Monday, April 13, 2009

In 5,338 words or fewer, discuss

It took half of my waking hours today to go through my students' reflections on the Newton v. Leibniz project, respond to them (with over 5000 words of my own), and excerpt them for my own nefarious ends (a CoB coming soon!), but it was well worth it.

I think this iteration of the project succeeded in impressing on the students the importance not only of the mathematics itself but also the way in which it was discovered/invented. The students' reflections were almost universally mature, well-thought-out, well-composed, and insightful. While a few offered ways in which the project itself could be improved, almost everyone was delighted with its effectiveness, and many lauded it as one of the best learning experiences they've ever had.

Huh. Zah.

As promised obliquely above, a deeper discussion is soon to come, as well as a blow-by-blow account of the trial itself. But now, if you'll excuse me, bed awaits: this weekend's offered up another maelstrom of grading (six different assignments, totaling roughly 13 hours), and I've only seven hours before tomorrow's day commences.

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