EVALUATION
I have not tested whether student understanding of stellar types and stellar distribution in the galaxy has
improved as a result of building this model. Over the 10 years that I have had students make the model, a
dozen comments from student course evaluations have mentioned the model even though the evaluation
form did not ask about it. These comments, all positive, were from students who appreciated the
information conveyed by the model (all variations on this comment: "Different and better way to look at
stars in space") and from those who liked the group activity aspect of the project (variations on this
comment: "It was cool that we could move around and talk to other people [as the model was being
built]"). Two students mentioned that they understood three-dimensional coordinate systems better as a
result of the exercise.