Astronomy Distance Learning Course Comments

These comments are from some of the students who were on previous and current intakes of our Exploring the Universe and Universe Through A Small Telescope course.

• This article was published in the April 2000 edition of Zenit, the Dutch magazine for Astronomy, Meteorology and Space Research.
• This letter was submitted to the British Medical Journal.

Below is a selection of comments from student letters and emails.

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Hi,
Although this message is addressed to yourself it is intended for all involved in the Astronomy Distance Learning program.
I would just like to express my sincere thanks for the excellent course that you have run this year. After many years of dabbling in astronomy I never ever learnt very much on my own. Your course forced me not only to learn, but to think, and to use the information that I had acquired. I've amazed even myself! At the start, I read last year's exam paper and almost gave up at that stage, never believing that I'd ever, however much I tried, be able to do such an exam. Not being a very 'academic' type of person, I was stunned when I finished Saturday's exam and realised that I knew not only what the questions meant but I knew most of the answers as well!
When doing the course, I was not too interested in the actual marks obtained. My purpose in taking it in the first place, was merely to try to understand more about astronomy, not to pass exams or gain marks. In this, the course has been superb in every respect and I could recommend it to anyone interested in learning more. The presentation, content, tutoring etc have all been excellent and I have no complaints whatsoever. You can be proud of an excellent product!
Many thanks from a very satisfied customer/student!

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I would like the opportunity to say thank you for the help and direction you gave me through the year. It has been a fantastic course and I have learned a great deal, mostly though I have learned that there is an astronomical amount still to learn.

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First, thank you for your notification of Stephan's Quintet. I have looked at it and found it very interesting.
Second, thank you for your assistance during the Distance Learning. I have learned a lot and intend to go over the things missed whilst trying to observe the sky. A large number of gaps in my knowledge have been filled in and indirectly practical experience in the use of computer packages e.g. Excel have also been gained.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your help and support during the course. I found it very interesting and extremely well laid out. The CD Rom is a wealth of knowledge and I will use it for many years to come.
I have even been able to get the Millionaire questions right using knowledge from the course.

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Id like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your invaluable assistance throughout the course. Despite being a returner to study I have most of the time felt comfortable with the level of study and have been stretched just enough intellectually, which is basically what I wanted. Id like to thank JMU for offering such an outstanding product and wouldnt hesitate to recommend it to anyone with a general interest in Astronomy.

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I have to say that The Universe Through a Small Telescope was exactly what I needed in my life over these past months. During more than three years of superactivity as vice-president, then president, of the RASC Ottawa Centre...well, let's just say that I wasn't seeing too much of the inside of my backyard observatory. By the time my official term ended last November I was already looking for a good observing program to dig into, and this course has filled that requirement very well indeed.

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....... I was really excited when I saw some magnified spiral and barred spiral galaxies among many, many, many stars in the film. To tell the truth, I was more excited to see some galaxies this time than seeing the beautiful photos from Hubble Space Telescope. It is like a treasure hunting, and I won't forget the shapes of some galaxies for a long time. I thank you and Distance Learning Course for giving me this wonderful experience.

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... I do want to say thank you for being my tutor in the course, which I have enjoyed immensely. I found it really stimulating and worthwhile.

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I'd just like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the course, particularly the observational aspects of it. Thanks for all your help.

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Having just completed the exam I would like to say how very much I have enjoyed the course over the last 9 months, even though I may not have completed all the assignments and I look forward to enrolling on another course soon.