OLEO: The On-Line Educational Observatory

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA

Investigators

Abstract

Astronomy (11) Project CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy) is developing an on-line environment that provides discovery-based laboratory exercises to undergraduate astronomy students. The components of the system are: (1) A browser-based On-Line Educational Observatory (OLEO) which realistically simulates optical, radio, and space-based telescopes, along with photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging instruments,. (2) An extensive heuristic database, covering the entire sky, which incorporates selected data on positions, magnitudes, spectra, and other properties of a wide range of real astronomical objects including asteroids, stars, galaxies, pulsars, x-ray and IR sources. (3) Student workbooks and teacher's guides for a variety of exercises using the Virtual Educational Observatory. CLEA materials are made available on a dedicated OLEO Website, as well as on a series of CD-ROMS for installation on mirror sites, local networks, and individual machines. The use of the materials is supported by outreach workshops held at national and regional teachers' meetings. A summer training workshop for college teachers will be held on the Gettysburg College campus in the summer of 2003. The curricular impact and pedagogical effectiveness of these materials is being evaluated at a diverse group of institutions (Universities, 4-year colleges, 2-year colleges, and High Schools), by observations by an external evaluator and through the analysis of on-line questionnaires.