Undergraduate Research Studies in Astronomy (URSA), a Web-based robotic observatory, has been in use for almost a year as part of an introductory astronomy laboratory for non-majors. The system was constructed from off-the-shelf components at a cost of around $25,000. About 500 students per year use URSA to do research-based mini-projects that follow a particular learning cycle model. Over 114,000 images have been obtained by the system to date for student and faculty research, some of which has been published. We discuss some of the lessons learned in this implementation and the extent to which our goals are being realized.
Date
01/01/2003
Citation
Lacy, C. H. S. 2003, Astronomy Education Review, 2(1), p.129–137
