This case study describes an e-mail flame war. Discussion questions guide students to identify why each participant acted as they did and at which stages the flame war could have been diffused. Attribution for the case study goes to Les Perelman, and attribution for the discussion questions goes to Susan Ruff.
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In this assignment from M.I.T.’s communication-intensive offering of Real Analysis, students develop and evaluate various definitions for the notion of a “gap” in a set. The assignment was developed by the 18.100C team, especially Craig Desjardins and Joel Lewis, with modifications by Kyle Ormsby and Susan Ruff. This is the first assignment of the term that requires students to use LaTeX, so students must submit at least one LaTeXed page two days before the assignment is due. This “draft” due date ensures that they devote time to figuring out the basics of LaTeX early enough that they can devote time
Read more →This worksheet, compiled by Susan Ruff, is used after a mini-lecture on information order and connectivity. The worksheet enables students to check and solidify their understanding of how to order information within sentences to strengthen connectivity between sentences. From M.I.T.’s communication-intensive offering of Real Analysis.
Read more →Two samples of the same writing, labeled # and %, are used to start a discussion about audience preferences and to illustrate how to order information to create connectivity. Students then test their understanding by revising the third sample. This file is set up so that if it is printed 2-sided, the samples # and % appear on separate pieces of paper for ease of comparison. Written by Joel Lewis.
Read more →This schedule is for the weekly communication recitation that accompanies M.I.T.’s Real Analysis (Fall 2011 version).
Read more →This proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality is used to start a discussion about proof elegance. The class compares this proof with the proof of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality given in Proofs from the Book by Aigner and Ziegler. The class discusses which proof one would discover first and how it’s a good idea, after having proved something, to think about rewriting it. This writing sample was developed by Mohammed Abouzaid and Peter Speh.
Read more →This assignment from M.I.T.’s communication-intensive offering of Real Analysis asks students to explain a statement of their choice from analysis to three (substantially different) audiences of their choice. This assignment was developed by the 18.100C team, especially Susan Ruff, Joel Lewis, and Craig Desjardins. This version of the assignment is from Kyle Ormsby.
Read more →This assignment is given the week before an exam. As students study, they are to form precise questions about material they find to be confusing. These questions are then discussed in recitation.
Read more →Fisher, Kopelman, and Schneider report on their study in which they found that preconditioning people to a particular point of view can prevent them from understanding others’ points of view. This story is used to emphasize that listening is not trivial–to hear what another is saying it can be helpful to listen “actively,” by checking that you understand.
Read more →Context: This lesson plan is from a weekly communication recitation that accompanies M.I.T.’s Real Analysis. This recitation is the last of the term. The first term it was offered this feedback discussion was combined with the recitation on advanced LaTeX topics, but the feedback was so useful that an entire recitation is now devoted to feedback discussion. Authors: This recitation was suggested by Susan Ruff based on the end-of-term feedback sessions held by M.I.T.’s Dennis Freeman. Objectives: To receive feedback from students on the effectiveness of the recitations. Recitation: The recitation instructors lead a class discussion of how the term
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