Always ahead of the curve, I began AND FINISHED my course before most of you have even gotten a chance to start. Figures the most clueless among us leads the way. Hope my sense of direction in the ether is better than when I’m driving. (And no, I have no idea why this first paragraph appears in smaller type. I’ve tried to fix it three times but although the whole post appears in the same font size on my editing screen, it keeps changing back to this font size when I post it.)
Anyway, I thought I’d post a few comments and observations about my experiences, divided by topic so anyone who wishes to read about something in particular doesn’t have to wade through a bunch of other blather.
(Since I have other blogs on WordPress, let me just add here as a parenthesis that if you found this blog entry when looking for my blog posts about China, look for the blog called “China Chronicles” and if you are looking for the posts on Finland, look for “Fans of Finland,” both here on WordPress. But I digress.)
For now, I’ll just explain that I took the Coursera course called “Astrobiology and the Search of Extra-terrestrial Life” with Charles Cockell from the University of Edinburgh. It was a five week intensive course (two units a week) which began in January and ended this past week. I decided not to take a course in my field but in something I’d always wanted to study but never had the chance to. I can’t be as good at evaluating content, but I think it does give me a truer student perspective.
The course was designed for beginners, which was good for me. I am a sci fi and Star Trek geek from way back when there was only one Star Trek but my grasp on the science of it was no stronger than any other lay person’s (well, given recent discussions of science going on in public and in Congress, maybe it is a little stronger than others’).
Topics ranged from the biology and chemistry that underlies all life as we know it to the basics of astronomy and physics to explain where, why and how we have sought life elsewhere. It was great fun, aided by Professor Cockell’s wonderful accent (I am a sucker for any version of a British accent) and kooky academic nerd style.
The course consisted of a series of lectures (usually three segments per unit, two units a week) and assessed by quizzes. I’ll talk about the lecture (content and structure), the level/depth of the course material, the assessment, and the course discussion boards, each in a separate post.
But the short answer is, no, we haven’t found any space aliens yet. Unless you count a few politicians and media talk show hosts I could name. Notice how I give no hint of my partisan bias. You could easily fill in names from any political vantage point you wish.