Scholars

Mentors

Parents

Details

Teach Ourselves Glossary

a  c  d  e  h  i  k  l  m  p  r  s  t  u

a

• account   
  
• the app page to access a summary of the scholar profile, view all scholar's problems, and take action: read comments from mentor, sell for publication, post to Facebook

• app directory   
  
• in Facebook, apps are displayed by their icons with a tool tip summary of each app, click the app icon to learn more and decide if you'd like to "allow" the app to your account.

• application (app)
• software that completes a focused set of tasks

• applied science (AS)
• the domain that includes engineering, computer science, architecture, robotics, etc.
  

• approved   
  
• a problem status indicating the mentor has reviewed the problem and it meets minimum criteria, the problem is now locked (cannot be edited) and is available to sell for publication
  

• attribution   
  
• the originator of an item (image, video, tutorial), also know as BY: who gets credit for creating the item

c

• citation   
  
• the reference or source for an item - "cite your source", as in a bibliography
  

• community news   
  
• a scrolling list of updates about people, events, and opportunities in the Teach Ourselves community
  

• connect   
  
• the app page to start, participate and review discussions you have permission to access
  

• contracted   
  
• a problem status indicating the scholar has agreed to author a problem for a certain number of points, upon approval, the scholar can sell the problem for publication at the agreed-on contract value or at market value. Contract values fluctuate, but do not change once they've been agreed to.

• create   
  
• the app page to open a new problem contract and author new problems
  

• creative commons (CC)   
  
• a set of licences intended to offer the consumer more freedoms than traditional copyright, for more info see:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

d

• domain   
  
• an area of STEM study in Teach Ourselves. We currently host problems in applied sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, and space sciences.

• dormant
• a problem status indicating the problem has been solved the maximum number of times and is no longer in public circulation; the problem will still show on the author's account portfolio

e

• earth science (ES)   
  
• the domain that includes geology, meteorology, climate change, soil and water sciences, and other fields of study specific to the Earth
  

• elementary (E)
• a problem level that should be considered easy or introductory, problems marked E should align with skills and knowledge of a US student at the end of 5th grade

k

• knowledge economy   
  
• Teach Ourselves is encouraging the connection that knowledge, information, and learning are tied to financial accomplishment by awarding points for solving and creating academic work; the economy of TO fluctuates according to the number of problems available to solve for each domain

h

• help item   
  
• a video, slideshow, animation, or other creation designed by a scholar to support a viewer in solving the problem. Must be in flash (upload file types: swf, mp4, m4v, flv, or f4v)
  

• high school (H)   
  
• a problem level that should be considered hard or advanced, problems marked H should align with skills and knowledge of a US student at the end of 12th grade
  

• hint   
  
• feedback, customized responses for incorrect answers. A solver will see each hint after entering two successive incorrect answers. The scholar authors two hints for each problem s/he creates, these must be reviewed by the mentor prior to approval and publication of the problem.

i

• image   
  
• each problem must have an image, the image can be a photo or drawing created with different software. Acceptable formats are jpg, png, svg, gif.

l

• leaders   
  
• leader boards show the rankings of members of the entire TO community, within a group, or the rankings of the groups based on accumulated points
  

• learn   
  
• the app page to access suggested links and information about STEM careers, programs of study and opportunities
  

• level   
  
• each problem is ranked as a level of relatvie difficulty: E (elementary/easy), M (middle school/medium), and H (high school/hard)
  

• license   
  
• all adopted content should indicate appropriate license information; all original content is produced as Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
  

• life science (LS)   
  
• the domain that includes all biology, ecology, medicine, nutrition, anatomy, evolution and other fields related to the study of life

m

• mathematics (M)   
  
• the domain that includes all types of math, from number sense to calculus
  

• mentor   
  
• an adult (19 or older) who studies or works in a STEM field assigned to supervise the participation of 3-5 scholars; primary responsibility is approving problems for publication.
  

• middle school (M)   
  
• a problem level that should be considered medium difficulty, problems marked M should align with skills and knowledge of a US student at the end of 8th grade

p

• physical science (PS)   
  
• the domain that includes physics, chemistry, and the study of energy
  

• points   
  
• currency of TO is accrued as points. Points can be earned for solving problems, when others solve your problems = roylaties, and creating new problems and selling them for publication.
  

• portfolio   
  
• a scholar's collection of problems, may evolve to include the concept of an investment portfolio and an academic portfolio that allows a scholar to be selective about what's contained in it.
  

• published   
  
• a problem status indicating the scholar sold it for publication, it is now viewable by the entire TO community. Each unique solver earns points and the author earns royalties, until the problem goes dormant (after a certain number of times it is solved).
  

r

• review   
  
• a problem status indicating the scholar submitted the problem to his/her mentor and is awaiting feedback or approval
  

• royalty   
  
• Each published problem earns points for the solver and simulatenously earns royalties for the author (a percentage of the points earned by the solver goes into the author's account).

s

• scholar   
  
• a student, aged 13-18 who agreed to participate in the Teach Ourselves community by using the Facebook application. A scholar writes and solves problems to earn points that can be converted to real goods.
  

• sell contract   
  
• select this button to sell the problem for publication at the originally contracted value
  

• sell market   
  
• select this button to sell the problem for publication at the current market value, market value fluctuates and you may choose to wait for a different market value.
  

• share   
  
• an option to start a discussion with the TO group regarding a specific problem that is in any state
  

• space science (SS)
  
• the domain that includes astronomy, the stars and universes, and studies about planets other than Earth
  

• status (state)
  
• the attribute of a problem's condition: contracted, review, approved, published, dormant
  

• STEM   
  
• the acronym for studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
  

• submit   
  
• the action of turning a problem over to the mentor for review and approval

t

• ticker   
  
• the dynamic scrolling bar at the top of the app that indicates the current values for contracting or selling a problem in each domain

u

• units   
  
• the optional attribute of a problem answer, use this field if your answer has units (e.g. a measurement: kg, dollars, lbs/sq in, etc.), otherwise it can be left blank
  

• url   
  
• the web address where an item or information was found