What Can I Do With Thinkspace?
- Rebecca O'Connell
- Carla Weiner
Sample Case from Physics Course
  (click thumbnail for larger image)\" rel="nofollow"linktype="raw" wikidestination="http://pws2.ait.iastate.edu/wiki/download/attachments/1572924/picnic.png (click thumbnail for larger image)
" originalalias="http://pws2.ait.iastate.edu/wiki/download/attachments/1572924/picnic.png (click thumbnail for larger image)
" >http://pws2.ait.iastate.edu/wiki/download/attachments/1572924/picnic.png (click thumbnail for larger image)
On the left is a selection of information students can request, some of which is not relevant to the problem. The instructor can group the information into categories (e.g., databases of historical trends, numerical results of tests, clinical observations, interviews with clients or experts, potentially applicable concepts, and descriptions of principles possibly related to the problem). Key to the design of thinkSpace is that students complete a series of intermediate tasks such as framing the problem, performing a qualitative analysis, requesting specific diagnostic tests (whose results would then be provided), producing an intermediate report to a client, or forming a visual map of their hypotheses. These tasks are chosen by the instructor and provide a structure or scaffold for students to develop their problem-solving skills.