Teaching
I've had the chance to do a lot of teaching at the UW in both astronomy and physics. I'm interested in science education at both the K-12 and the undergraduate levels. In addition to learning how to be an effective teacher, I am interested in

• teaching applicable science concepts in intro classes

• increasing diversity and improving retention of minority groups in SME fields

• alternative forms of assessment

• implementing active learning techniques in science classes

In 2002 I had a Huckabay Fellowship and used it to develop a more science-oriented approach to teaching Astronomy 101. Check out the syllabus. The idea here is to develop an introductory science class at the college level that teaches students the fundamental tools of science as a method instead of just presenting a bunch of facts to be memorized.

This work has evolved into the 101 course I teach during the summers. The syllabus, as well as links to my assignments, labs, and powerpoint supplements is at http://www.astro.washington.edu/kristine/astro101

During the 2002-03 school year I was a PRIME Fellow working with Karl Englert, Nina Christensen, and Jan Bowersox at Nathan Hale High School. We developed a new integrated science curriculum for the 9th grade based around a space theme. The original plan was to create a semester-long curriculum that would follow the weather unit. But the teachers liked it so much they decided to expand it out to the whole year.

Teaching Links

• UW Astronomy Dept Clearinghouse - a resource for introductory astronomy labs, homeworks, and other resources
• Astronomy Picture of the Day - excellent place to get cool images for talks
• Nick Stroebel's Online Astronomy Textbook - a complete astronomy textbook available for free
• UW Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) - local resource for on-campus teaching
• UW Catalyst - UW resource for online teaching tools
• Space Science Network Northwest - an excellent resource for K-12 teachers
• The Association of Science-Technology Centers - an association for science centers, museums, and other forms of informal science education