Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Active Applied Discrete Structures - Notes for a Flipped Class

This spring, I decided to take the plunge and attempt teaching our Discrete Structures I course in a flipped class format. I'm almost half way through the semester and it seems to going pretty well.  We had our first hour exam a while ago and grades were higher than in comparable exams from previous semesters. Also, students generally seem to be enjoying the format.

At this point, I've written up all the assignments that students are asked to do before each class meeting and the problems they work on in class.  They comprise 24 "chapters" - one for each class.

Download the first draft of Part 1.

In the past, I've gotten requests for an instructor's manual for Applied Discrete Structures and have procrastinated on doing it, but this may be just as valuable.
A TEAL classroom being set up at UML

We have a few new Technology Enhanced Active Learning  (TEAL) classrooms at UMass Lowell and I've been scheduled in them this year.  Having students in "pods" helps with  the flipped format, although the technology isn't really necessary.