Students & Biography

Astronomy Students

Past Enrollment:

Spring 05 -
Fall 04 - 9 students	3 Scottsbluff, Dalton, 2 Lodgepole, Gering, Sidney, Bridgeport
Spring 04 - 10 students	Scottsbluff, Gering, Kimball, Minatare, Sidney, Bayard, Mitchell, Hemingford, Alliance, Douglas (Wyoming)
Fall 03 - 6 students	3 Scottsbluff, Kimball, Alliance, Chadron
Spring 03 - 5 students	2 Scottsbluff, Sidney, Alliance, Norfolk
Fall 02 - 14 students	4 Scottsbluff, 6 Alliance, Mitchell, Gering, Dalton, New York
Spring 02 - 10 students	4 Sidney, 3 Scottsbluff, 2 Alliance, Lincoln
Winter 02 - 8 students (BMCC)	2 Pendleton, Milton-Freewater, LaGrande, Imbler, Hermiston (all Oregon), 2 Washington State
Fall 01 - 8 students	4 Sidney, 2 Scottsbluff, Gering, Mitchell
Spring 01 - 9 students	4 Sidney, 3 Scottsbluff, 2 Alliance
Fall 00 - 9 students	2 Sidney, 2 Scottsbluff, Alliance, Lincoln, Alaska, Florida, California
Spring 00 - 8 students	Mitchell, Scottsbluff, Gering, Kimball, Alliance, California, Iowa, North Dakota
Fall 99 - 12 students	5 Sidney, Alliance, Bayard, Gering, Potter, Lincoln, Colorado, Virginia
Spring 99 - 11 students	4 Sidney, 2 Alliance, 2 Bayard, Kimball, Mitchell, Bridgeport
Fall 98 - 11 students	6 Sidney, 3 Alliance, Scottsbluff, Lincoln
Spring 98 - 12 students	(in-class trial)
Summer 97 - 3 students	(in-class trial)

This enrollment is actually the number of students who finished the class, which is 50% of the students who had initially signed up. I figure that there are three reasons why students drop (early) out of this class: (1) the normal procedure of "sign up, check it out, drop right away"; (2) people notice that this is not an easy class (just because it's online), they drop out after 3 to 5 weeks; (3) people notice that the online format is different (e.g. at least basic knowledge of the internet is expected) and some people are not cut out to do all the work without having an instructor in person.

The graph on the right reflects the grade distribution since the inauguration of this class. Of course there are very few F's and D's because people drop early, while there are lots of A's and B's earned by people who are up to taking a college science class in which they have to be responsible for their own work.

Andreas Veh, Astronomy and Physics Instructor

My name is Andreas Veh and, yes, I am the instructor. I am married to Kate (she's from Alaska) and we're still "DInKs". I'm from Berlin, Germany, guess you noticed my - all, but vanished - accent.

I received an M.S. degree in Physics/Astronomy from Mankato State University, Minnesota, class of 1994, and an M.A. degree in Math from Chadron State College, Nebraska, class of 2001. I had been employed at WNCC in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, from 1994 to 2001, where I taught Physics and Astronomy (of course my favorite subjects), but also taught Math (which I enjoy as well), Geology and German.
In fall of 2001, we moved to Pendleton in Oregon (I taught Physics at Blue Mountain CC), then, in fall of 2002, to Soldotna, Alaska (where we hope to stay put). I am a full-time physics and math instructor for Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, but still teach this online astronomy class for WNCC as an adjunct instructor.
Since I never meet my students in person anyway, my move has never been a detriment to students' success in this online class.

My main hobby is Astronomy, observing and reading about it, developing this website (it's a lot of work, but fun, too). Another hobby is stamp collecting (Germany, USA, UN) and until a few years ago I bowled a whole lot. We just bought a house again and try to keep it and the yard up, care about our dogs (perhaps that's one's major attachments before having kids?), and fish the Kenai. Now in Soldotna we're reading, ice-skating, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, fishing, kayaking, hiking (beware the bears), perhaps hunting in the summer.

About the course: this is the 7th year that WNCC is offering this Astronomy internet class (I did about 95% of the work for this - so I should know most of its structure). I noticed that most of you played around on the web site and are figuring it out. Some of you expressed some confusion, but that's natural because an internet class is a new concept and the hardest is that interaction with the instructor and peers is more difficult. We'll get past that, though. I keep repeating that you should get to know each other because it alleviates problems.

WNCC owns four telescopes (compare with the telescope chapter in your textbook): an 8-inch and a 5-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, a 4-inch Newtonian in Scottsbluff, and a 3-inch refractor in Sidney. Note that the numbers are the size of the aperture, indicating the amount of light-gathering, which is a telescope's most important property. I also own a 3-inch and a 4 inch Newtonian and just acquired an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain and a 3.5 inch Makzsutov-Cassegrain.

**Comments from former students**
Author: Katrina Plaster Date: Friday, December 19, 2003 "Professor Veh, Comments for your website: Professor Veh's astronomy class helped me truly understand the stars in a way I never have before. He takes a very complex subject and explains it in a way that anyone can understand. For you personally: Thank you so much for the semester of teaching. Your teaching skills are a real inspiration to me. This semester out of my four classes three of my instructors were absolute pros but you have been the best. Your passion for astronomy and your desire to help students to really understand it are contagious. I really appreciate all of the time you took to help me when you didn't have to and the encouragement when I was frustrated. Not only did I complete the semester with a good grade but I really understood it too. If I don't ever talk to you again, just know it was an honor being on the same wavelength as you and, as you say, it will be a bummer not having the opportunity to learn from you."	Ellie McCain, fall 1998 "The advantages that I found in the Internet class are: 1. Flexibility with scheduling. I would have had a hard time taking the class if I had to be there every Monday night. I already had one night class and it would not have worked for me to be gone another night. 2. Internet experience. I think the knowledge I gained using the Internet was as valuable as the actual class content. I went into the class very insecure about my internet skills. I have learned a lot and gained some confidence. The main disadvantage is that there were times I didn't understand the material and I feel like if I had heard the lecture and seen your demonstrations, I would have been better prepared. I have enjoyed the class (as much as a person who hates science could have enjoyed it.)"
Troy Parker, summer 1997 "You see the latest research right away. People who are not familiar with the internet and/or computers may feel less apprehensive when they commit themselves to an internet class and notice its value. However, it can happen regularly that links don't work, e.g. because an internet connection doesn't work."	Melvin Fish, summer 1997 "You can see the beauty of the internet, become interested in browsing through people's websites and find great images just recently being published."
Michelle Gentry on Mon, May. 7, 2001 Subject: Astronomy Class "Mr. Veh, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this class. It was by far my favorite this semester. I think that even though it was online, and we didn't spend any time in a classroom, I still gained an incredible amount of knowledge about a subject that I have been interested in for years. When I registered for the class, I was told that it was one of the best online classes that WNCC offers, and I must say I agree! I would definitely recommend this class to others. See Ya!"
Brenda Blanke, fall 1999 "The internet is a pretty good way to take a class. It allows for flexibility of time and the ability to access extra information."	Roger Applegarth, spring 1999 "This class allowed me to remain at my home and work when I had the time. It allowed interaction with the instructor and the other students, that is not available in correspondence courses."

**Comments from former students**
	Both statistics were done after fall semester 2001 had ended. Students sent about 400 messages that semester and I responded to all of them: if they have a question, I'd answer that as soon as I am aware of the message; if they submit assignments, I'd simply reply with "received" and evaluate their work as soon as I find some time. I'm confident that these statistics are representative for all semesters so far since fall 1998 (400 student-sent messages compare with about 5000 messages over the past 6 years [12 semesters]). The first graph shows that students send more messages on Sunday and Monday. That's because the deadline for weekly assignments is on Sunday and because I give students some leverage (so they hand in assignments on Monday as well).
	The second graph shows that I answer 38% of all messages within such a short time [<1h] that students are possibly still logged in and receive immediate feedback; that they get a total of 70% (32+38) of my feedback on the same day [1-6h]; that 16% of my feedback takes more than 6 hours [6-15h], of which virtually all (the purple part) are my morning responses to students's evening messages; that 13% of my responses take more than 15 hours [15-24h]; and that for only 1% (three messages) it took me about a day [~24h] to respond (the purple indicates that those three messages and responses happened on the weekend - as I'm entitled to a weekend too).

In Memoriam, our friend Lorraine Anthony (1924-2002).