Testing Theory in Practice

Yesterday I got to share some of my Fulbright research as part of the weekly lecture series hosted by the Hampton University Department of Architecture.  It was a great way to catch up with the advanced students and introduce myself to the first year group.

The students were highly attentive, very receptive to learning about epistemology and cognitive development theories, and interested in hearing about how I am using  data from student blogs  to test existing theories.

The faculty seemed genuinely interested, too.  At the end, though, there was no time for the faculty to ask questions… the students had so many questions that I finally had to cut things short and send them off to their studio classes.

At the start of the lecture, I had asked the students to pull out their smart phones and look up this blog site.  As a result, they had many questions about what I’ve found in applying the new methods in the second year studio and sustainability classes I teach.

I also passed around the catalog from my photography exhibition, so they could see some of the artwork I created in Ireland.  I also encouraged them to look up pages about my adventures in Greece, Portugal, Belgium (which I still need to post more about), France, and of course, Ireland.

Lecture poster (produced by HU student Samuel Morgan).

Lecture poster (produced by HU student Samuel Morgan).

3 Comments

  1. Shannon, sounds intriguing! I’m really interested in learning how to integrate my blog into teaching, so far just limited to homework assignments (“read my post for the next test”). Really like the “real time” aspect of your approach. Had any luck getting comment steams going on a post with students responding to each other? Fascinating opportunities here!

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  2. That’s a great idea, Don. I haven’t explored that avenue at all yet, though it was a tool we planned to use for RoboSlam (see http://roboslam.wordpress.com).

    Unfortunately, there’s not must time for blogging now that I’m back to the normal duties related to teaching, publishing research, and providing service. There’s so much I’d like to post about past and current events….

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