Douglas K. Duncan

Clickers: A New Teaching Aid with Exceptional Promise

Wireless student response systems—clickers—address two of the oldest and most fundamental challenges in teaching: how to engage students and how to determine if they are learning what you are teaching. Clickers are relatively low cost and easy to use. Data show that when they are used well in large lecture classes, clickers increase the engagement of students and improve their learning. This is particularly true when students are encouraged to debate answers with their neighbors before answering. Students overwhelmingly like using clickers and believe that they increase their learning. Clicker use also increases class attendance. Like any technology, it is possible to misuse clickers. Common mistakes made by new clicker users and how to avoid them are described. As of 2006, clicker technology is changing in a way that favors radio (RF) rather than infrared transmission. Those installing clicker systems should profit from these changes.

Digital Devices, Distraction, and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning?.

The recent increase in use of digital devices such as laptop computers, iPads and webenabled cell phones has generated concern about how technologies affect student performance. Combining observation, survey, and interview data, this research assesses the effects of technology use on student attitudes and learning. Data were gathered in eight introductory science courses at a major university. Results show a significant negative correlation between in-class phone use and final grades, with use of cell phones corresponding to a drop of 0.36 ± 0.08 on a 4-point scale where 4.0 = A. These findings are consistent with research (Ophir, Nass, & Wagner 2009) suggesting students cannot multitask nearly as effectively as they think they can. While 75% of students reported regular cell phone use, observation suggests undergraduates typically under-report the frequency of their in-class use of digital devices.

HST/STIS high resolution echelle spectra of Centauri A (G2 V) ?;??

We describe and analyze HST/STIS observations of the G2 V star α Centauri A ( α Cen A, HD 128620), a star similar to the Sun. The high resolution echelle spectra obtained with the E140H and E230H gratings cover the complete spectral range 1133-3150 Au2000with a resolution of 2.6 km s -1 , an absolute flux calibration accurate to

A Study of General Education Astronomy Students’ Understandings of Cosmology. Part IV. Common Difficulties Students Experience with Cosmology

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A Study of General Education Astronomy Students’ Understandings of Cosmology. Part V. The Effects of a New Suite of Cosmology Lecture-Tutorials on Students’ Conceptual Knowledge

%, and an absolute wavelength accuracy of 0.6–1.3 km s -1 . We present here a study of the E140H spectrum covering the 1140–1670 A spectral range, which includes 671 emission lines representing 37 different ions and the molecules CO and H 2 . For α Cen A and the quiet and active Sun, we intercompare the redshifts, nonthermal line widths, and parameters of two Gaussian representations of transition region lines (e.g.,

A Study of General Education Astronomy Students' Understandings of Cosmology. Part I. Development and Validation of Four Conceptual Cosmology Surveys

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Improving Student Attitudes about Learning Science and Student Scientific Reasoning Skills

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A Study of General Education Astronomy Students' Understandings of Cosmology. Part III. Evaluating Four Conceptual Cosmology Surveys: An Item Response Theory Approach.

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Precision Orbit of δ Delphini and Prospects for Astrometric Detection of Exoplanets

), infer the electron density from the

The time variability of magnetic fields on epsilon eridani

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