You may be wondering what kind of questions we're going to ask. Well, the answer is, what kind of questions aren't we going to ask. We're going to look at a variety of brain teasers to get our brains in "problem solving shape." Then we'll tackle some issues like the pollution in the Amazon.. Many of our projects will be correlated to the students' core curriculum.
We'll approach this class differently than most classes. First, this is a problem based learning environment. That means that students will learn through investigation and inquiry in order to solve the given problems. Second, I'm asking students to come into this experience not as students but as contributors to a think tank environment. Everyone has a talent and something to contribute. Also, I'm not the teacher, but the facilitator. I don't stand up and lecture. I provide everyone with the resources they need to complete the task at hand. There is very little memorization and a lot of thinking. This will take effort on the students' part, but it's my genuine belief that by the end of the quarter, everyone will have had a beneficial experience.
But what about grades? That's easy, grades are given based on the following breakdown:
Formative Evaluations - 50% (reviews, practice, quizzes)
Summative Evaluations - 50% (the "Big Picture" of the problem they're trying to solve; relax, this isn't based on the solution being perfect, it's more on effort and application of the skills)
We'll approach this class differently than most classes. First, this is a problem based learning environment. That means that students will learn through investigation and inquiry in order to solve the given problems. Second, I'm asking students to come into this experience not as students but as contributors to a think tank environment. Everyone has a talent and something to contribute. Also, I'm not the teacher, but the facilitator. I don't stand up and lecture. I provide everyone with the resources they need to complete the task at hand. There is very little memorization and a lot of thinking. This will take effort on the students' part, but it's my genuine belief that by the end of the quarter, everyone will have had a beneficial experience.
But what about grades? That's easy, grades are given based on the following breakdown:
Formative Evaluations - 50% (reviews, practice, quizzes)
Summative Evaluations - 50% (the "Big Picture" of the problem they're trying to solve; relax, this isn't based on the solution being perfect, it's more on effort and application of the skills)