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Student Course Evaluations

Instrument 16: Haystack Observatory Undergraduate Education Initiative — Student Survey

Project: Strengthening Undergraduate Education through Research in Radio Astronomy
Northeast Radio Observatory Corp

Funding Source: NSF - Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)

Purpose: Haystack Observatory evaluation to see if undergraduate students in the program found the radio astronomy course and the research experiences authentic and meaningful

Administered To: College undergraduates who are participating in the Haystack Observatory NSF sponsored program

Topics Covered:

Background Characteristics & Activities (Student): experience, academic level, education, academic performance, prior coursework, academic interests, post-secondary plans
Program Evaluation: effectiveness, expectations, opportunity to practice, methods, ease of use, content, activities, assignments, technology use

Format/Length: 90 questions, of which 4 are closed-ended, 7 are scaled or yes/no, and 12 are open-ended

Appendix A—Current Student Survey

IV. Haystack Observatory Undergraduate Education Initiative

V. Student Survey

Please help the Haystack Observatory staff evaluate and improve its ability to introduce students to radio astronomy and by providing authentic and meaningful research experiences for all involved. All responses are strictly confidential. Please return this survey in the envelope provided. If the envelope is missing, the return address is at the bottom of the last page. Thank you for your help!

I. Background Information

[1-3] Your School:_____________________ [4-6] Your Instructor:___________________________

Course Number and Title__________________________________________

[7] Your Year (please check one)

___First Year ___Sophomore ___Junior ___Senior ___Graduate

[8] Your Major_____________________________________

[9] Your Gender ___Female ___Male

[10-11] How many physics or astronomy courses did you take in high school?______

[12-13] How many physics or astronomy courses have you taken in college?______

[14] Have you previously used:

A radio telescope?

___Yes

___No

[15]

An optical telescope?

___Yes

___No

[16] Have you ever been involved in amateur astronomy?

___Yes

___No

[17] What are your plans after graduation?

_______Graduate work in physics/astronomy

_______Work in physics/astronomy

_______Other (What?)_______________________________

[18] Please describe your project (Check only one)

___Class Demonstration ___Class Project ___Individual Project ___Thesis Project

[19] Did you use the 37m Radio Telescope?

___Yes

___No

If "Yes", please complete sections II, IV and V

[20] Did you use the Small Radio Telescope (SRT)?

___Yes

___No

If "Yes", please complete sections III, IV and V

II. 37m Radio Telescope

To prepare for observations at Haystack, did you

[21] Read any material about radio astronomy?

___Yes

___No

[22] Access the Haystack Web site?

___Yes

___No

[23] Did you observe from the Haystack Control Room?

___Yes

___No

Please circle the number to rate the following on a scale where		"1" = Poor and "5" = Excellent

[24] The online telescope startup instructions		1	2	3	4	5	NA
[25] The usefulness of the online tutorials		1	2	3	4	5	NA
[26] The usefulness of the online software manual (Umbrella)		1	2	3	4	5	NA
[27] The performance of the telescope during your observations		1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[28] Hardware	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[29] Software	1	2	3	4	5	NA

[30] Before observing, did you outline an observing plan?

___Yes

___No

[31] Did it work?

___Yes

___No

[32] About how many hours did you spend analyzing your data?	(1)___Less than 1 hour
	(2) ___1-5 hours
	(3) ___5-10 hours
	(4) ___More than 10 hours

[33] Did you write a project report?

___Yes

___No

What was the title? ___________________________________________

[34-36] Approximately what percent of your grade does this paper account for? ____%

If you observed remotely, please rate the following on a scale where		"1" = Poor and "5" = Excellent

	[37] The remote login instructions	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[38] Functionality of the Umbrella interface	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[39] The usefulness of the remote systems monitors	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[40] The online telescope shutdown procedure	1	2	3	4	5	NA

III. Small Radio Telescope (SRT)

[41] Did you visit Haystack Observatory to use the SRT?

___Yes

___No

[42] Was your use of the SRT primarily for

(1)_____Astronomy Observations

(2)_____A physics course

(3)_____An engineering course

(4)_____Software development

(5)_____Other (please describe)__________________________________________

[43] Did you or your group participate in assembling an SRT?

___Yes

___No

If you assembled an SRT, please rate the following on a scale where		"1" = Poor and "5" = Excellent

	[44] Ease of assembly	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[45] Assembly instructions	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[46] Operator's Manual	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[47] Additional online information	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[48] Software down-load	1	2	3	4	5	NA

If you observed with the SRT, please rate the following where		"1" = Poor and "5" = Excellent

	[49] Ease of Use	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[50] Web page SRT project descriptions	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[51] Software	1	2	3	4	5	NA

[52] Did you collect and analyze data from the SRT observations?

___Yes

___No

[53] About how many hours did you spend analyzing your data?	(1)___Less than 1 hour
	(2) ___1-5 hours
	(3) ___5-10 hours
	(4) ___More than 10 hours

[54] Was a report required for a class or individual project?

___Yes

___No

What was the title?_______________________________________________

[55-56] Approximately what percent of your grade does the report account for? ____%

IV. Web Materials

If you used any Haystack Web Page material in conjunction with your project, please rate the following on a scale where		"1" = Poor and "5" = Excellent

	[57] Site Navigation	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[58] Radio Astronomy tutorial	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[59] Users manuals	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[60] User tutorials	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[61] Experiment Planning	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[62] Monitoring of your observations	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[63] SRT Project material	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[64] Downloads	1	2	3	4	5	NA
	[65] Links	1	2	3	4	5	NA

What changes, if any, would you suggest for the web-site? (Links, additions, deletions, etc.)

V. General Reactions and Suggestions

Please rate the following where		"1" = strongly disagree and "5" = strongly agree.

The overall experience was:
	[66] Exciting	1	2	3	4	5
	[67] Challenging	1	2	3	4	5
	[68] Confusing	1	2	3	4	5
	[69] Enjoyable	1	2	3	4	5
	[70] Tedious	1	2	3	4	5
	[71] Boring	1	2	3	4	5
	[72] Predictable	1	2	3	4	5
	[73] Time Consuming	1	2	3	4	5

Which of the following items were new to you, enhanced by your experience, and/or could be useful to you in the future? (Please check all that apply to each item.)

	New to you	Enhanced by the Experience	Will be useful in the future
[74-76] Designing an experiment	_____	_____	_____
[77-79] Proposing an experiment	_____	_____	_____
[80-82] Planning observations	_____	_____	_____
[83-85] Use of scientific instrumentation	_____	_____	_____
[86-88] Instrument calibration	_____	_____	_____
[89-91] Data taking	_____	_____	_____
[92-94] Interpreting observations	_____	_____	_____
[95-97] Analyzing data	_____	_____	_____
[98-100] Assessing the accuracy of data	_____	_____	_____
[101-103] Remote control by the internet	_____	_____	_____
[104-106] Time management	_____	_____	_____
[107-109] Independent research	_____	_____	_____
[110-112] Collaborative research	_____	_____	_____
[113-114] Computer exposure	_____	_____	_____
[115-117] Engineering/Technical exposure	_____	_____	_____
Other, (please list)_________________	_____	_____	_____
_______________________________	_____	_____	_____

Based on this observing and research experience, do you think you would be likely to:

[118] Pursue additional coursework in astronomy?	___Yes	___No	___Don't know
[119] Pursue another research experience in radio astronomy?	___Yes	___No	___Don't know
[120] Pursue an independent research project in radio astronomy?	___Yes	___No	___Don't know
[121] Encourage others to pursue such projects/coursework?	___Yes	___No	___Don't know
[122] Encourage students in other majors to study astronomy?	___Yes	___No	___Don't know

What did you learn during the experience that was new to you or what concepts have been enhanced or supplemented by your experience? (Use the back of the page if you need more room.)

In what ways do you feel radio astronomy is important to your educational training?

Do you have other comments or suggestions?