User:Whiteknight/BoeBots/About This Course

This course is being organized into logical blocks. Each block corresponds approximately to 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab. In many settings, this is approximately 1 week worth of study, but it can be expanded or contracted to meet other needs.

Blocks
Every block has, at least:
 * 1) A lecture
 * 2) A Lab Assignment
 * 3) A homework or self-work assignment
 * 4) A quiz

The lecture notes will be set up for about 2 - 3 hours of lecture material per block. The lab assignments, also, will be set up for about 2 - 3 hours of material per block. Homework assignments should take about 1 hour to complete on average. Quizzes should take about 15 - 20 minutes.

Tests
Every second block will have a test that covers the previous two blocks. Starting at the fourth block onward, every second block will also contain a cumulative test option that will cover material from all previous blocks.

Instructors may decide not to have quizzes, tests, and cumulative tests all in the same block.

Tests are designed to take about 1 hour to complete. Cumulative tests are designed to take between 1 - 2 hours to complete and will serve as decent mid-term or final exams.

Activities
Every activity in a block has three components: An introduction page, a students page, and a teachers page. The student's page represents a handout, or other materials that are to be given to the students. The teacher's page represents the teaching notes and answer sheets that the teacher should see but the students should not. The introduction pages lay out the learning objectives of the activity, and other details that can be known by both teachers and students.

Term Project
Depending on the timeframe of the class and the available resources, Instructors may want to institute a "design project" that will span the majority of the term. Design projects can be started by the third block, and should be continued throughout the entire course. We will discuss some potential design projects in another chapter.

If the class is being taught for engineering students, a term project is recommended.

Students should work in groups of 2 - 4, to help reinforce the ideas of team work and interdependence. Instructors may require the students to prepare a multimedia presentation about their project, or write a report about the project, or both.

Instructors may wish to use class time to work on the term project.