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

在非理科专业的入门科学课程中加入实践经验尤为重要。科学常常被认为是事实的集合，而不是一个不断探索的过程。学生有机会做科学研究是很重要的。在主要大学的大型课堂上，很难包括这样的第一手经验。然而，在天文学入门课程中，通过为万维网开发互动实验室，这个问题可以成功地解决。大多数学生可以在他们的宿舍进行实验，其余的在校园的公共计算区域进行。需要帮助的学生可以去配备电脑的辅导室，那里有助教。这个项目正在开发基于公共领域图像的实验室，而不是基于模拟。标准的Web浏览器功能将与自定义程序相结合，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。学生将学习专业科学家如何利用晚间新闻中的壮观图像来解决关键的天文问题。他们将自己发现各种望远镜和仪器的优点和局限性。虽然严格，但实验室的设计将是有趣的。探索和创造性思维将被大力鼓励。来自测试实验室的结果和反馈清楚地表明，Web实验室是有效的！这些实验室将在网上免费提供。其他机构可以远程运行它们，或者将它们安装在本地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.