All Class Project   

12-13-99 

I hope you had a great weekend, and I trust you are looking forward to the coming break. For the rest of the week (at least until the last 30 minutes on Thursday/Friday) you will be expected to complete a class project.  The focus of the project concerns the subjects presented in class for the past couple of weeks.  Take a minute to remember some points of interest:

 

-The movie Baraka                                                 -Mental sets/states

-Self-Reference Effect                                            -Take what you need

-Distinctions                                                           -Changing perspectives

 

How could these topics play into a scientific investigation on what it means to be “cool”?  What do people mean when they say, “That is cool,” or “She is cool”?  Your class must create a scientific study on this subject. 

-Determine whether or not the “State of Cool” has any impact on individuals in  

 your school. 

-Do different groups have a similar understanding of this concept? 

-More importantly, what does this State of Cool prevent people from  

 doing/feeling, if anything?  Is this connected to what Rollo May talked about, or 

 what you saw the people doing in the movie Baraka?

Take these ideas, and any others that you would like to investigate on this subject, to build an experiment.  Your experiment should follow the same format as the Child Development Project (i.e., Hypothesis, Materials, Methods, Observations, Conclusions, and an Evaluation).  You will need to produce some data for this study, as it is a real investigation.  Some of you may decide to interview other students, or perhaps your class would like to conduct a survey.  Be clever/creative, you can use almost any method you can think of (as long as it is safe) in order to get some data. 

Since you only have 2 ˝ days to complete this project, it is important that you organize yourselves quickly.  Each person must cooperate, and participate since all of you will receive the same grade!  Therefore, if you feel the pressure of the cool separating your group, you must use focus, alter your mental set, and shift your distinction.  Note all members must participate in some way, even if you miss a day.  You must each sign one sheet stating which role(s) you had in the project.  For the last 30 minutes of class on Thurs/Fri. your class will present your project to me (Mr. Park), and Mrs. Myers.  Be creative with this, it does not need to be the old standby oral report.  Also, you will need to organize all of your work in one folder or binder.

Here are a few hints:

            -You may need to appoint a group facilitator and designate other roles.

            -First come up with at least four project ideas.

            -State your problem.  How does this direct your investigation?

            -Be creative and clever.  Sometimes the best experiments are simple.

            -Have fun.