Using Mastering Astronomy
KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS WITH YOU!
Registration Procedure
1. Point your web browser to http://www.KeplerEducation.com/MAtutorial for a
complete walk-through of registering and getting started with Mastering
Astronomy.
2. You will need to purchase an access code from the site.
3. Be sure to use your first name and last initial for both your Login Name and your
Student ID.
4. The Course ID is AST11F06a.
Working Problems and Tutorials (Summary)
1. Read (and/or print) the Learning Goal and background material (very important!)
2. Carefully read the text of the problem – these problems can be tricky!
3. Read each part of the problem, and choose your answer. Press “submit” to see if
you are correct.
a. You can keep trying to answer a question as many times as you like, but
you will lose points for each wrong attempt – be sure of your answer
before pressing “submit”!
b. If you are unsure of the answer, you can press the “hints” button to get
hints. These hints do not count against you, but you will get bonus points
for every hint you do not open – it’s possible to get greater than 100% on
each assignment!
4. Once you have answered all parts of the problem, press “Submit Problem” to send
your results to me.
5. You will be presented with a survey, which is completely optional. You do not
have to fill it out, though Mastering Astronomy will use your input to rank the
difficulty and usefulness of the problem for future astronomy students taking this
class (I choose problems based on the calculated difficulty, so I can use Mastering
Astronomy’s reports to refine which problems to use for coming semesters – and
later on in this semester – based on your feedback.)
6. Press “Submit Survey” to go on to the next problem (even if you left the survey
blank).
7. Sometimes you will be expected to rank certain quantities from greatest to least or
vice versa. Remember that some quantities may be equal to each other – place
them on top of each other in the ranking task window or you will not be able to
solve the problem!
8. I strongly encourage you to work in groups on your homework! Remember,
though, that Mastering Astronomy often uses random numbers in its assignments,
so your problem may not exactly match that of your classmate.
9. Keep in mind that you will learn nothing by random guessing – you’ll be
completely wasting your time. If after two hours you can’t figure out the
assignment, email me for help!
