AST 301 — Syllabus

Prof. Paul R. Shapiro
COURSE:AST 301: INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY
SEMESTER:Spring 2000, Unique Number 43755
HOURS:TTh 2:00-3:30 p.m.
LOCATION:WEL 3.502
TEXTBOOK:1. (Required) Seeds, M.A., Foundations of Astronomy (1999 Edition), (Wadsworth) ISBN: 0-534-54765-6

2. (Optional) Bennett, J., Donahue, M., Schneider, N., Voit, M. The Cosmic Perspective (1999 Edition), (Addison-Wesley) ISBN: 0-201-87878-X

EXAMS:There will be four exams during the semester and no final exam.

Tentative Exam Dates: February 15, March 9, April 11, May 4. The exams will be objective multiple choice.

HOMEWORK:There will be required reading assignments. Problems will be assigned regularly and must be handed in. They should be handed in at the beginning of class on the due date. Since solutions will be posted at the end of class on the due date, no late homework can be accepted.
GRADING:The course grade will be based on the average of the scores on the four exams and the graded homework sets. All of the homework grades averaged together will be equal in weight to one of the exams. We will drop your lowest two homework grades before we take the final average homework grade. We will drop your lowest exam score before computing your final course grade (but not your homework grade).
INSTRUCTOR:Professor Paul Shapiro
Office: RLM 16.204
Phone: 471-9422 or leave word at 471-3000
E-Mail: shapiro301@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: immediately following class (WEL 3.502) or by appointment
T.A.'S:(1) Mr. Ilian Iliev
(review sessions and individual help)
Office: RLM 16.212
Phone: 471-8443 or leave word at 471-3000
E-Mail: iliev@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: M 2-3 p.m.; Th 12-1 p.m.

(2) Mr. Kyungjin Ahn
(homework grading)
Office: RLM 16.208
Phone: 471-2785 or leave word at 471-3000
E-Mail: kjahn@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: W 1-2 p.m.

HELP SESSIONS:Monday 7-8 p.m., PHR 2.110
Wednesday 7-8 p.m., PHR 2.110
AST 301 Main Page
The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy Astrophysics Theory Group