Academic Excellence Workshops (AEWs) are a method of learning difficult course material through group study.  The workshops teach students how to study cooperatively and collaboratively to better understand course content.  Through group study, students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.

 

Nationally acclaimed educator Uri Treisman developed this concept after analyzing study methods of university students who excelled academically in math courses.  MESA uses this groundbreaking method at the pre-college level to attain academic success in critical college prerequisite math and/or science classes.

 

AEWs are provided to students who are enrolled together in specific college preparatory math and/or science classes.  In the workshops, students are divided into small groups to study together.  Students learn techniques of group study and work on specially developed problems designed to reinforce key concepts within the specific course.  The key to these workshops is the development of worksheets (problem sets) to reinforce concepts or methods being studied in the specific math and/or science class. 

 

AEWs are led by facilitators, who help facilitate the cooperative and collaborative learning process.  Ideally, the facilitators are the MESA advisors.  But, facilitators can also be other math teachers, university students from the Center for Engineering Diversity, or high school juniors or seniors from the MESA Schools Program.  The high school students are only allowed to facilitate middle school workshops.

Workshop sessions are held once or twice a week during the MESA period, before school, after school, or on Saturdays.

The sessions are one hour in duration and are held at the school site.