Robotic Telescope Data Collection for Facilitation of Astronomy General Education Learning Outcomes in Fine-Tuning and Consciousness Inquires in Post-COVID Era
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| Title: | Robotic Telescope Data Collection for Facilitation of Astronomy General Education Learning Outcomes in Fine-Tuning and Consciousness Inquires in Post-COVID Era |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Alexei Kisselev, Arkadiy Portnoy, Sunil Dehipawala, Todd Holden, Tak Cheung |
| Source: | International Society for Technology, Education, and Science. 2025. |
| Availability: | International Society for Technology, Education, and Science. 944 Maysey Drive, San Antonio, TX 78227. Tel: 515-294-1075; Fax: 515-294-1003; email: istesoffice@gmail.com; Web site: http://www.istes.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 15 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Speeches/Meeting Papers Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education Two Year Colleges |
| Descriptors: | Robotics, Laboratory Equipment, Astronomy, Data Collection, General Education, Measurement, Ambiguity (Context), Community College Students, Calculus, Scientific Concepts, Space Sciences, College Science |
| Geographic Terms: | New York (New York) |
| Abstract: | The learning of the fine-tuning concept in Astronomy depends very much on the understanding of comparative magnitude in General Education (Gen-Ed), with a quantitative assessment of the uncertainty in a measurement. A robotic telescope with cooled camera technology inside an observatory is a versatile tool for learning Astronomy and Astrophysics in classroom environment with or without research projects. Our Community College, located in New York City, has an Outreach mission to include local high school student participants in our College Now program, with Observatory open evenings for parents and children in the community. An assessment discovered that the learning of the robustness concept could be a better alternative for the learning of the Astronomy fine-tuning concept, which is rooted in Astrophysics as a specific selection from infinite numeric possibilities using the content of Calculus. In other words, without the use of Calculus, what can we learn from the question of "Were the initial conditions of the Big Bang robust enough for life to emerge at high probability without further inputs along the multiple billion years of evolution?" The recent inquiry of consciousness in Astronomy and AI offers a natural extension of the fine-tuning contents. The pedagogy of the robotic telescope data collection on our campus in the post-COVID era has been supplemented with YouTube materials authored by the top universities and research centers, consistent with the shadowing pedagogy. The phenomenon-based pedagogy delivers the inspirational contents, while the model-based pedagogy enables those aspired students to continue Astronomy and/or Astrophysics in senior colleges. For instance, the multi-messenger astronomy proof of gold production mainly from the mergers of two neutron stars using the LIGO Gravitational Wave data, Fermi Spacecraft Gamma Ray Burst data and Skynet Robotic Telescope DLT40 Supernova data in combination together has been delivered successfully to a group of Astronomy students in a cohort. The assessment of students' understanding with and without AI-assisted writing, application skills, and analysis software knowledge is presented in the context of Gen-Ed learning outcomes. The extensions to Astronomy and Astrophysics learning using Astrophotography, important in the Outreach mission and for the engineering physics majors, are discussed. Recommendations are presented. [For the complete proceedings, see ED678731.] |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED678744 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The learning of the fine-tuning concept in Astronomy depends very much on the understanding of comparative magnitude in General Education (Gen-Ed), with a quantitative assessment of the uncertainty in a measurement. A robotic telescope with cooled camera technology inside an observatory is a versatile tool for learning Astronomy and Astrophysics in classroom environment with or without research projects. Our Community College, located in New York City, has an Outreach mission to include local high school student participants in our College Now program, with Observatory open evenings for parents and children in the community. An assessment discovered that the learning of the robustness concept could be a better alternative for the learning of the Astronomy fine-tuning concept, which is rooted in Astrophysics as a specific selection from infinite numeric possibilities using the content of Calculus. In other words, without the use of Calculus, what can we learn from the question of "Were the initial conditions of the Big Bang robust enough for life to emerge at high probability without further inputs along the multiple billion years of evolution?" The recent inquiry of consciousness in Astronomy and AI offers a natural extension of the fine-tuning contents. The pedagogy of the robotic telescope data collection on our campus in the post-COVID era has been supplemented with YouTube materials authored by the top universities and research centers, consistent with the shadowing pedagogy. The phenomenon-based pedagogy delivers the inspirational contents, while the model-based pedagogy enables those aspired students to continue Astronomy and/or Astrophysics in senior colleges. For instance, the multi-messenger astronomy proof of gold production mainly from the mergers of two neutron stars using the LIGO Gravitational Wave data, Fermi Spacecraft Gamma Ray Burst data and Skynet Robotic Telescope DLT40 Supernova data in combination together has been delivered successfully to a group of Astronomy students in a cohort. The assessment of students' understanding with and without AI-assisted writing, application skills, and analysis software knowledge is presented in the context of Gen-Ed learning outcomes. The extensions to Astronomy and Astrophysics learning using Astrophotography, important in the Outreach mission and for the engineering physics majors, are discussed. Recommendations are presented. [For the complete proceedings, see ED678731.] |
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