# 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.

Do you want to challenge your students into going beyond the class material? Is your department interested in "scouting" for new talent? Are you looking for an easy way to allow students to make up for missed work? Then consider adding a table of bonus point projects to your course wiki on 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
|-
| 1
| [[Matrix multiplication MA265S12Walther|Matrix Multiplication and coordinate systems]]
| At Final
|-
| 2
| [[Inverse MA265S12Walther|The inverse of a matrix]]
| At Final
|-
| 3
| [[Vector spaces MA265S12Walther|The determinant]]
| At Final
|-
| 4
| [[Dependence MA265S12Walther|Linear dependence]]
| At Final
|}

## Where can I see some examples?

The following course wikis feature a bonus point opportunity.

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

## Alumni Liaison

Have a piece of advice for Purdue students? Share it through Rhea!

Alumni Liaison