Modernizing the Introductory Astronomy Laboratory

对于许多大学生来说，天文学是第一次也是唯一的一次科学经验。然而，由于利用来自天空的微弱光线进行“实验”的难度，天文学入门实验室长期以来一直受到影响。它们很少是经验性的或“动手的”，而是依赖于对提前提供的照片和数据表的分析。今天可用的实验室材料也证明了越来越过时的技术，不能代表天文学家的真正工作。学生们正确地认为实验的大部分是虚构的，很少强调课堂上提出的概念。正在为解决这些问题的入门实验开发一系列新的练习。其中一些将是以小型望远镜上的ccd摄像机观察为中心的“动手练习”，这是许多学校都有的那种。其他练习将是观测模拟，这可能是非常逼真的，因为许多天文观测是使用计算机作为各种类型望远镜的前端完成的。正在为所有实验室开发标准化的软件工具，数据采集和分析正在与现有的电子表格程序相结合。完成后的实验室将包括软件、写作和教师指南以及技术手册，并将提供给其他机构。新的练习让学生在天文学课程中获得更满意和更真实的体验，并为振兴其他高校类似课程的天文入门实验室提供动力。

Astronomy is the first and only experience in science for many college students. Yet laboratories in introductory astronomy have long suffered because of the difficulty of doing "experiments" with the faint light from the heavens. They are rarely experiential or "hands-on", relying instead on analysis of photographs and data tables provided ahead of time. The available laboratory material today also exemplifies techniques that are increasingly out-of-date and unrepresentative of what astronomers really do. Students rightly regard much of the lab as make-work, rarely reinforcing the concepts presented in class.A series of new exercises are being developed for the introductory lab that addresses these problems. Some will be "hands-on exercises" centered around observations with CCD cameras on small telescopes, of the kind available to many schools. Other exercises will be simulations of observations, which can be extremely realistic, since much astronomical observation is done using computers as front ends for various types of telescopes. Standardized software tools are being developed for all the labs, and data taking and analysis are being integrated with existing spreadsheet programs. The finished labs will consist of software, writeups, and teachers' guides, as well as technical manuals and will be made available to other institutions.The new exercises give students in the course a more satisfying and realistic experience in astronomy, and provide impetus for revitalizing the introductory astronomy labs in similar courses in other colleges and universities.