Computer Science – Learning
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21743104f&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #431.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Computer Science
Learning
Scientific paper
Nothing beats hands-on experience!
Students often have a more profound learning experience in a hands-on laboratory than in a classroom. However, development of inquiry-based curricula for teaching spectroscopy has been thwarted by the absence of affordable equipment.
There is now a software program that brings the excitement of real-time spectroscopy into the lab. It eliminates the processing delays that accompany conventional after-the-fact data analysis -- delays that often result in sagging enthusiasm and loss of interest in young, active minds.
RSpec is the ideal software for high school or undergraduate physics classes. It is a state-of-the-art, multi-threaded software program that allows students to observe spectral profile graphs and their colorful synthesized spectra in real-time video. Using an off-the-shelf webcam, DSLR, cooled-CCD or even a cell phone camera, students can now gain hands-on experience in gathering, calibrating, and identifying spectra. Light sources can include the sun, bright night-time astronomical objects, or gas tubes. Students can even build their own spectroscopes using inexpensive diffraction "rainbow” glasses.
For more advanced students, the addition of an inexpensive slitless diffraction grating allows the study of even more exciting objects. With a modest 8” telescope, students can use a simple webcam to classify star types, and to detect such exciting phenomena as Neptune's methane-absorption lines, M42's emission lines, and even, believe it or not, the redshift of 3C 273. These adventures are possible even under light-polluted urban skies. RSpec is also an excellent program for amateur astronomers who want to transition from visual CCD imaging to actual scientific data collection and analysis.
As the developer of this software, I worked with both teachers and experienced spectroscopists to ensure that it would bring a compelling experience to your students. The response to real-time, colorful data has been very enthusiastic both in the classroom and in public outreach.
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