Assignments

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Each week, each study group is responsible for preparing and submitting to the instructors – via email – a brief (1-2 page) collaborative report, henceforth referred to as "study group meeting minutes." (Or merely "Minutes").

Important: The readers of your weekly minutes are looking for information that will contribute to the development of the class into a sustainable collaborative learning system. They are not merely or even mainly interested in "grading" you or in evaluating the quality of your study group's minutes. Facilitating the learning process here is mainly a matter of each and all of us constantly and recurrently formatively evaluating what is going on. Toward this end, we do not need or want a word-by-word transcript of "who said what" at your meeting. Nor will it suffice for us to receive a mere list of who was present and what was discussed. Rather, you should strive to produce meaningful "process notes" consisting of summary statements, insights, points of agreement/disagreement, queries, requests for clarification, and comments relating to all aspects of the learning experience (problematic issues relating to both process and content should be addressed) Minutes are most valuable in guiding the process when they contain something true and (for you) significant about either the form or content of your 9.70 learning experience. You can help most by reporting (e.g.):

• "What is good and what is not good?" Identify points of consensus and/or disagreement regarding the treatment of topically relevant issues; review and discuss assigned readings/films. Comment on the quality/quantity of the assigned material; etc upon conclusions arrived at by the group and whether meaningful agreement was reached on any significant topic, and what that outcome suggests or implies.
• Talk about the quality of your meeting, the educational value of your discussions and conclusions; the timeliness/completeness of attendance, the quality (valence/intensity) of group "feeling" - (e.g. positive or negative energy level, etc). Acknowledge, "local and world events" that are having an influence on your life and learning experience. Unless these events and their effect upon you relate quite directly to the subject at hand, please do not dwell on such matters unduly.
• Include concise comments on or answers to substantive or procedural questions given in the syllabus; express your opinions about the questions as appropriate; add personal anecdotes and other musings/conclusions/ideas on these subjects, as appropriate.
• Mention comments/questions/criticisms that some or all group members feel strongly about (e.g. organizational, procedural or substantive issues pertaining to homework (readings, films, etc.) or matters relating to study group and/or class meetings.
• Comment as appropriate on the role and performance of the instructional subsystem. In all living systems, from cells to societies, feedback - both positive and negative - is necessary in all aspects and at all levels of organization and development.

Weekly minutes should also include a brief summary statement from each member, regarding the form, content and quality of his/her own 9.70-related activities since the previous class session.

Subject-related conversations and electronic communications between/among study groups and between/among members of the class within and across study groups are encouraged. However, experience shows that an excessive resort to "back-door" lines of communication can engender mistrust and miscommunication. It is always best practice to include a "cc" to everyone who is mentioned in such exchanges.

In sum, weekly minutes will be most useful to the facilitation process (see next section), if they provide honest, and concise, theoretically and practically relevant, substantively and procedurally constructive feedback regarding the organization and development of the class and its subsystems (i.e. your study groups).