James Heath
Teaching Experience
September 2000 - Present:
Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Austin Community College
Chair, Department of Physical Sciences (later Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering) (June 2010 - May 2019)
Courses Taught:
- PHYS 1111 -- Introductory Astronomy Laboratory
- ASTR 1303 -- Stellar Astronomy
- ASTR 1403 -- Stellar Astronomy with Laboratory
- ASTR 1304 -- Solar System Astronomy
- ASTR 1404 -- Solar System Astronomy with Laboratory
- PHYS 1401 -- General Physics I
- PHYS 1405 -- Conceptual Physics I
- SCIT 1418 -- Applied Physics
July 2004 - Present:
Independent Contractor, Pearson / Addison Wesley / Prentice Hall / Cengage Learning
Duties: Review and comment on sections of textbooks for algebra-based physics and non-majors astronomy in preparation by publishing company; authored instructor's manual for non-majors astronomy text; co-authored solutions manual for algebra-based physics course; edited and created questions for online astronomy homeowrk system.
January 1998 - December 2002:
Independent Contractor, StarDate magazine
Duties: Composition of questions and answers based on the scripts for the popular StarDate radio program, placed on a World Wide Web site used by educators in conjunction with the radio show.
January 1990 - August 2000:
Adjunct Faculty, Austin Community College
Subjects Taught: Non-major courses in Stellar (PHYS 1311) and Solar System (PHYS 1312) Astronomy. Also serving on Physical Sciences Task Force and various committees therein.
January - August 2000:
Instructional Associate, Austin Community College
Duties: One-on-one tutoring of students in college math and physics courses. Development of tutorial materials on the World Wide Web for students in college math and physics classes.
June - August 1999:
Research Assistant, Institute for Technology and Learning, The University of Texas at Austin
Duties: Construction of an on-line tutorial on the World Wide Web for teachers using educational software designed by the institute. Adaptation of the software's teachers' manual for the Web. Compilation and annotation of a list of educational astronomy Web sites.
January -August 1997
Researcher, Austin Community College Office of Professional and Organizational Development
Duties: Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to the views of participants in a community college peer mentoring program.
July 1996 - May 1997
Astronomy Instructor, TI-IN Network (a division of Westcott Communication, Inc.)
Duties: Creation of lesson plans, hands-on activities, and on-air material for high school and middle school distance learning astronomy classes; Lectures and voice-overs (live and via tape) for distance learning classes on astronomy broadcast to high schools and middle schools across America; Answering questions via phone and electronic mail from students and on-site facilitators.
September 1995 - May 1996
Science Coordinator, Duane Lake Academy
Duties: Creation of high school physical science curricula for home-schooled children; creation and facilitation of group science activities; Assessment of student progress through portfolios.
August 1995-June 1996
Research Assistant to Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway and Dr. James P. Barufaldi, University of Texas at Austin and Project AASTRA
Duties: Analysis of qualitative data regarding participants' views of a summer astronomy workshop for secondary and elementary science teachers. Analysis used in regular reports to the National Science Foundation.
January 1995 - June 1996
Tutor, Duane Lake Academy (Austin, Texas)
Duties: Assisting students taking high school level correspondence courses in a variety of academic subjects.
November-December 1994
Reviewer for Astronomy: the Cosmic Journey, 1995 edition, by William J. Hartmann (Wadsworth Publishing)
Duties: Review text and make suggestions for improvement for new edition of astronomy textbook.
1990-1994
Research Assistant, Dr. David L. Lambert, University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy
Duties: Gathering and reduction of astronomical data in the field of stellar spectroscopy. Working with telescopes at McDonald Observatory and Palomar Observatory. Fortran computer programming on a Vax mainframe and a Sun workstation. Creation of graphs and tables for publications.
1987-1991, Fall 1994 Teaching Assistant, University of Texas at Austin
Assisted with grading, study sessions, and lectures for the following courses:
- AST 301 -- Introductory Non-major Astronomy
- AST 302 -- Self-paced Introductory Non-major Astronomy
- AST 309K -- Solar System Astronomy
- AST 309L -- The Search for Extraterrestrial Life
- AST 316K -- Archeo- and Ethno-astronomy of the Americas
Professional Publications
Heath, J. E., (2017) Instructor's Resource Manual for Astronomy Today, 9th Edition, by Chaisson and MacMillan (Pearson / Prentice Hall)
Heath, J. E., (2013) Instructor's Resource Manual for Astronomy Today, 8th Edition, by Chaisson and MacMillan (Pearson / Prentice Hall)
Heath, J. E., (2010) Instructor's Resource Manual for Astronomy Today, 7th Edition, by Chaisson and MacMillan (Pearson / Prentice Hall)
Heath, J. E., (2007) Instructor's Resource Manual for Astronomy Today, 6th Edition, by Chaisson and MacMillan (Pearson / Prentice Hall)
Heath, J. E. (1998) "A two-sided mirror for education: Critical reflection in the science classroom." Journal of College Science Teaching 28 (6), p. 412.
Lambert, D. L., Heath, J. E., Lemke, M., & Drake, J. (1996) "The chemical composition of field RR Lyrae stars I: Iron and calcium." The Astrophysical Journal 458 (2), p. 865.
Lambert, D. L., Heath, J. E., Lemke, M., & Drake, J. (1996) "The chemical composition of field RR Lyrae stars I: Iron and calcium." The Astrophysical Journal Supplemental Series 103 (1), p. 183.
Lambert, D. L., Smith, V. V., & Heath, J. E. (1993) "Lithium in the barium stars." Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 105, p. 568.
Lambert, D. L., Heath, J. E., & Edvardsson, B. "Lithium abundances for 81 F dwarfs." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 253, p. 610.
Published: January 17, 2025