Created: 2015-02-22
The course will be in English, but if you are not completely comfortable with this language you can speak in another language that the instructor understands and what you said will be translated into English for the benefit of all people in class. Ideally, all students will have to have at least a reasonable ability to understand spoken English. If that is not the case, we will have to arrange some other way of conveying the lecture material. For instance, we can tape the classes and add subtitles.
In the first class, the general outline of the course will be presented, and students will be asked to sign up for the discussion list, and to create their blogs for multiple-choice questions. In addition, students will be asked to form groups that can study together. This will be especially helpful in exercise solving. The group can collaborate in solving the exercises, but each member is responsible for writing down the solution with their own words, and bring it to class.
The students must read beforehand the texts corresponding to each class, and come prepared to discuss the issues and to solve the proposed exercises. The exercises will also help students to focus on the most relevant parts of the materiel.
Each class will start with the instructor giving a brief presentation of the topic. During this presentation, students are welcome to participate, by presenting their own opinions, doubts, or comments in general that they think can benefit our collective learning. Then, we will discuss the exercises proposed in the schedule. Students will be assigned to specific exercises and must bring their solutions in written form to class. Their solutions will be discussed, amended as needed, and the student must submit a final write-up of the solution within 7 (seven) days. This write-up will be graded and will contribute towards the student's final grade, as described in detail in the Grading Scheme page.
© 2015 Joao Meidanis