Astronomy Portfolio

 Portfolio Description

This page showcases three versions of a survey of astronomy course I teach.  The lecture course is fully developed for in-person, online, or hybrid modalities, and can include a lab component as part of the course or as a stand-alone class.  At the top of this website, you will find tabs that navigate to each of the 3 preps: in-person, online, and lab.

I also include details on field trips I've hosted, the extra credit assignment I like to include in all preps, and some work I do outside of the classroom.

Scientific Thinking

For some students, Astronomy may be the only science class they take in college.  This gives me the important job of helping them develop a strong foundation in scientific thinking.  I introduce this theme by devoting lot of lecture time to science philosophy and the scientific method early in the semester.  I introduce the Scientific Method as one mode of thinking and understanding the universe and cover some questions that science is best at answering, and some questions that science is useless at answering.  I return to this theme later, when we talk about the possibility of multiverses and how we can't experimentally verify them.

I would like to expand the focus on scientific literacy and practice practical skills when it comes to interpreting and communicating science results.  One skill I would like to develop is the ability to read an article on a scientific topic, analyze the information, and communicate the information to a friend who is not taking this class.

Lecture Development

I like to design lectures that incorporate multimedia, animated demos, and lots of information not presented in the book.  I have received positive feedback about the appearance and content of my lectures both from peer evaluators and students.  Based on recent classroom evaluations, I have turned my attention toward increasing student engagement by encouraging student participation and improving active learning in the classroom. 

Classroom Environment

I like to cultivate a relaxed and somewhat informal environment in the classroom.  I strive to make myself approachable so students feel comfortable speaking up.  I invite students to call me Christina or Professor Manzano, allowing them to choose the level of formality they would like to use when addressing me.  I like to start the semester by having students speak most of the time in the first class meeting.  I ask them to introduce themselves to each other by sharing their name, major, why they chose to take this class, and what they hope to learn this semester.  I then invite students to share what they talked about, and turn this into a class-wide discussion of what topics we should cover this semester.   I then do my best to work special topics into the planned curriculum.  This opportunity was missed this semester, and I felt like it took more time than usual to get students to open up.  

I would like to ask students to recommend and mutually agree on in-class policies.  This should give students a sense of ownership of he classroom, as well as solidify the code of conduct.

Mentorship

I have had the privilege of working at NASA, and using the state-of-the-art observatories on Mauna Kea to complete my PhD in Astrophysics at a leading University, and finally finding my place in the classroom.  My successful career is full of high points, but I like to remind my students that I started out in community college and did not take the traditional path to get to where I am today.  Like many of them, I was a first generation college student, who worked the entire time I was in college.  I switched majors (from art to physics) halfway through my undergrad, took 6 years to finish my bachelor's degree, and left school to work before returning to earn my master's and PhD.  

I find that students often resonate with stories about my untraditional career path, and each semester several students tell me they are interested in switching to STEM after taking my class.  I always keep in close touch with these students and have written dozens of 

Outside the Classroom

In the past, I have arranged field trips to Griffith Observatory, California Science Center, and Mt. Wilson Observatory.  Students are asked to complete a 1-2 page write-up or submit a 3-5 minute video summarizing their experience.  If college resources allow, my goal is to provide transportation and accompany students on at least one field trip each semester.  

If a planetarium is available, I try to schedule as many visits as possible.   A planetarium is an excellent way to demonstrate the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets over the course of a day and throughout the year, introduce students to coordinate systems, and practice identifying prominent stars and constellations.  For fun, I also like to host bad science movie nights in the planetarium, both to generate interest in college amenities and give students a fun and educational way to unwind during midterms.

If we have access to telescopes, I like to schedule both day and nighttime observing sessions.  Daytime sessions can be used to observe the Sun and give students practice with telescopes so they are comfortable manipulating them during nighttime observations.