THE COSMOLOGY DISTINCTION COURSE IN NSW

The Cosmology Distinction Course is a new one-year course to be introd uced for Year 12 candidates in the 1994 Higher School Certificate exam inations in NSW. It is one of three challenging courses of study that will enrich the HSC for talented students who accelerate and complete part of the HSC one year early. The courses will be taught through dis tance learning and will include residential seminars. They will be imp lemented on behalf of the Board of Studies by Charles Sturt University and the University of New England. The Cosmology Course is organised into nine modules of course work covering historical and social aspect s of cosmology, observational techniques, key observations and the var ious models developed-Newtonian, de Sitter, Friedmann, Lemaitre, stead y-state, quasi-steady-state and big bang. Assessment will be through a ssignments, exams and a major project. As the first Distinction Course in a scientific area, the Cosmology Course represents an exciting and important educational initiative that needs the cooperation of NSW as tronomers and, in return, promises to benefit the astronomical and gen eral scientific community in Australia.