Astronomy, A Programmed Learning Approach

In 1973, RASC London Centre received a federal youth grant for "Project Zubenelgenubi." (It is now called "Project Zubenelgenubi 1973" because the name was used again a few years later.) The participants were Chris Essex, William Smythe, Michael Wallis and Eric J. Clinton. One component of the project was to develop an introductory astronomy guide using what was then a rather radical instructional mode called Programmed Learning Instruction (PLI). An optimistic educator in 1973 could have imagined that PLI could be implemented on computers and might soon replace the need for human teachers and mentors. The result of the project was a booklet about 100 pages long. A hard copy of the booklet is held in the RASC London Centre archives.

The goals and methods employed in the development of the booklet are explained in the opening pages. From the perspective of the 21st century, the booklet gives a snapshot of what was possible in 1973 on a limited budget and what value could be contributed to astronomy and the teaching of astronomy then, without the resources of an established publisher or an institution of higher learning. The lack of references was -- and is still -- considered appropriate for an introductory level publication. The book uses non-metric units almost exclusively; adoption of the metric system in Canada was in its earliest stages then and there would have been steep resistance to using innovative unit systems in this project. There are many line drawings and hand-drawn sketches that were acceptable -- marginally so, even in professional circles -- in 1973, even if they looked just as childish then as they do today.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Project Zubenelgenubi 1973, RASC London Centre initiated "Project Zubenelgenubi 2023." Digital scans were made of every page in the book. The scans are presented as jpg images here. Further work could involve producing a PDF [this is the file linked below] or converting the concepts and the content to a web-friendly database and presenting it online. While this might have some value that would be true to the original purpose of the project in the present day, it would take away the sense of the booklet as a historical artifact. In this spirit, RASC London Centre is pleased to make this project available on the RASC's Society website.

-PJ