Using role-playing exercises to teach astronomy

Francis, Paul J.

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Using role-playing exercises to teach astronomy

Date

1999

Authors

Francis, Paul J.

Abstract

I'd like to share a rather cavalier, but enormously enjoyable technique I've been using to teach introductory astronomy classes for nonscience majors. Rather than preparing a conventional lecture on some area of astronomy, I divide my class into groups that compete among themselves to be the first to understand a given aspect of astronomy, using clues that I supply.