Project CLEA: Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy

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The project is continuing to develop a series of laboratory modules for the introductory astronomy laboratory. The modules address a pressing need for modernization: though astronomy is a very popular course for undergraduates, and for many their first and only college experience in science, laboratories in astronomy have difficulty providing needed hands-on experience because of the faintness of astronomical objects, the inconvenient time scale of many phenomena, and the fickleness of weather. In the past, most exercises available to astronomy instructors relied on analysis of photographs or canned data, and exemplified techniques that were increasingly out-of-date. The current project, Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy (CLEA), has already developed 7 Windows and Mac exercises, and will complete at least 3 more by 1996. Each module consists of software, student guides, teachers' manuals, and technical documentation. The material has been introduced into classes at Gettysburg College and distributed widely. CLEA software is currently at use throughout all the United States and 40 foreign countries, reaching at least 10,000 students per year. Four CLEA exercises won the 1994 COMPUTERS IN PHYSICS educational software prize. The current project is continuing to develop modules and evaluating the effectiveness of modules on student learning.