Using the Big Ideas in Cosmology to Teach College Students

We are developing an introductory course in Cosmology for general education undergraduate students. Informed by our research into student misconceptions about the universe: its origins, structure, contents and evolution, we are utilizing best pedagogical practices to implement the content in an accessible student-centered framework. In this presentation, we provide examples of interactive exercises, illustrations and text from the initial module of the three-module course. We invite interested educators to help us test the materials in their classrooms, as the curriculum develops. This three-year project is being funded by the Education and Public Outreach program for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and by grant NNX10AC89G from NASA's EPOESS program.