POWRE: The Web as a Laboratory: Hands-On Astronomy in Large Lecture Courses

对于非理科专业的学生来说，将实践经验融入科学入门课程中尤为重要。科学通常被认为是事实的集合，而不是一个持续的探索过程。让学生有机会做科学是至关重要的。这是很难包括这样的第一手经验，在大型讲座类典型的主要大学。然而，这个问题可以成功地补救，在介绍天文学课程，开发互动实验室的万维网。大多数学生可以在宿舍进行实验，其余的在校园的公共计算区域。希望得到帮助的学生可以去一个配有电脑的辅导室，那里有助教。 该项目正在开发基于公共领域图像的实验室，而不是模拟。标准的网络浏览器功能将与定制程序相结合，将静态图像转换为交互式环境。学生将能够眨眼，放大和处理图像，并进行测量。 学生将学习如何在晚间新闻壮观的图像是由专业科学家用来攻击关键的天文问题。他们将自己发现各种望远镜和仪器的优势和局限性。虽然严格，实验室将被设计成有趣的。探索和创造性思维将得到大力鼓励。测试实验室的结果和反馈清楚地表明，Web实验室的工作！ 实验室将在网上免费提供。其他机构可以远程运行它们，也可以将它们安装在本地Web服务器上。

It is particularly important to incorporate hands-on experience into introductory science courses for nonscience majors. Science is often perceived as a collection of facts rather than as an ongoing process of exploration. It is imperative that students have the opportunity to do science. It is difficult to include such firsthand experience in the large lecture classes typical of major universities. However, the problem can be successfully remedied in introductory astronomy courses by developing interactive laboratories for the World Wide Web. Most students can perform the labs in their dorms, the remainder in public computing areas on campus. Students desiring help can go to a computer-equipped tutorial room, staffed by teaching assistants. This project is developing labs based on public domain images, rather than on simulations. Standard Web browser features will be combined with custom programs to turn static images into an interactive environment. Students will be able to blink, magnify and process images, and also make measurements. Students will learn how the spectacular images on the evening news are used by professional scientists to attack critical astronomical questions. They will discover for themselves the strengths and limitations of a variety of telescopes and instruments. While rigorous, the labs will be designed to be fun. Exploration and creative thinking will be strongly encouraged. Results and feedback from a test lab made it clear that Web labs work! The labs will be freely available on-line. Other institutions may either run them remotely, or install them on local Web servers.