At this point in the program, things are in full swing. In addition to the reading and teaching dossiers, the participants are asked to challenge themselves and take the next step  in the classroom and online arena. This week, the two activities saw the participants take the next step in their teaching explorations.

The in class activity focused on the “integration” step highlighted in “How learning works” about how students developed mastery of material. Traditional first year calculus course focused on developing component skills and then application of such skills in word problems. However, the book suggests that there is a less known intermediate step known as integration, where the learners are given the opportunity to practice utilising multiple component skills simultaneously and in a controlled manner.

The emphasis on integration was highlighted through the context of Go. The learners were first introduced to the component skills of the game such as rules, valid moves, alive and dead positions. This then lead onto the integration step of determining whether a position can be killed. This task required an understanding of the component skills mentioned above as well as using them simultaneously. However, the local nature of this task meant that learners were able to focus solely on the position in question without having the burden of dealing with the rest of the board. It would be highly interesting (and educational for instructors) to see whether a similar task could be accomplished in the mathematical domain.

Meanwhile, in the virtual world, a highly interesting experiment is also taking place. This week, the participants are asked to create a Vlog to reflect on Chapter 3 of Bain. The use of blogs as a learning medium has recently been observed in several sections of first year calculus. However, Vlogs add a new dimension to the learning and it’s effectiveness will be the subject of this weeks experimentation.

With the Prep weeks in full swing, the various components of the course are starting to fall into place.

We are currently nearing the end of our first book: How learning works. The in class discussions have been fruitful. The ideas generated, particularly regarding motivation and course climate, can be further explored during the Core weeks and concretely placed in the scrapbook.

In preparation for the core weeks, the various blogs and wiki have been set up. This will allow the participants (and the coaches) and share their thoughts, ideas and insights that they gain during the coming weeks. Within the rules and boundaries that the participants have set up (and also with their permission), I would like to give some highlights into the areas and activities that the participants have chosen the explore during the core weeks.

To assist the development of their core week activities, each group member will take on one of two roles: One person will be responsible for setting up the activity and the second person will be responsible to making sure the activities serve a purpose and to implement/facilitate feedback from the group.

The prep weeks conclude next Monday when we finalise the plans for setting up the scrapbook and from there the participants take full control of the course with the first round of in class and online activities. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what the participants have planned, what challenges they have set and what ideas I will be able to adopt into my own teaching.