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Carol, I second much of what you said here. On the one hand, even though I already know a fair amount about nuerons and plasticity, I could happily sit and listen to Paul talk about the functions of the brain for the whole day.  The material is so rich that one could spend a life time covering it.

I also sometimes feel the impatience of wanting to move faster.  During these times I find myself riffing off what Paul is saying either by searching for stuff that is related on the interent or by jotting down my thoughts. 

It reinforces for me the idea that any group of people is made of so many different types of learners, with so many different types of agendas, level of previous background and interest in the material. 

I love the online form for this purpose. It allows us to make our points, explore what interests us and engage other people in meaningful diversions that don't slow down the pace of the overalll class.

It also allows us to ask our own sets of questions. 

I've been evolving my set of questions about brain education since the course began.

My initial theory (um story) is that it is very meaningful for students to engage their mind/brain on a deep level. This theory was based on my experiences in psychology and buddhist practice, both of which are based on some type of increasing awareness of the types of thoughts, feelings and behaviors which make up our mental life. I was also passionate about introducing cutting edge brain science into the equation.  

As we move through Paul's course I ask the question where is a good place to start that investigation. 

I really love Paul's model of starting with us as scientist/story tellers, because it sets the tone for the conversation and the method of investigation, but I also wonder if there isn't a step before that which brings students (especially high school studnets) to the beginning of their journey of inquiry. 

My other question is what are the basic topics that we should probably include in a discussion of the mental life (brain) to prime investigation by our students in all the ways that would actually interest them.