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Syllabus

Instructor Information

Name:

Heidi Baldassare

 

Email:

Use in-class Walled Garden Email(preferred form of contact)

 

Office location:

Library 323 (R323)

 

Office hours:

by appointment

 

Phone:

415.452.5487

 

Course Information

Course title:

Strategies For Problem-Solving

 

Course number:

DSPS S   CRN 31339- 831

 

Course description:

This is a short-term, two unit Online/hybrid ( ie, meeting 3x face to face)class graded as Pass/No Pass, that explores general problem-solving in relation to exploring how you think and learn and approach problems or goals. It involves self-exploration, reflection, and experiental exercises that explore goal-setting, mind-body interaction, visual and auditory thinking, decision-making, memory skills, and creative problem-solving.

 

Course date:

Saturday, March 3 through Saturday , May 12 ,2012

 

Location:

Face-to-face meetings will be in Rosenberg Room 414.

 

Meeting day(s):

In addition to being online, we will have 3 in-class meetings on three Saturdays . The first two face-to-face meetings March 3 and April 14 are MANDATORY because we will be working on key assignments in class on those days in addition to taking a test. The final class on May 12 is when you will be sharing your Final Projects.

Please do not sign up for this class if you can't make the in-class meetings.

 

Meeting time(s):

In-class meetings are 11:40 AM to 1:45 PM

 

Prerequisite(s):

You must be able to:

 

1. Attend the mandatory orientation on March 3 from 11:40 to 1:45 in lab 414 on the fourth floor of the Rosenberg Library. Attend the Midterm class on April 14, 11:40 PM , R414, to take an in-class Midterm and mee witht members of your problem-solving group. You must attend both of these classes.

2.       Use a computer for Internet, email, and word-processing. Know how to do an email attachment.

3.       Commit yourself to a schedule to keep up with the work and to post to discussions weekly.

4.       Establish priorities and keep an open mind. Your determination to complete assignments, your desire to evaluate yourself honestly and openly, and explore new ideas and behaviors is the most important prerequisite.

 

Note: To get through the concentrated content of this course you need to keep up with the weekly content. You will be expected to post your discussion entry in the week the discussion question is presented. By the end of a three week period the discussion topic will be locked and it will be too late to post to receive credit for that week. Homework assignments can be done at your pace to a point and within the stated deadlines, but the course is presented sequentially so you can go back to prior weeks but not move ahead to future weeks of content.

 

Textbook

 

Required Textbook: Five Star Mind, by Tom Wujec, Doubleday, 1995

We will be reading short excerpts from it every week and doing exercises in it. You can buy it from the CCSF bookstore or purchase online from a site such as Amazon.com.

Weekly announcements will be listed on the course Homepage at the beginning of each new week along with a new and stimulating photo pertaining to our topic of the week!

You will be reading articles and reviewing websites. If you don't already have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, please go to Adobe's site and download it.

 

Course Objectives

 

Upon completion of this course, a student will demonstrate an awareness of various creative, critical thinking, and multisensory problem-solving strategies for identifying problems, making decisions, completing academic or job tasks, etc. Each student will be able to analyze, evaluate, and apply steps of the problem-solving process and be able to access their own toolbox of resources for approaching new or difficult academic or personal situations. You will be expected to:

 

  • Collaborate with classmates to problem-solve a real life issue
  • Think about how and what you think
  • Examine assumptions and develop opinions
  • Apply creative problem-solving
  • Employ practical questioning and communication strategies
  • Develop and assess opinions
  • Bring mind-body connection and attention to everyday situations
  • Identify problems as well as recognize relationships
  • Demonstrate ability to formulate and execute academic and personal action

 

Course Assignments

 

1.       Assignments will include:

Readings from book and links
Discussion postings
Written summaries and reflections
Collaborative Problem Solving Exercise
Questioning for Investigation and
Decision-making
Individual Problem-Solving Project

2.       You will be submitting homework by email, in person (in my mailbox in R323, or at our face-to-face meetings).
Specific instruction and due dates will be given for each assignment. Each assignment should be submitted with the title of the assignment, the date, and your name.

3.       Late Policy:
Passing this course is based on following the directions and completing the required assignments. You are expected to complete the weekly assignments in order and on time.

The first four assignments and group mindmap or outline need to be submitted before or on the Midterm on April 14. The last four assignments need to be received up to May 11.

 

 

 

Points will be given for each assignment and 105 points are needed to receive a "Pass" grade. Not all assignments are worth the same amount of points. (Refer to Point chart)

 

Since you will be expected to keep up with the weekly content you should plan on putting aside regular hours each week to work on this class, just as if you were going to a class in person. Your passing grade will be determined by completing the required assignments as listed in the Course Evaluation and Grading section. If you have problems keeping up with the course please contact me or student assistant immediately for assistance.
If you must DROP or leave the course for any reason, please let me know so I can update my records. Also, if you want to get Credit in the course but can't finish in the nine weeks, contact me and I will count part of the work you have already done the next time you take the course.

 

 

Week one's(1) assignment on procrastination is due March 12 ( 9:00 PM )..By this time, you will have had 9 days to do this first assignment, which should allow you to work out any bugs and get technical help or find a new computer to work on. It is your responsibility to make sure that I receive your assignments by the major deadlines. Please be very clear about the minimum required assignments listed in this syllabus. If these are not received by the instructor you can not receive Credit in this class.

 

Course Overview

 

Week 1: Orientation and Introductions; overcoming Procrastination , Brainstorming on an Issue

Week 2: Goals and Cause and Effect ("Fishbone diagrams")

Week 3: Mind-body techniques exploring relaxation, concentration, and " Flowstate".

Week 4: Effective Questioning and the Problem-solving Process. Final Project assigned

Week 5: Visual Problem Solving: Mindmap or Outlinefor Group Project:

                   Midterm in-class at the end of the week

Week 6: Creative Problem Solving: Group collaboration; exploring intuition.

Week 7: Memory techniques as related to Learning Styles

Week 8: Looking at assumptions:

Week 9: Decision-Making: Problem-Solving Projects due; Self-Evaluations in class

 

Course Evaluation and Grading

 

This is a non-graded Credit/NoCredit class but it is also 2 units covered in 9 weeks, so to pass this class and receive Credit you will need to submit a minimum of 8 out of the 11 weekly assignments that are emailed to the instructor or accumulate 105 points ( with assignments, Final Project and Midterm).

Make sure you can attend the face-to-face meeting in week 5 to take the midterm and meet with group-project members.

The Final Problem-Solving Project Summary (all given questions completed) and an in-class completed Course-Evaluation are required in week nine (9) and will take the place of a Final Exam.

 

You need to post to 7 out of the 9 weekly discussion questions because the discussions are like participating in class. In my face-to-face class there is a two class absence maximum so missing two discussions is like having two absences. Since this is a skill-building course, students who receive "No Credit" are urged to consider repeating the course.

 

Here are the eight (8) required assignments where you will accrue the needed points to pass the course. You also will receive points for the final project, the Midterm and a final Course Evaluation. The point load and due dates will be explained at the Orientation and can be found online on the class syllabus once you are in the class.

  1. Procrastination reflection and action plan exercise.

  2. Goal Assessment: the evaluation of a short- term priority goal.

  3. Fishbone Diagrams: a. one on the causes and effect of a problem; b. one on causes (solutions) and effect of a goal.

  4. Flowstate assignment which must include your response to the "cue" word exercise.

  5. Group Problem-Solving Project in 3 parts: 1.Brainstorm with group members on a real life issue at Orientation 2.Share ideas and solutions at Midterm 3. Write a final summary of the issue with your ideas plus the input of your group members in Week 6.

  6. Learning Style paper (minimum 3 paragraphs explaining your particular learning styles, and how you might incorporate particular strategies into your study to work with your learning style strengths and weaknesses .

     7.  Tick-Tock assignment in week 8.

     8.  Completed answers to the questions on Decision-making in Week 9 

 

There is a passing quality of participation in each of the stated course requirements for each one to be considered "complete". The instuctor reserves the right to make subjective judgments about the quality of student participation and assignments. Always remember that well-explained quality work is more important than the quantity of the work. I will start the discussion postings each week with ideas of what I am looking for in your responses.