The Design and Delivery of an Astrobiology Massive Open Online Class.

MOOCs, or massive open online classes have reached hundreds of millions of people around the world in the past decade with a model of free open access learning. They are an excellent vehicle for delivering science to lifelong learners. Building on experience in designing astronomy MOOCs for Udemy and Coursera, we have created an astrobiology MOOC for Coursera called "Astrobiology: Exploring Other Worlds" that launched in April 2019. As of early 2022, about 9000 people have started the course, and nearly 10% of those have completed it. The average user rating is 4.9 out of 5. The core content is 10 h of video lectures, divided into six modules, which cover the possibilities of life in the Solar System, the search for exoplanets, the concept of habitability, the definition of life and basics of biology, evolution of life on Earth, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Pedagogy was designed around clear learning objectives and includes quizzes, writing assignments, and a final project that draws on all the concepts presented in the course where students design their own mission to characterize exoplanets. In this study, we describe the design, implementation, and subsequent success of our 2019 astrobiology MOOC.

MOOCS and 100 Days of COVID: Enrollment surges in massive open online astronomy classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

One side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been increased enrollment in online classes. The paper explores the surge in activity from March through June 2020 in two massive open online classes (MOOCs) on Astronomy, offered by Coursera and Udemy. The increase in enrollment in both classes was an order of magnitude over the similar time span in previous years. Learners enrolling during the pandemic were more likely to be younger than thirty and less likely to have advanced degrees. A majority were full-time undergraduate students, and relatively few were professionals working in technical fields. The largest number of new students were from India and overall, the biggest surge in enrollment came from people in developing countries, particularly in Asia. Those who enrolled during the pandemic were more likely to take the course to get a certificate or to further their career goals than because they had intrinsic interest in the subject. Social motivations were important, particularly among full-time students in the course. These results, albeit limited to MOOCs in astronomy, suggest that new audiences have been turning to online classes during the pandemic for gaining credentials or advancing their professional skills.

When it comes to teaching and tenure it is time to walk the walk.

Institutions should value teaching and service, and not just research, when considering faculty for promotion and tenure.

A Survey and Analysis of College Students' Understanding of Planet Formation Before Instruction.

The topic of solar system formation has become essential to the teaching of astrobiology due to the discovery of more than 3700 exoplanets, some orbiting within their host star's habitable zone. The architecture of planetary systems is more easily understood when students are able to comprehend how solar systems form. There has yet to be a study that addresses the topic of planet formation at the college level using a large sample of introductory astronomy students. We collected responses from students in 13 introductory astronomy and planetary science courses (n = 1050) at the University of Arizona, who each completed 1 of 6 short-answer questions on the topic of planet formation. The questions were administered on the first day of the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters before any relevant material was taught. After analyzing their responses, we found that the most common misconception students held was that our Solar System formed as a direct result of the Big Bang, but a substantial percentage of students lacked a more general understanding of fundamental astronomical topics (gravity, definitions of a planet and solar system, density, and the physical processes associated with solar system formation). This lack of foundational knowledge prevented students from explaining and understanding the process of planet formation at a scientific level.