The Numbers

I woke up at 9:33 am. I ate four chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. This is Day One of summer vacation.

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The commencement ceremony was last night. Last year, I had a discussion with a friend about community college students. From his experience with friends who have attended community colleges, his perception of the typical student was, um, slackers who didn't really have a focus in life. Whereas that does represent some community college students (and more than a few university students, I might add), I thought it would be interesting to share some of the statistics of those graduating this semester at my institution. There is a bias here, as many students never file for graduation but rather just transfer, but the statistics are not atypical for the general population of students.

Youngest graduate = 17 years old

Oldest graduate = 61 years old

Percentage of associates degrees awarded to females = 60%

Age group with the most students graduating = 35+,

Average age of graduates = 29

Number of students who stand when asked who is the first in their family to be awarded a college degree = over 50%

Number of photos taken by a fellow faculty member of a young student who had no family members present because they do not believe that females need an education = as many as could fill up the memory card to document this amazing accomplishment

Plus one hug from a very happy student for this very content professor

Good Evening

Last night was the final meeting of my once-per-week, three-hour long night-time astronomy class. As an attempt at something different, I gave their final quiz last week and told them to show up this week to talk about the fate of the universe with cookies provided. They were also told that there'd be no grade attached to this week's meeting, I just thought that teaching cosmology would be fun in sort of a laid-back format, letting their questions really drive the discussion. This, of course, would depend on participation, so my plan would fail horribly if people didn't show up.

All of the students showed up. Every single one.

Do you know how much fun it is to teach a class of interested students? This group had been great all semester (averaging almost 10 % above the scores of my day-time classes), so I had confidence that I'd get a good turnout, but all of them? I was really impressed, but not necessarily surprised. I've always enjoyed teaching evening classes at community colleges. The demographic leans towards older, full-time employed people. They may be tired when they show up to class, but they attend because they really want to be there. That's a good thing, because when I teach at night, it's usually the end of a long day; this semester's Tuesdays went from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm. If the students weren't as dedicated, it'd be difficult for me to keep up the level of energy required to teach a three-hour lecture. So thank you and good luck in the future to my evening students!

One more week

Next week is the last week of school. Yay! I love my students, but I'm as eager for the semester to be over as they are. This past week was difficult, and I'm glad it's the weekend. Of course, there's a pile of grading weighing upon my conscience, but I'll deal with that tomorrow.

Conversations

I had some interesting conversations with students the past few weeks. One student has been in my physics classes both semesters. He's really smart, but also... well, he describes himself as lazy. He is content with doing the minimum needed to earn a passing grade, but he could achieve so much more. And he knows it. But last week he started talking about sustainable architecture and went on and on and on. That's it... that's what makes him tick, and I wish I'd found that out during the first week of the fall semester.

One of my astronomy students mentioned that he wanted to be a teacher. Specifically, a special needs K-12 teacher for deaf students from Spanish language homes, a niche that is probably woefully unfilled hereabouts. He has some friends who are deaf, and he has been disturbed by the quality of education they receive in traditional special ed classes.

Another astronomy student started off the semester a little rough. You can tell that his educational background is not the best, yet I never doubt his desire to learn. And he's been bitten by the astronomy bug - ha! But what I found most interesting is why astronomy has started to appeal to him. He feels like he is at a crossroads in his life, open to new possibilities and new ideas, whether that be in regards to career or faith. He says he feels like he's searching for truth and that the astronomy class has become part of the journey.

I wish I had time to find out the things that make each student twitch, you know?

Should I be flattered?

Before an astronomy class today, one of my students told me that I seemed smarter than his other instructors and that he thought I should be doing research instead of teaching at a community college. He asked why I was an instructor. I told him the truth, because I enjoy teaching, specifically at the community college. He seemed confused by the notion of someone actually liking to teach, which saddens me with regards to his K-12 education.

The Slip

New FREE Nine Inch Nails album - The Slip. You know, in case you're curious.

View from here

View at breakfast:

View at dinner:

Can't complain!

Who was that?

When my officemate unlocked the door to our darkened office early this morning, a man darted out of it. Nothing appears to be missing, but from the way my keyboard had been moved, he was probably sleeping in my chair with his head on my desk. I wonder who that was? Whoever he is, he must have a key and our alarm code.

Collisions

Today is the 18th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. When I mentioned that to my astronomy classes, a few of the students commented on the fact that they're eighteen years old, too. Most of my students don't remember a world before Hubble. I do. It was a quieter universe, beautiful and placid. We now know that is not the universe we live in, and I'm forever grateful to have seen the heavens through Hubble's eyes.

To commemorate today's anniversary, here are some colliding galaxies, from Hubble:

Discipline

You know, after a 13-hour day at work, I was thinking it would be so nice if my favorite musical artist would release a new single for free. What's that you say? Thanks, Trent!

http://discipline.nin.com

For the record

It was Greg's idea to have chocolate chip cookie sundaes for dinner last night. It was a splendid idea, in my opinion.

And so it goes

I had to yell TWICE at a group of students in one of my classes today. I resent having to apply discipline in a college classroom, and getting angry always leaves me unsettled and in a crappy mood. Needless to say, I did not have a good day.

However, when I got home, Greg made a yummy dinner, I baked chocolate chip cookies, and I received an email containing an apology from one of the troublesome students. Not such a bad day after all.

Benefit of the Doubt

My astronomy students turned in their first papers last week. The assignment is an article summary, in which they read a newspaper/magazine/internet piece on an astronomy topic and summarize it in one page. Nothing high stress, but rather my way of getting them to read science in the news. As part of grading, I mark spelling and grammatical errors. I did have a student object to this once, because I'm not an English teacher. Egads! I do think it is my duty to have them write as part of the astronomy curriculum. My physics students also have to write a short paper. I think it's important that students are held responsible for their writing skills, even outside the English classroom. After all, the goal of most composition classes is to prepare the students for their other courses, right?

I receive notices about students who take advantage of campus tutoring to proofread their papers for spelling and grammatical errors. One of these students turned in a paper full of errors. To whom do I give the benefit of the doubt - to the student, who perhaps did not receive the help she needed? Or to the tutor, who perhaps helped, but my student didn't follow through? Sigh. More hot chocolate is required.

Outcomes

On Friday, I attended a six hour-long meeting focusing on student learning outcomes. It made me ponder some recent examples I have of the outcomes that different people expect for student learning. All of these examples are from colleagues, near and far:

• The withdrawal and fail rates for these courses are too high. You need to figure out how to help more students succeed in these courses - a dean, remarking upon a track of pre-med/pre-professional courses.
• You guys need to fail more students. Not enough of the students are learning what they need to succeed in our courses. - a professor, remarking upon the same track of pre-med/pre-professional courses.
• I was concentrating on my music and my surfing instead of your class. - a student responding to a professor chiding the class on poor exam performance.
• Zero hours outside of class. Zero homework done. This class does nothing to prepare students for the tests. - student response to a post-exam survey asking for amount of time spent studying, amount of homework completed, and constructive criticism for the professor.

I think I'll go drink hot cocoa now.

Puny Earthlings

On several occasions this week, I found myself dealing with students discomfited by the universe. The Sun dying out was particularly perplexing for them.

"What will happen to us? What will we do?"

My reply was, "If we're still around in five billion years, we'll need an exit strategy." Truly, the students looked like I just killed their pets. The Greenhouse Effect also bothers them, but not in the "I should curtail my carbon emissions"-way.

"What will happen to the Earth if the runaway greenhouse effect happens?

"Um, nothing? The atmosphere will change, some living things will die as others flourish, and the rocky ball we live on will continue to orbit the Sun just fine. Oh, and the atmosphere has changed before."

Aiieee!

I showed a few of my favorite images: the Peekskill meteorite and the Chicago meteorite. Obviously, very few people were affected by these events, and thus they are considered to be of no consequence. My students did not consider these impacts to be trivial, and strangely, most had not heard of the possibility that an impact contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs. One student has now deemed my class "creepy."

Since I was a small child, I've spent much of my mental life in outer space, so I guess I've become used to being part of the universe, a vast and awesome place. Just a part - not in control, not special, not important. And just amazed that from this tiny little land-locked corner of the universe, we can look out and learn so much.

Day Off

Today I am not going to do any work, not even open up my work email accounts. Yup, it's my Spring Break, and I think I deserve one totally free day! The week has been both full and fun so far:

• We drove up to Sacramento to celebrate my sister's birthday (a milestone) and my brother's birthday, too.(Travel tip - take Highway 99 instead of Interstate 5. Many more In-N-Outs.)
• Quick detour to Oakland to visit Tim, Heather, and sweet baby River.
• A lovely drive down the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur.
• An impromptu St. Patrick's Day party.
• Meals with family and friends.

And that's just Friday thru Tuesday! Much beach-walking has since occurred.

Other random bits:

• Congrats to ASU's men's and women's track teams for winning the NCAA championship. Special congratulations to my former physics student Jacqueline for her third (!) national title.
• My warm feelings towards my former students almost nullifies my rage at receiving a parking citation from ASU this week... you know, the place I haven't been since July? In a state I haven't lived in nor used my car in since July? Sigh.
• Titan may have a sub-surface ocean.
• I mourn the passing of Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the first science fiction I ever read.
• Congrats to David on the Hugo nomination!
• Congrats to my Greg on reaching yet more milestones this week!
• I somehow imagine that test grades would be even better for certain students if they curtailed the mj use. Still, the second round of exams went better than the first round.
• Why am I talking about grading?!?! It's my day off!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Perspective

It's good to get a fresh perspective - Earth and its Moon, as seen by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Veiled Planet

Lest you tire of sunsets, here is otherworldly beauty - Saturn, from Cassini

Sunsets

Instead of being bored of the perpetual sunshine, I'm just giving in.

Sunset at our secret park:

Sunset at Ocean Beach, witnessed by me, Greg, Jackie, and Chris:

Ghosts I-IV

Nine Inch Nails just released a 36-track instrumental album called Ghosts I-IV on the website this afternoon. Ahhhh!!!! Ahhh!!!!! The servers are overwhelmed, so I haven't been able to complete my order yet, but the streaming audio still works. Ahhhh!!! Ahhh!!!!

Maybe I'll cancel class tomorrow - it's two hours of new music!!!! Ahhh!!!!!