College Lesson Study

Lesson Study in Mathematics: Sequences & Series

Title: Sequences and Series
Authors: Dr. Whitney George (UW-La Crosse) & Dr. Nathan Warnberg (UW-La Crosse)
Discipline: Mathematics
Submission Date: June 1, 2016

This lesson study is a continuation of our 2015 Lesson Study on Sequences and Series. In the 2015 lesson study, our learning goal was to relate sequences and series. We realized that this was too large of a goal and for our 2016 lesson study, we narrowed our learning objectives to one objective: have students relate the sequence of partial sums to a given series. We simplified the lesson study to major concepts and left out many of the details including notation that can often distract students from the major ideas. We also asked repetitive questions for different series that were progressively harder. We found that the students had a better understanding of series and the underlying defining sequence. However students were not able to make the connection between the convergence of the sequence of partial sums and the convergence of the series as well as we had hoped. These were still two separate ideas for many of the students.

Sequences and Series - Final Report

Lesson Study in Art: Art Critique

Title: Art Critique Lesson Study
Authors: Misha Bolstad, Brad Nichols, Kate Hawkes
Discipline: Art
Submission Date: May 31, 2016

In this study, we investigated the critique process in a foundations studio course. We set up a preliminary, low stakes in-class creative group project, which students critiques immediately. We observed their behavior during the verbal group critique, and observed two subsequent critique over the course of the semester. Our goal was to create an environment to study student engagement during the critique process. Including articulation of ideas, use of vocabulary, comfort level, constructive analysis, and reference to greater trends in culture and society.

 Art Critique Lesson Study - Final Report