Laura Moore-Mueller Northwest Two-Year College Mathematics Conference April 22, 2016

Student Population Engineering Computer Science Physics Chemistry Pre-med Mathematics Education

Mechanical Engineering

Electrical Engineering/Physics

Computer Science

Physics

Chemistry

Biochemistry

Mathematics

The Project  A research paper  A group presentation to the class  A topic: your choice in your field of study  A significant component: differential equations

What is Required?  An Abstract:

What is Required?  An Introduction:

What is Required?  A Model and Solution:

What is Required?  A Graph and Conclusion:

What is required?  References and Footnotes:  Use appropriate format  No Wikipedia!

What is required?  A Log:  Date,time and duration of each meeting  Summary of decisions made  Individuals who attended  Total time spent (as a group) for each member

What is Required?  A Group Presentation :  Resident experts on the topic  minutes total  Everyone must present  Each group evaluates another group

The Presentation  Introduction  Delivery  Development of content  PowerPoint presentation

An Example jNZYCDBj9ZIjJgRwX7xdHNMuJl7ECF198/edit?usp=sh aring jNZYCDBj9ZIjJgRwX7xdHNMuJl7ECF198/edit?usp=sh aring DE Powerpoint TAKE 3 docs.google.com

What is Required?  A Reflection:  Description of work done by each member  Strengths an weaknesses of each member  Self-evaluation: strengths/ weaknesses working on an open-ended project changes for future projects

What Students Say  “I learned how to better cooperate with people.”  “Even though some parts may not work out but if you keep on trying and somehow it works out if you don’t give up.”  “It’s alright to offload some of the workload onto my partners… This going on faith that everyone was doing adequate work was a new experience for me.”  “My communication skills and team-working skills have improved a lot by doing this project…I felt the power of team working.”  “I’ve grown in my leadership abilities… I would definitely ensure each person has a part to play early on.”

Class Time Spent  Given the first day of the quarter.  Second day discussion.  Fifth day 10 minutes to determine groups.  3 – 4 days at the end of the quarter for presentations.

Assessment  Detailed Rubrics:

Grading  The ONLY downside to the project!  The paper (about 0.5 – 1.5 hours per group)  The presentations (about 10 minutes per group)  The evaluations (2 minutes per student)  So… about hours for class of 33 students

Benefits!  Collegial discussions  Opportunity to learn!  Reinforce connections in disciplines  Many applications of DE’s  Satisfies graduation requirement for universities

Thanks for Listening! Questions?