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"Students in CS50 have almost free rein to select final projects that appeal to their curiosity, although they are asked to "strive to create something that outlives this course." "All that we ask," the syllabus says, "is that you build something of interest to you, that you solve an actual problem, that you impact campus, or that you change the world.""

"Nelson goes on to say that "Education ought to be clear, inviting and enjoyable, without booby-traps, humiliations, condescension or boredom. It ought to teach and reward initiative, curiosity, the habit of self-motivation, intellectual involvement." This reminded of this course. So far I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. Many of my previous online courses were extremely repetitive and the assignments were very bland. We did the same thing over and over again every week. Read the article and write a post about it. We are taught to question things in this course. We are pushed to be creative and research topics that we cannot find easy answers to. We are not punished for our opinions, rather rewarded for getting our creative juices flowing. One of my favorite assignments was the one where we had to search a question that we already knew the answer to. I had no idea that my question about the S on superman's chest would lead to gender equality. It taught me to always take a deeper look. This course is the kind of course Nelson was talking about. It's unique, and definitely meets his criteria." h/t Jon

"If your students worship grades, they won't complete assignments without knowing how many points it's worth. If they worship stickers and candy, they won't work without the promise of those prizes. If you say a prayer to the "real world" every time you sit down to plan your math lessons, you and your students will never have enough real world, never feel you have enough connection to jobs and solar panels and trains leaving Chicago and things made of stuff. If you instead say a prayer to the atomic sensation of being puzzled and the catharsis that comes from being unpuzzled, you will never get enough of being puzzled and unpuzzled."

First page of first draft of syllabus. Getting real now. http://t.co/copqTg1Oem #VCUCEnR #VCUaltlab @GoogleGuacamole @yinbk @JoyceKincannon - Valerie Holton (@ValerieHolton) January 19, 2015