Description
Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, 4th Edition
This is a workbook, not a textbook. Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy gives students short guided question sequences to work through in class or in a study group, sitting alongside whichever introductory astronomy text the course has assigned. Ed Prather, Gina Brissenden, Colin Wallace and Jeffery Adams wrote it.
The activities ask students to read real data, commit to an answer, and then test that answer against the physics. Most of the work is done in pairs or small groups rather than alone.
Built from classroom research
The exercises came out of national teaching workshops, interviews with students and repeated classroom testing. Sequences that did not work with real students were rewritten before they reached this edition.
Where students usually go wrong
Several tutorials exist because one particular wrong idea keeps coming up: what causes the seasons, why the Moon shows phases, how gravity behaves across distance, and how the pieces of cosmology fit together. The questions draw the mistaken idea out first, then take it apart.
How it fits a course
- Works as a supplement to any major introductory college astronomy textbook.
- Suits in-class group work, homework sessions or independent study.
- Moves from basic observational reasoning up to computations at cosmic scale.
Book details
- Title: Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy
- Authors: Ed Prather, Gina Brissenden, Colin Wallace, Jeffery Adams
- Edition: 4th
- Publisher: Pearson
- ISBN-13: 9780135807026
- Format: Workbook
Questions buyers ask
Do I still need an astronomy textbook?
In most courses, yes. The tutorials are written to work next to any major introductory astronomy text rather than to replace one.
How much calculation is involved?
The sequences start from observational ideas and build toward computations at cosmic scale. There is arithmetic, but the point of each exercise is the reasoning that leads to it.
Can I use it on my own?
Yes. The structure is flexible enough for independent study, though many activities are written for two or more students working together.
Which edition is this?
The fourth edition, ISBN 9780135807026.
What sort of course is it for?
Introductory college astronomy, including the large lecture courses where instructors run the tutorials during class time.
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