As I begin these reflections about teaching, I am reminded of one of Mark Twain's dictums, "Don't let schooling get in the way of education." I think that the goal of educating university-level students can only be achieved by presenting them with more than lectures, rote memorization tasks, and straightforward projects (i.e., traditional schooling).  In other words, I must move beyond the traditional model of schooling to a point at which students can learn effectively. 

      When students come into university courses they are but a few steps away from their professional careers. What is true for a business is also true for its employees, to succeed an individual must learn to be faster, smarter, more creative, and be able to learn from mistakes.  How can we prepare students to succeed in this competitive environment?   The answer is, at least in part, to move them out of their comfort zone by presenting them with realistic problems that have undefined boundaries and solutions and that require cooperation as well as competition.