Bonus Point Projects for your students: why do it? How to do it?

Click here for a list of all Bonus Point Projects featured in Rhea.

Why should I offer a bonus point opportunity to my students?

Bonus points opportunities are a great way for students to

• go beyond the material presented in class.
• learn better: after all, there is no better to learn something than to teach it!
• practice their communication skills.
• build their e-portfolio.
• etc.

By reading the various projects created as part of these bonus point opportunities, instructors can

• Get an idea of how students think: what they understand well, what they struggle with, their misconceptions, etc.
• Accumulate extra educational material for future use. (For example, the best projects can be featured on their course wiki the next semester.)
• Scout for hidden talents among their students.
• etc.

I am convinced. Now what should do I do?

1. Decide up to how many points you are willing to award for a bonus point project, and put this information on your course syllabus.
2. Create a class wiki page for your class. (Login with your career account and then click on the "create a new course page" link on the left-hand side of the screen.)
3. On your class wiki, put a section titled "Bonus Point Opportunity". In that section, put a table of proposed topics, names, and deadlines. Here is one such table from a course on linear algebra:

Topic Number	Topic Description	Student Name	Deadline
1	Matrix Multiplication and coordinate systems	Your Name Here	At Final
2	The inverse of a matrix	Your Name Here	At Final
3	The determinant	Your Name Here	At Final
4	Linear dependence	Your Name Here	At Final

The syntax for the above table is the following:

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
 |-
 ! Topic Number 
 ! Topic Description 
! Student Name 
! Deadline
|-
| 1 
| [[Matrix multiplication MA265S12Walther|Matrix Multiplication and coordinate systems]] 
| Your Name Here 
| At Final
|-
| 2 
| [[Inverse MA265S12Walther|The inverse of a matrix]] 
| Your Name Here 
| At Final
|-
| 3 
| [[Vector spaces MA265S12Walther|The determinant]] 
| Your Name Here 
| At Final
|-
| 4 
| [[Dependence MA265S12Walther|Linear dependence]] 
| Your Name Here 
| At Final
|}

Where can I see some examples?

The following course wikis feature a bonus point opportunity.

• MA375 Spring 2012, Prof. Walther
• MA265 Sall 2011, Prof. Walther
• MA453 Spring 2011, Prof. Walther
• ECE301 Spring 2011, Prof. Boutin

Click here for a list of all Bonus Point Projects featured in Rhea.