WHY REVAMP AST 208, _PLANETS AND TELESCOPES_? The undergraduate major not only imparts knowledge about a discipline; it also trains students in the practice of that field. Astrophysics—like all sciences—evolves, and the skills that a student of astrophysics is expected to acquire therefore also evolve. Numerical software has made tables of integrals gather dust; data analysis and CCD detectors have replaced visual scanning of photographic plates. Further, although the majority of astrophysics majors do not become professional astronomers, they do find employment in a variety of STEM fields. For both these reasons, the undergraduate major must impart skills that are broadly applicable. As part of a response to an institutional accreditation review, the astronomy group at Michigan State University committed to the following learning outcomes for the undergraduate astrophysics major. Students completing an Astrophysics degree will be able to: 1. Apply concepts from physics, mathematics, and scientific computing to solve quantitative problems in astrophysics; 2. Gather, analyze, and interpret astronomical data from sources including telescopes, databases, computer simulations, analytic models, and the scientific literature; and 3. Effectively communicate scientific ideas in both written and oral form. Data analysis and numerical computation are now ubiquitous in astrophysics and in STEM careers; yet undergraduate curricula have been slower to systematically train students in these skills. In addition to having a greater reliance on statistical and computational techniques, STEM fields (including astrophysics) are increasingly collaborative. Skills such as communication and project management are an essential component of a student’s education. This gap between what is taught in courses and what is needed by the discipline is readily apparent when astrophysics students begin their senior theses, which are a requirement for an astrophysics degree at Michigan State. As noted in the astronomy group’s response to the accreditation review, During the past decade, we have found that many of our students begin their senior thesis project without the statistical, computational, and/or database skills needed to make sufficiently rapid progress. Our faculty members have therefore had to spend precious one-on-one thesis-advising time teaching skills that students could have learned as part of their coursework. Our revisions to AST 208 (_Planets and Telescopes_), AST 304 (_Stars_), and AST 308 (_Galaxies_) remedy this deficiency by pacing student progress toward these modern learning goals, so that students emerge with a deeper knowledge base and readily applicable skills. In this document, we describe in detail the innovative changes made to AST 208.