Therefore, I have little interest in you learning a lengthy laundry list of facts . Rather, I am interested in you developing conceptual knowledge of astronomical phenomena and astrophysical principles. Additionally, an important emphasis of this class compared to, e.g. , AST 103 or 104 will be an emphasis on problem solving. Even if you are not a science major, this is an important consideration. Employers of today place extremely high value on critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Astrophysics is a perfect introduction and practice field for such skills.
This also means that AST 301 will have an intentional major self-directed component of study. Assigned problems are also intended to let you draw important conclusions or discover important principles for yourself. Make sure you think not only about the problems, but also about the answers and their implications. The lectures are intended to provide an astronomical introduction to concepts in the text and then emphasize and perhaps extend the most critical astrophysical concepts. Obviously, with a limited number of students, I ll quickly learn who everyone is and have a pretty good idea of their attendance record.