DIDACTIC ORIENTATION PhaseWelcome. Week 1. A description of the circumstances; people and groups (individuals, dyads, and societies); Sets and Settings— Beginning of the 9.70/13 Collaborative Learning System lifetime; Housekeeping; Human Systems: Singular and plural humans in contexts. Handouts 1. Benchmark Questionnaire and Initial Information Form 2. The syllabus (why is it such a large document?) 3. Groups for Work (paper) 4. Human Systems: Organizational and Developmental Aspects and Levels (table) 5. A Variety of Development Plans for Human Systems (pamphlet) 6. Timesheet 7. Examine the group roster (form). 8. Create the Formative and Summative Assessment Form. Overview What's happening? We (1) give an overview of ourselves, (2) review this document, and (3) talk about the future of the topic and how we want to tackle it. We take a brief break after going over some of the data that was submitted for benchmarking. This is done in part to give everyone a break, but mostly to let individuals who don't like the way things are going and believe they might be spending their Thursday afternoons this semester doing something better to quietly depart. Students who stay after the break will be assumed to be "serious students" who sincerely demonstrate their skill, willingness, and preparedness to learn more about the topic at hand. The Collaborative Learning System's Launch All of the students in the class will be randomly assigned to study groups, each with six to seven individuals. No group will be permitted to have more than eight members. For the first time, group members gather in the classroom to form groups. Not much more than a random group of MIT undergraduate students who happen to be in the same situation and are not totally certain that they are content with how all this is playing out, they introduce themselves to one another and share vital personal information. Are the experiences of members of various study groups essentially the same? Do any noteworthy "invisible loyalties or animosities" exist inside or between the groupings that are thus formed? All prior study groups in all prior 9.70 sessions have successfully, within the allotted period, decided on the location and time of the first of their weekly, two-hour study group meetings. (In previous years, the percentage of dropouts at this stage has typically been greater than the percentage of dropouts between this stage and the drop date.) Best of luck.