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L
EARNING
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EARN
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ECOMING
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ELF
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ROWER
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XPERIENCE
6: M
ETHODOLOGIES
: U
NLOCKING
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K
NOWLEDGE
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ODELS
Problem Scenario 1:
You’re taking a required course and have an exam coming up right after Spring Break. The
exam counts for 50% of your grade and you MUST do very well on it in order to keep your
scholarship. Your professor has cancelled the last class meeting leaving a note on the classroom
door: “Sorry, all; I’ve been called out of town on a family emergency. Be sure to read pages 70
through 160 in your textbook in preparation for the exam after Spring Break. See you then!”
You get home and check the reading, but 20 of the pages are actually missing from your book—
something you hadn’t noticed when you scored a great deal on used books for the semester.
You call the bookstore, but the text is out-of-stock. You don’t personally know anyone in the
class, at least not well enough to have their phone number or e-mail address. Because of your
previously-made plans for Spring Break, you and three friends are catching a plane to Cancun
in just under 24 hours. The exam is scheduled for the day after you return.
Problem Scenario 2:
You’re taking a road trip with friends and are actually using two vehicles. It’s fairly late at
night, and you’re driving the second vehicle, following the vehicle in front since only they
know how to get to the destination (a rented cabin beside a lake where you’ll all spend a stress-
free and relaxing week, no phones, no TV, nothing but rest, relaxation and good company). You
know that you’d all agreed to drive as far today as possible leaving most of tomorrow free for
relaxing at the lake. You don’t know how far away the lake is; it could be 5 miles, it could be
100 miles. Right now and for the last while, it has been dark roads in unfamiliar places—no
maps, no satnav. The car suddenly gives a lurch and becomes difficult to steer; sure enough,
you’ve got a flat tire. You pull to the side of the road and ask your passenger to hand you your
cell phone so you can call the folks in the other car, which has just crested the top of a distant
hill. There’s no reception on your cell phone, and it’s pitch black out there, without another car
in sight. The last gas station you passed was about 40 miles back. In checking the trunk, you
see that you have a spare tire that looks in pretty good shape, but you can’t find a jack.
Problem Scenario 3:
You have been offered part-time work from home, but will be required to either: work two
weekends every month, 12 hours each on Saturday and Sunday, or miss one class per week
(always the same class, which you must pass and cannot drop) remaining at home so that
you’re available for teleconferencing should your assistance be needed. If you elect to work the
weekends, you’ll have to drop from part-time (50%) work at the bookstore, which pays $1 over
minimum wage, but gives you a 20% discount on your books for every term, and work only
25% time losing the discount on your books. If you choose instead to miss one class per week,
the results will include having to spend twice as much time doing homework for that class,
hiring a tutor at a cost of $1.50 over minimum wage for 4 hours per week, and quite possibly
a loss of one letter grade simply due to the classes you missed.