After 15+ hours of working on LA #10, I have decided that it is time for reflection and closure for me. As with every LA we have been given, I find it very hard to "just jump in" and try it. I did that for about one hour, then decided that until I could have significant information about the history of the elusive 3N problem, I would not be able to learn from the experience. If I look back on every reflection, this is a distinct learning process for me. 


What did I learn from this experience? 
I'm trying to learn more from this experience as it may be our last LA. How do I design educational experience for learners that allow them to do just jump in and/or research a problem until they are comfortable attacking it? My tendency is to say "just jump in and see what happens and then lets reflect and learn from it." Yet, I can't even make myself do this. I've heard for so many years "you have the tendency to teach the way you want to be taught or the way your learn" that I've went to the other end of the spectrum. It may come down to "the planner" and "bricolage". As discussed in Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete "the difference between planners and bricoleurs is not in quality of product, it is in the process of creating it". As an educator, I need to make myself aware of the difference path students need to go through to learn and set up all learning activities that allow for both. And, allow students who learn like me (are planner), do just that - plan so they can learn. Trying to get them to embrace the concept of "bricolage" may not be my role and I believe it happens once they have a plan. For me, it's almost like I learn in two parts: part 1- plan; part 2 - implement and then bricolage off results/outcomes of the initial plan. 
I have learned that utilizing a computer program is fun (already knew this but took it to another level), can be addicting (knew as well but again took it to another level), and doesn't stifle learning or take away from critical thinking. I have believed this but I truly focused on this component during the LA due to conversations I had with math educators as I researched the 3N problem. I can now say with great confidence that MicroWorld EX allowed me to go dramatically farther with my critical thinking than I could ever have went without it. For those that read this, I spent a tremendous amount of time researching what math experts had done in their attempt to solve this elusive 3N problem. 


What did I observe about the learning styles of your collaborators? 
I collaborated with individuals outside of the cadre due to the structure of this week for me. The individuals I collaborated with shared my style of learning - they are planners. We set forth a series of well planned steps 
for me to take and they helped me process why these steps may allow me to understand the 3N problem better. People who share learning styles work very well together. Yet, once I was done with my planning phase, I felt the need to collaborate with a bricolager. And, I found one last night. He's a high school statistics teacher (husband of a colleague) and he enjoyed letting me bounce thoughts off him. He never provided any direction, just kept asking questions to keep me thinking. As Gary has told us, find someone with a higher level of knowledge and work with them (or something like that). These collaborations allowed me to go beyond the level of thought I would have by myself. 

Which subjects does this project address?
This is a very insightful question. The obvious answer is math. The next for me are: critical thinking, logic, learning styles, collaborative learning, informal learning and computer science. I know there must be more if I could think outside of the box. And mathematics as defined by Papert.


What might a student learn from this? 
I can't answer this as a K-12 educator. I believe it is stated that Gary has used this successfully with third graders. I don't have any knowledge of child or adolescent learners. My answer will be this question - "what can an adult learner" learn from this? Reinforcement or revisiting basic and advanced math theories and processes, identifying how they learn, learning to look at their own thought processes and others to reassess the process or challenge their thought processes, how to work with others effectively, how to have fun learning and so on. I think this project has an almost unlimited list of things an adult learner could learn from it. 


For age/grade is this project best suited for? 
I really don't know what age or grade this is "best" suited for. I think if Gary has used it successfully with third graders, then it can be used from third grade and up. But, "best" suited for, I don't know. I'm not trying to invalidate the question, I just don't have any experience to draw from to answer it. 


What would a student have to know before successfully engaging in this project? 
Very basic knowledge of computers, math and English. I'm thinking as basic as the ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide. The ability to know what keys on the computer to press, how to maneuver the cursor, and save the project. Basic knowledge. The educator's role would change based on the knowledge of the learner - the younger the more direction they may need and the older the less. But now that I write that down, I may disagree. Great LA Gary. Thanks again for allowing us to use MicroWorld EX.