Dr. Milos Savic

Sprint 1: Dave and I had prepared quite a bit prior to the first sprint, since we had been graduate students at New Mexico State and we had studied our abstract algebra class by creating these notes. Over time, we edited and restructured the notes, but never quite finished them. I recently asked Stacy at the OU libraries for her input in how to finish these notes. Fast forwarding, our first sprint exceeded my expectations. We had totally restructured (again) the first chapter about group theory, and had gone through all four chapters (cleaning and working) in three days, with the fourth day to start TeX-ing many of the corrections made. I am thankful for Dave for his expertise, since I think that he has a notion of what algebra is from start to finish, so he knows what to emphasize in the textbook. I also am thankful that our group includes Molly, who is a graduate assistant that is doing all the background work while studying for the exam herself.

My suggestions for future sprints include a person that is knowledgeable in the full extent of the content. Also, I think a sprint has to also have some direction or guidance, with a (or a few) goal(s) in mind. Finally, there can be a group working on chapters individually, but there should always be a check-in or a recap with the whole group so that the cohesion of the book shows.