Project CLEA: Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy

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The project continues work to develop exercises for the introductory astronomy laboratory. Through computer simulations using real data and computer simulations, the modules address a pressing need for modernization. Heretofore, laboratories in astronomy have had 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. Until this project, 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instructors relied on analysis of photographs or canned data, and exemplified techniques that were increasingly out-of-date.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 developed 8 Windows and 6 Mac exercises. Each module consists of software, student guides, teachers' manuals, and technical documentation. The material, designed for easy distribution and portability, has been widely accepted by astronomy instructors. 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. In the next two years the project will complete the set of 12 exercises which will serve as a resource for astronomy laboratories into the next decade. An external evaluator has begun an extensive assessment of the effectiveness of the materials, and the assesment will continue. A CD-ROM, a unified manual, and additional data resources for eventual third-party distribution to educational users are being produced.