PREREQUISITES: None. Students who have taken any college-level astronomy classes are discouraged from taking AST 100.
INSTRUCTOR: James Lattimer, james.lattimer@stonybrook.edu, Office Hours MW 1:00 - 2:00; F 2:30 - 3:30; or as requested by Zoom.
GRADING: In this course, students give a single
20-minute presentation concerning a recent discovery or activity in
astronomy which counts for 50% of your grade. A letter grade will be assigned. I have pre-assigned
presentation dates for each enrolled student. To prevent too many
talks on the same or similar topics, you have to reserve your topic in
advance by emailing your request to me at least one week ahead of
time. The presentation schedule is kept on this webpage, see below.
We will meet on Jan. 23 and Jan. 30 for orientation and
questions. The first presentations are scheduled for February 13.
The persons presenting on February 13 will be graded more leniently
since they will not have seen other presentations by that time.
Students will submit short summaries and critiques of other students'
presentations through Blackboard assignments. Each summary is due
by Sunday midnight following a talk. Late
summaries are not accepted without a valid excuse. These summaries
count for 30% of your grade. Each summary will be assigned as a letter grade.
Students will sign-in at the beginning of each class. Attendance forms 20% of the grade. The attendance percentage will be converted to a letter grade.
I will use the summaries to provide feedback to speakers to help
their future presentations, so be considerate and attentive.
You should prepare your presentation as a powerpoint or adobe
acrobat pdf file which must be emailed to me at least 1 day before
your talk; points will otherwise be deducted. I can then verify that the talk works on my laptop which is the backup for presentation. If you have videos in your talk, they may not work on my laptop, so you could bring your laptop that can connect with an HDMI cable to the projection system. Or, if you place your talk online, you could log in on the classroom computer and access it for presentation.
If your talk is emailed to me even earlier, I will be able to review your presentation and offer
suggestions or corrections in time for you to make
modifications. Presentation slides will be posted on the course
website after the presentation is delivered.
You should
practice your talk and make sure it works on your device or online (including
any videos). It is your responsibility to make sure your talk
projects properly, and it affects your grade if it does not. Be prepared to answer questions during and following your talk (this will not take away from your talk time).
Your grade is based on how well you keep to your time limit, the
accuracy and quality of your presentation, and your contact with the
audience during your talk. If you are asked to respond to questions
during your talk, you will receive additional time to compensate; plan
your talk to last between 16 and 20 minutes. I will end your talk
after 25 minutes elapse (not including questions) so we don't run over the scheduled time. Be
prepared for a few questions during and following your talk.
Grades for presentations and summaries will be posted on Blackboard.
I will be available by email and during posted office hours
with prearranged Zoom meetings by request for other times.
You may switch presentation dates with another student if the two of you agree and both provide me the new information at least 2 weeks in advance. (I will need emails from both of you to confirm the change.) Topics are reserved by email, and they will be posted with the speakers' names on the schedule as soon as possible when received. Speakers' slides will also be posted following the presentation. If you accidentally select a topic already chosen, I will alert you to change your topic. This schedule is subject to change, especially during the first few weeks, because of adds/drops, so check it regularly. I will directly inform students of any changes to their presentation dates occurring after January.