Topics of interest, Powerful Ideas and Microworlds

Due January 30, 2024 at 8PM ET

Description

There are a gazillion topics out there, but sometimes it is hard to think of just one. There are also many ways to learn each topic, so it is also hard to think of all of them. This assignment is meant to help you in selecting a topic, a learning goal, and play with powerful ideas and microworlds. Before you start thinking about problems and needs in educational settings, you need to have a topic of interest. We all have broad areas of interest, such as criminology, climate science, microbiology, material culture… Those are often very general and broad, but they could be a good starting point for a project. This week, you will narrow your broad general areas of interest to a specific topic, find an underlying powerful idea, and explore microworld-type learning environments/designs. This is just an initial exploration — you will not be bound to this idea for your final project!

  1. Generate 2-3 personal topics of interest, whether a subject you are passionate about, something that interests you, a passion, a hobby, or the topic of your Masters/Doctoral project. It is better if you know something about the topics already, but not mandatory. For each of those, do some basic research, watch some videos online, etc. The background knowledge you are gaining will allow you to notice the underlying powerful ideas that exist. Then, for each topic, collect 2-3 photos that represent powerful ideas within them, and write a couple of sentences to describe the ideas.
  2. From those 2-3 topics, pick the one that seems more promising or interesting. Investigate it a bit more. The goal is to dig deeper into the powerful ideas and the deep concepts/structures within the subtopic. What is it really about? What lies behind the formulas, theories, and usual explanations? Document your research with back stories, photos, drawings, and quotes- try to be visual and evocative. We want you to communicate insights to us, the ultimate goal being to start thinking about potential final project ideas. [Make sure your topic is not too broad — instead of “Biology,” try something like “How bacteria reproduce”]
  3. Now, let’s explore how this topic could be learned through a microworld-inspired design. We want you to create a very rough sketch of a microworld for the topic. If you had a “magic wand,” what would your microworld look like? Would it be digital or analog? If digital, what would be offered to the student? If analog, what materials would you provide? Do not worry about the implementation — just assume anything you imagine is technically possible.

Final Deliverables

  • The format is up to you. Find the best way to communicate your broad area, research, topics, and powerful ideas.  You can use MIRO, a slide deck, a document, or any other tool you see fit. Label the different parts of your assignment with “Part 1,” “Part2,” etc. — they can all be part of the same slide deck or MIRO board.
  • Part 1: for 2-3 topics, collect 2-3 photos/drawings and write a couple of sentences about the powerful ideas in each (this could fit in one slide or page.)
  • Part 2: Pick one topic and go deeper: create a more complete representation/description of the powerful ideas within the topic with more photos/drawings and longer text (this could fit in 2-3 slides or pages.)
  • Part 3: Sketch (even by hand) and briefly describe your rough idea of how the microworld would look like (this could fit in one slide or page)
  • Post links to your work in the correct #lecture-2024 Slack channel.
  • Look at your peers’ assignments before class.

Assessment

✓+Meets all requirements described above for parts 1-3 and does something particularly creative or stunning. The concepts of powerful ideas and microworlds are clearly understood and well expressed in the examples. Powerful ideas are not just “interesting stuff” but indeed deep and generative ideas. Microworld ideas are “exploratory and not explanatory.”
Meets all requirements described above for parts 1-3. The concepts of powerful ideas and microworlds are clearly understood and well expressed in the examples. Powerful ideas are not just “interesting stuff” but indeed deep and generative ideas. Microworld ideas are “exploratory and not explanatory.”
✓-Does not meet the requirements described above. Parts of the assignment are missing, or the concepts of powerful ideas and microworlds are not well expressed in the examples. Powerful ideas are not distinguished from just “interesting stuff,” and microworlds do not have a clear path for exploration.