The goal of this ten week project is to encourage first-year undergraduates to work collaboratively, think creatively and critically to solve a real world problem. To deal with the complex problem students divide into teams, each team gathers information about a different facet of the problem. The teams gather information using the World Wide Web, personal interviews, and traditional and non-traditional library resources. Each team then analyzes and interprets its information and reports back orally, using PowerPiont, to other students in the seminar. The oral and written reports, placed on the class web page, serve as the basis for the deliberation that leads to the identification of the possible recommendations or solutions.
Teams collaborate to develop a clas web page.
The class web page is then the basis for the final set of discussions about the problem and which solution or combination of solutions is best. The final solutionwill also be presented on the class web page. Students will then solicit comments about the web based project from outside interested parties via email. Approaches to Learning The web based project is built upon the theory that students learn best when they are actively involved in their learning. One approach to making learning active is to involve students using collaborative learning groups.