Ninth Week of Instruction (2/28, 3/1, 3/3)

The first two days continue as previously, with distribution of new problems for the week on 2/28. The orientation period, full class discussion and then work in groups. Friday is different in two ways.We go over some of the problems distributed earlier in the week but now I ask the students to look over all the problems but to choose one or two that really interest them. Then each student is called on to state what their preferred problems are, why, what mathematical content they think they need to use and what methods might apply. Even the last student called has something new to contribute. Then we move into groups but no longer the permanent groups but instead I allow the students to choose their own groups based on their common interest in working on a problem. The last thing that is different is that today is a beautiful day and since I do not need a blackboard I accede to the request of the class to go outside. All this seems to work well. The outdoor surroundings do not distract the groups and they seem to be working well under this new organization. If anything there appears to be more involvement of each individual student in his/her group. There also appears to be lots of success since the groups all end up completing their chosen problems and move on to another one.