Category / Education Research

by shannonchance

Supporting African Cultures talk

I’m going to be giving a lecture today–November 6 at 5:30pm, Room 281 Bolton Street, Dublin 1–on “Supporting African Cultures through Architecture.” This is part of the lecture series for 4th and 5th year architecture students but the topic should be of interest to others as well and all are welcome to attend.  A description of the talk is below the photos.

Images from Tanzania (copyright Shannon Chance).

Supporting African Cultures through Architecture

Knowledge of Africa’s heritage and accomplishments is woefully lacking in the media today. The tendency to leave Africa out of the literature on architecture and planning hinders designers everywhere. It denies them access to specialized information that could help construct better environments. Their failure to understand the subtleties of various African cultures often results in modern construction – particularly that funded by foreign donors – that does not effectively meet the needs and interests of the people. Even architects, spatial planners, and policy makers who live in Africa lack access to research that could help them make better choices.

This trend presents a quandary: How can one contribute to improving quality of life around the world, without imposing values that harm others? A poor response is to avoid getting involved. Doing nothing only perpetuates inequities of health, wealth, and personal freedom.

This presentation discusses the work of Livin Mosha and Shannon Chance, two scholars working to generate this type of information. As architects and educators, Chance and Mosha share an interest in: understanding the heritage of African places, constructing a cross-cultural dialogue, developing a vision for the future, and translating the voices of Africa to others. Their goal is to promote cultural-specific architecture, planning, and policy in East Africa and beyond. This talk describes their findings and their recommendations for the future.

by shannonchance

Rites of Passage

A reflection I passed on the way to the retirement event.

Rituals help an organization determine and reinforce its collective values.  The stories that are told convey what’s most important. They help pass core ideas from one generation to the next.

The things that are said and the places where these rituals are held are embedded with symbols that suggest what is central and important to the community.

The DIT has few rituals as an institution– the Institute is a collection of long-standing colleges that came together not so very long ago (1992, to be exact). It hasn’t had much time for such rituals to develop institute-wide.

The schools and departments within the DIT, however, maintain a number of very important rituals that help reinforce what these units stand for and communicate what the people in them cherish.

Speeches in Kevin Street’s penthouse “canteen.”

I got to attend one such ritual Friday evening. It was the retirement celebration for three Lecturers from the Electrical Engineering program. For each retiree, a colleague reminisced, sharing thoughts and telling stories. Each retiree spoke as well.

As an outsider, this was a very interesting event to behold. I learned much more about the community here.

After the formal reception and the speeches, most of us headed to a nearby pub.  The photos show faculty deep in discussion and others hamming it up.

It’s important for an organization to take time to reflect in this way–to celebrate what it considers to be accomplishments and to recognize contributions of its members.

Dave’s retirement speech thanked the family who donated a heart to him. His transplant was so successful that he could ham it up with “Father” Ted after the formal events.

Kevin Street colleagues deep in discussion.

by shannonchance

Schools of Thought–Lecture Announcement

The Architecture Student Association (ASA) at DIT has announced the first of its Schools of Thought events. The ASA has two lectures focusing on the Architecture Student planned for this week.

  • Maxim Laroussi of Architecture Republic will be speaking about his culturally diverse education as well as the importance of a year out at some point in your education.
  • Shannon Massie Chance, DIT’s 2012 Fulbright Scholar in Engineering and Design Education, will be giving a talk about her research work–broad investigation into the workings, flaws, and triumphs of architecture schools.

An image from Shannon Chance’s upcoming lecture on student-centered teaching. The students pictured are Hampton University’s Dana Cook, Danielle Dunn, and Mike Ellingson.

5pm
Wed 7th November
Room 281 Bolton Street (Dublin, Ireland)

The event is free and open to the public.

by shannonchance

Putting this Wonk to Work

Discussing organizational change theory and its applicability to the College of Engineering and the Built Environment with Drs. Brian Bowe and Mike Murphy.

I’m such a wonk!

I’m elated that I got to put my training in “educational policy, planning and leadership” to work today!

I met over lunch with the Head of Learning Development and the Dean and we discussed possible strategies for helping adopt Student-Centered, Inquiry-Driven teaching practices college-wide. Our intent is to shift the focus in the classroom from the teacher to the learner.

It’s almost everyday that I get to use the research and the educational theory parts of my PhD studies.  But it’s rare that I get to contribute an educational planning and change-theory perspective to actually helping develop strategy.

I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to this important effort. And proud I’m that I can bring what I learned at William and Mary to the discussion table.

I’ll also get to discuss these ideas next Wednesday, when I speak at a student-organized seminar in the School of Architecture.

Dr. Pam Eddy’s lecture on Partnerships in Third-Level Education in Ireland. Delivered March 2011.

Today, I’m posting a photo of lunch and another of the biggest “policy wonk” I know:  W&M professor Pamela Eddy.

This blog goes out in her honor.

Thanks, Pam, for cluing me in to levers for change (Fowler, 2009). I was able to put that on the table for discussion today–all due to you.

Pam’s work includes the books Partnerships and Collaboration in Higher Education and International Collaborations: Opportunities, Strategies, Challenges and Community College Leadership: A Multidimensional Model for Leading Change. There’s an interview with her posted on Vimeo.

I should also acknowledge Drs. Leslie and Finnegan.  I used  a great deal of what I learned from David Leslie, emeritus professor at W&M, today.  And, in my discussions with Gavin over the past few days, I’ve drawn heavily from the paper I wrote in Dot Finnegan’s Cross-Disciplinary Perspective class.

W&M professor Dot Finnegan.

W&M emeritus professor David Leslie.

by shannonchance

Why Hello Fellows!

Delivering the keynote.

DIT’s Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) kicked off its annual Teaching Fellowships yesterday, and I got to help celebrate the event by distributing awards and delivering the keynote address.

The very first keynote of my life!  Imagine that!

And the audience seemed to genuinely appreciate what I had to say about “Transformational Education at the DIT.”

(Okay, so there were just 22 or so people in the room, but I think the 22 of us got something valuable from sharing ideas. But there were also 17 in the room when I spoke at Tuesday’s College Education Seminar so, considering transcribing and speaking, I can honestly say I’ve earned my keep this week.)

Each of the Fellowship winners described his or her project during the event. They all had strong proposals and showed promise to produce the same kind of wonderful effects that Gavin did with his 2009 Teaching Fellowship.

I’m very proud to have been part of the program.

I’ve included photos of some of the incoming Fellows, and a few other shots of my day.

This was the first time I got to meet the Gavin’s dissertation supervisor, Rob Howard, and to discuss preliminary research questions with him.

I also got in a bit of walking–before rain set in and sent me biking across town (in my business suit) as fast as my little legs could take me.

Not safe. Biking in Dublin is very much not safe. Particularly in the rain.

So I ditched my Dublin Bike part way back (at a docking station, of course). Then I headed for groceries and trudged the rest of the way home by foot.

Thanks to Hot Yoga for thawing my bones and picking my spirits back up!

David Cagney (left) and I presenting a Teaching Fellowship certificate to the Peter Hinch from the School of Construction. Peter also teaches some Architecture Technology students.
Julie Dunne (left) and Sinead Ryan (right) explaining the project they will do for their Teaching Fellowship. They are implementing the use of blogs to help students who are doing internship away form campus reflect on their experiences and learn together.
Keynote at launch of Teaching Fellowships.
Gavin and I left Rob Howard (one of Gavin’s dissertation advisors) speechless during our lunch meeting. 😉
I enjoyed a quick stroll in St. Steven’s Green between lunch and the awards ceremony.
A reflection at Kevin Street (the location of DIT’s Electrical Engineering program).
by shannonchance

Night Owl

Tea with Richard Hayes, Gavin Duffy, and Brian Bowe after the College Education Seminar wrapped up.

Happy Halloween!  I just got a call from Trish Long, who leads Disney’s branch here in Ireland.  We met at Zumba class at the elbowroom a couple of weeks ago.  She called to invite me to RTÉ Concert Orchestra: Psycho – Live! Hallowe’en Night at The National Concert Hall in Dublin.

What an awesome way to follow up yesterday’s seminar and last night’s musical evening at the Cobblestone.

At the Cobblestone, I got to hear Tom’s brother, Alfie, play alongside three of his kids.  Alfie’s daughter (seated to the left in the video) is studying Medieval Irish History and Architecture. She’s a student at Trinity College, and an excellent candidate for a Fulbright, I’d say.

Enjoying music and good conversation, with Nancy Stenson, Susan Early, and Joan Cahalin. Tom Mulligan is there, too, in the background.

Just as a crowd of instrument-carrying appeared to join Alfie’s family in the musicians corner, a bunch of my friends showed up, too. I spent a lovely evening talking with Fulbright Nancy Stenson and architects Joan Cahalin and Susan Early.

Nancy and Joan both have degrees in linguistics, so we got to discuss Nancy’s research (she’s diagnosing where students have the biggest problems with Irish pronunciation in order to help teachers teach Irish more effectively). Nancy has authored several textbooks on Irish language already, though she never mentions it herself.  I always do–because it’s fascinating!

When they left, I visited with three generations of a family from Brooklyn who are celebrating birthdays this week (one turning 21, one 50, and one 92)! They were there along with a relative from Dublin. I can’t believe how good life has been to the lot of us!

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by shannonchance

Learning from Architecture Students

Funny that Gavin and I discussed diagramming gears  (an idea I brought up over lunch), then this model popped up at the Cork students’ exhibition.

I never know where I’ll end up when I leave the apartment.  Yesterday, after scintillating lunch conversation about Gavin’s thesis and a book proposal I am trying to develop, I hustled back across town to meet with architecture student leaders Colin and Andrew to discuss where our interests overlap.

They asked such great questions about the way we teach at Hampton University and the research I’m doing here. And, they asked me to be part of a day-long Schools of Thought symposium that they, the students, are organizing for the DIT School of Architecture.  In a couple of weeks, I’ll talk on the topic “Student-Centering Architectural Education: Revamping the Way We Learn and Teach.”

Andrew, Colin, and me at the Sab Inn Cafe (it’s the one I refer to as the Hungarian restaurant but the students call the red cafe). The owner gave us complimentary desserts to go with our tea! He’s such a doll!

I’ll get to help spread innovative ideas–that have been implemented by Gavin and his colleagues–with the architecture faculty and students.  I’ll also share the things Michael Seymour and I found in our survey of student preferences.

Colin and Andrew mentioned I might want to stop by the “darc space gallery” where the School of Architecture at Cork was exhibiting fifth year projects.  Finding that gallery was harder than you’d think.  Google had it listed as being on South Great George’s Street, but it’s actually clear across town on NORTH Great George’s Street.

I hung in there, and when I finally arrived I found beautiful graphics, interesting design proposals for Istanbul (they reminded me very much of the work I did in architecture school in the early 90s), and many wonderful people to talk with.

Their primary teacher for the fifth year, Jason O’Shaughnessy, studied at the Architectural Association in Edinburgh, Scotland when Peter Eisenmann and Daniel Libeskind were teaching there (I was working on my Master’s at Virginia Tech at the time). Any way, the influence of Eisenmann and Libeskind is quite clear in the students’ work.  They say the spent the four years leading up to this designing buildings with very typical sorts of programs, such as schools.

Jason O’Shaughnessy actually insisted that I guess his last name.  It took a while, but I finally succeeded. His only clues were that it was “the most Irish last name,” and that I was on the right track with O’Sullivan. Whew!

I had a ball talking with Helen (who works in TV and film production in Dublin) and David (an architecture student from the DIT).

During the event, I particularly enjoyed speaking with David (a DIT student who I heard speak several weeks ago as an opening act for the featured lecturer), his girlfriend Helen, and another colleague of David’s from the DIT.

They expressed astonishment when I said I could happily live here in Dublin for the rest of my life.  People here have no difficulty conceiving of emigrating OUT, but they don’t assume others would want to immigrate IN.  That, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of people did just that–move in–during the Celtic Tiger (and most stayed, happily).

The exhibit was titled “Istanbul: The City as Palimpsest.”
Exhibition of work from Master’s of Architecture students from Cork.
The exhibit was held in an architects office, in its “darc space gallery.”
Funny that Gavin and I discussed diagramming gears today (an idea I brought up and wouldn’t let go), then this model popped up at the Cork students’ exhibition.
A drawing for the project that used the gears.
Perspective drawing from the gear project.
They cut the layers by hand, just like I did in school. No laser cutter short cuts here….
A beautiful graphic depiction of a building designed by a student from Cork.
Andrew, Colin, and me at the Sab Inn Cafe (it’s the one I refer to as the Hungarian restaurant but the students call the red cafe). The owner gave us complimentary desserts to go with our tea! He’s such a doll!
I had a ball talking with Helen (who works in TV and film production in Dublin) and David (an architecture student from the DIT).

by shannonchance

Upcoming Talks

Richard Hayes engaged with students in a hands-on course at the Dublin Institute of Technology. (Copyright Shannon Chance, March 2012).

I’m giving two talks next week that you’re welcome to attend.

Tuesday I’ll discuss “A View from the Outside: Transforming Pedagogy at the DIT.” It’s part of a College Education Seminar entitled “Building a Student-Centred Programme – A College Case Study.”

Thursday I’ll discuss “Transformational Education at the DIT” to help celebrate the launch of DIT’s 2012-13 Teaching Fellowship program.

The photo I’ve attached shows the types of hands-on learning experiences electrical engineering students get at the DIT these days.

Fulbright Ireland website’s includes full details about the talks.

by shannonchance

Mechatronics and Makers Clubs

Cool!

I’m elbow deep in transcribing an interview tonight (I’m doing a follow up interview with the same teacher tomorrow and  I need to study what he said last time).

Anyway, he referred to mechatronics.  I had to look it up just to spell it. Here’s where Wikipedia comes in handy… since it’s all about the quick social construction of knowledge. It says:

“Mechatronics is the combination of Mechanical engineering, Electronic engineering, Computer engineering, Software engineering, Control engineering, and Systems Design engineering in order to design and manufacture useful products.”

I got this image off Flicker by looking up Makers Fair. It shows a kids’ version of a Makers Faire.

The engineering teacher I was interviewing also explained Makers Clubs to me.  “So, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Makers Clubs,” he said, “but they’re basically hobbyists getting together to work on work on just building kind of electronics and mechatronics, gadgets and stuff. And people just decide they’re going to make something and they just put it together and there’s a lot of camaraderie and so on. But it’s definitely learning by doing.”

He worked in a place like that that specialized in medical rehabilitation.

How fascinating!

I’m off to finish this transcription so I’ll remember all he said about that work before I interview him (on a different subject) tomorrow.

Another shot from Flicker.

by shannonchance

Seminar in the Making

Today’s an interesting and fairly typical day… morning yoga, transcribing, fairly successful bike ride/commute, book discussion with Gavin, lunch meeting with engineering lecturers, introductions with administrative leaders in engineering.

We are preparing for a seminar that all of us will present to the College faculty in a couple of weeks. Evidentially, some things Gavin and I discussed with the Dean (while we were in Greece) interested him enough to prompt a seminar.

Later today, I’ll head to an event on “stories” at Notre Dame’s O’Connell House. For now, reading in the office.

Here’s a photo of some of the engineers I met with (Dave, Ted, and Gavin). We took lunch in the staff cafeteria in the top floor of “Kevin Street” (i.e., the DIT building located on Kevin Street).

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