We know how hard it can be to keep your Astro 101 course current, relevant, and appealing to nonmajor students. Our Current Research Updates, written by Stacy Palen and George Blumenthal, are released every summer to make it easy for you to assign reading and assessment based on exciting new discoveries in the world of astronomy.

is an award-winning professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Weber State University. Stacy does research in formal and informal astronomy education, as well as the death of Sun-like stars. Stacy knows that introductory astronomy may be the only science course some students take, so she pairs active learning with education research in the textbooks and resources to ensure students develop a scientific mind. 

is the director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. From 2006 to 2019 he was the chancellor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty as a professor of astronomy and astrophysics in 1972. Chancellor Blumenthal received his BS degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his PhD in physics from the University of California, San Diego.

Our robust question library in Smartwork makes everything in the textbook and resource package assignable. Whether you’re using 21st Century Astronomy, Understanding Our Universe, or Learning Astronomy by Doing Astronomy, you’ll get access to more than 2,300 questions and premade chapter assignments that were all written by experienced astronomy teachers.

In addition to the Norton content, you’re also free to create your own questions, customize existing questions, or build assignments from scratch to match your unique learning goals. Smartwork offers a variety of interactive question types, book-specific hints, and extensive answer-specific feedback.

Use Smartwork as a formative low-stakes assignment, or a summative quiz. You decide! 

Every summer, we release Current Research Updates in our Astro 101 ebooks that are written by Stacy Palen and George Blumenthal. Not only do these updates ensure students and instructors have access to the most up-to-date research and discoveries in astronomy, but they are also made assignable through Smartwork questions to assess students’ literacy and ability to analyze the news.

Do you want to get your students doing astronomy? Stacy Palen has dedicated her authorship of our instructor resources to focus on “learning by doing.” The goal of this is to make it easier for instructors to help learners understand the concepts and learn to value science by providing activities that can be used before, during, and after class. Whether you have a flipped or traditional classroom, there’s something in our suite of resources for you and your students.

Stacy has created 23 videos on key topics that instructors can assign in a variety of ways, including as pre-class activities via Smartwork. Mixing live demos and mini lectures, these videos make key concepts more compelling and student-friendly.

The TADA101.com blog was started by Stacy as a repository of tips on how to incorporate active learning and equity-minded pedagogy into the Astro 101 classroom, but it’s grown into a community of instructors that share their own experiences. This resource makes it easy to try something new in the classroom.