http://kussmaul.org/na.html

The VentureWell (formerly NCIIA) annual conferences are a great place to learn about assignments and activities that work for other people and could be adapted to other situations. However, many such Nifty Assignments (NAs) aren’t presented at conferences or in formal publications. Thus, this session is an opportunity to share our NAs with each other.The NA sessions at previous NCIIA conferences were great successes, and NA sessions have been popular at other education conferences for a decade. A great NA is easy to adopt and adapt, relevant in many settings, thought-provoking, and fun for students and teachers. For each NA, there will be a brief (~5 min) presentation and a few minutes for questions. Each NA will be summarized in a simple template and the collected templates will be available as handouts or downloads.

• Nifty Assignments in Entrepreneurship Education V - VentureWell Open 2015
• Nifty Assignments in Entrepreneurship Education IV - NCIIA 2014
• Nifty Assignments in Entrepreneurship Education III - NCIIA 2013
• Nifty Assignments in Entrepreneurship Education II (pdf) - NCIIA 2012
• Nifty Assignments in Entrepreneurship Education (pdf) - NCIIA 2011

Please submit via email to Clif Kussmaul (clif@kussmaul.org) so the collected NAs can be included in the conference proceedings. Please email Clif with any questions or suggestions!

Title	Team Triangle Count
Topic(s)	team dynamics, decision making, problem solving
Author	Clif Kussmaul, Muhlenberg College, clif at kussmaul.org adapted from Carol Wellington, Shippensburg University
Summary	Students work in teams to count the number of triangles in a complex figure, and the experience is used to prompt discussion of a variety of team issues. Instructor assigns students to teams of 3-5. Instructor tells teams to count the number of triangles in a complex figure (see attachment). Teams work for 5-10 minutes, instructor circulates to see what is happening. Instructor tells teams to stop counting and consider the following questions: Who did what on the team? How did you choose these roles? What strategy(s) did your team consider? How did you choose the strategy(s) you implemented? Teams briefly report their answers to the entire class. Instructor leads additional discussion if time and interest permit.
Other Info	Audience: any Strengths: duration of activity is flexible, depending on content, student interest, etc. requires little preparation Weaknesses: focuses on short-term rather than long-term team issues Variants: use other tasks follow with a reflective writing assignment