I inform my students that my role is advisor or coach. This initially is difficult for those students who prefer that I take a more traditional role as teacher. However, because I want them to own the experience of learning, I step back and let them take a great deal of control. They work on the project in collaborative teams, with me there for help as needed. The project is based on estimation and educated guesses, so there are no right or wrong answers.
Teams go through a process of self-organization and decide which general path to take.
Some begin with the project Web sites, others begin with books. They may choose their own direction as long as they meet the project requirements and provide bases for their conclusions. After forming teams, I tell them that most of the information pertaining to the project, including resources and project requirements, may be found at the project's Web site, Mr. Pitonyak's Pyramid Puzzle . Before our next meeting, each team will have accessed the site and printed out important information. Though the ideal group consists of four students, I allow for an additional engineer in groups of five students.