W 2:30 - 5:30 p.m., or call for an appointment

TEXT:

Horizons, 1998, Seeds, Ch 1-16, 20

GRADING, TESTS, AND HOMEWORK:

There will be 5 in-class tests plus homework. If you have taken all 5 tests by the end of the semester, we will drop the lowest test score and average your best 4; otherwise we will simply average the scores on the 4 (or less!) tests taken.

There will be absolutely no make-up tests, no matter how good your reason is for missing the test. (If you have an excused absence, talk to me BEFORE the test about taking it early). If you contact me about your problem after the test has taken place or have simply not had time to study because your best friend just broke up with his girlfriend and you had to spend all night drinking with him, you clearly have to plan on dropping that test! Dropping the lowest test score will cover the situation where a test is missed due to illness. Tests will be a combination of multiple choice, true-false, and essay questions. Homework problems will be assigned from the problems at the end of the chapters of the book. These problems will illustrate important ideas, but will not be direct copies of, or highly similar to test problems in general. The homework will be graded by assigning 1 point for each problem completed or given a serious attempt, and zero for each problem not worked on. The tests will count toward 80% of your final grade and the homework will count toward the remaining 20 %. There will be tutorial sessions (in addition to our office hours) where the homework problems, as well as any other questions, can be discussed in an "informal" environment.

GENERAL:

I urge you to attend every class as well as the tutorial sessions. By far the best way to do well in this class is to read the text before we discuss it in class, and then read it over again as soon as possible after the class discussion. The class discussion will be oriented toward the most difficult, and/or most important points in each chapter, but you will be responsible for all the material in the text other than sections specifically mentioned as "not to be covered" in the class lecture. In addition, I strongly encourage in-class, as well as after-class questions.

OBSERVING:

There is a telescope on the roof of Painter Hall which will be open to you each clear Monday and Saturday nights.

LEVEL OF THE COURSE AND REQUIREMENTS:

This is a course for non-science majors. You will, however, be expected to use high school algebra and some very simple trigonometry. The course is not designed to involve memorization of facts; rather, you will be expected to solve problems, explain why certain phenomena occur, use graphical displays of relationships to infer conclusions, etc. On tests, we will require complete answers which show the method used to get your answer. Cheating will not be tolerated in any form!

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Reading in Seeds' text (subject to small changes)

Date Chapter Date Chapter
Aug 27 1-2 Oct 15 11
Sep 1 3 Oct 20 Spare
Sep 3 4 Oct 22 Test 3
Sep 8 Video Oct 27 12
Sep 10 5.1, 5.2 Oct 29 12-13
Sep 15 Test 1 Nov 3 13
Sep 17 5.3-5.5 Nov 5 14
Sep 22 6 Nov 10 Test 4
Sep 24 8 Nov 12 15
Sep 29 7 Nov 17 15-16
Oct 1 Test 2 Nov 19 16
Oct 6 9 Nov 24 20
Oct 8 9-10 Dec 3 Film, CI Survey
Oct 13 10 Dec 5 Test 5
NO FINAL EXAM