The William and Mary School of Education students I spoke with (about my Fulbright research) last week sent you a wave. My iPhone was acting strangely and I captured only the tail end of their wave, but I assure it was wholehearted.
A sincere Virginia hello, from us to you!
WM SoE Wave
The class on Student Development Theory at The College of William and Mary.
I visited alma mater last night, The College of William and Mary, to speak about cognitive development theories developed by William Perry, Marcia Baxter Magolda, King and Kitchener, and the like. I was asked to highlight how I incorporate these theories in my research and teaching.
This was an optimal time to give such a talk, because I’m gearing up to conduct a phenomenological study of students’ experiences of collaborative, trans-disciplinary, problem-based learning. Last night’s talk got my mind moving in that direction.
The people in the picture above are working on graduate degrees in Higher Education; several of them shared ideas and recommendations for the design of my proposed project. At least two of them are using phenomenological methods for their dissertation work. Their enthusiasm for my plan raised my own energy level and got me psyched to start work.
I’d had some nagging questions about how to best protect my research participants (i.e., “subjects”); the W&M students helped address my concerns.
I’d also had difficulty making time for this project because of its sheer scale. I was trying to do too much at once.
I devised a workable plan during my drive to Williamsburg and got good response to my idea. In essence, I’m now following the rule that if you want to eat an elephant, you’ve got to proceed one bite at a time….
I’d been completely overwhelmed by trying to analyze data from 30+ participants. So, I’ve determined to focus in on one group. I can extend the work over time, but a group of six is appropriate for a phenomenological study (and a more reasonable way to digest this elephant).
So, I’ll look closely at one group of six students who worked together as a team with impressive results. Each of these students documented the team’s design process in writing across the course of a semester.
I’ve already done quite a bit of analysis on what they wrote, and that allowed me to make a purposeful selection. In this case, I know that more than one team member experienced powerful (pivotal or seminal) instances of learning. I want to find out what factors caused those changes. I’ll be looking at how the six team members experienced the collaborative design process in the period leading up to significant “a ha” moments.
I hope that the results will help educators (including me) prompt that type of “deep learning” more often.
I can extend the work to look at other groups later. And, as Dr. Jim Barber (the instructor of record for last night’s course) pointed out, I can also extend the study in the future (to make it “longitudinal”) by tracking down members of the group and conducting follow-up interviews.
I always enjoy visiting the W&M School of Education and yesterday was no exception. After arriving at the School of Education’s brand new LEED-Gold building, I admired the fall colors and gabbed with a former classmate (Sharon Stone) and my mentor (Dr. Pam Eddy) before heading into Dr. Barber’s class.
Can’t wait to visit again!
Last week I got to talk with a group of 60+ architecture students and faculty about design thinking, student development theory, and my Fulbright research… as well as how they connect to what we do in our department at Hampton University. Moments like these help us reflect on what we are. I hope they will also encourage my compatriots to explore ideas about what we want to become.
My current research is situated in the constructivist paradigm. What does that mean?
Well, my research ideas and techniques are founded on the principle that we humans construct the world around us — including the things we see and touch, how we know, and what we know — and that we are able to generate new knowledge.
By discussing such topics, and considering collectively what it means to “design” and to “know” and to “learn,” we can become more international, purposeful, and effective in the things we do each day.
One of our students, Rhama Mohammed, snapped some photos during the talk and loaded them into our Facebook page (I’m posting copies here). This provides a little glimpse of our department’s reality… surrounded by teachers (unfortunately, we don’t have images of any students in the crowd)… and a highly animated presenter.
Kilkenny, Ireland is the home of Smithwick’s brewery. Nevertheless, Guinness is also a popular brew (despite the fact that it is brewed in Dublin). Here are a few reflections I found while pursuing the streets of Kilkenny last fall, with my mom.
Fabiola and Donald Roman, as featured in the New York Time real estate section.
Times are changing. Demographers tell us that younger set is shirking automobile ownership and moving closer into American cities.
I’m proud to say that one of my former Hampton University architecture students, Donald Roman, is among them. He and his wife, Fabiloa, recently chose a condo in Brooklyn over the now-faded suburban dream. And, the New York Times just celebrated their accomplishment with a feature story.
If I recall correctly, Donald was never a fan of the car.
I’m happy to say that the heavy urban design emphasis of our architecture degree program served to strengthen his understanding of the benefits of population density and walkable city design.
I’m immensely proud that Donald and Fabiloa, who met in an Upward Bound program when they were in high school, planned well and chose carefully. They overcame tremendous odds to become homeowners under the age of 30. And, they had the good sense to recognize that living in a densely settled area means shorter commutes and quick access to a huge range of services.
During his time at Hampton University, Donald travelled with me to Tanzania on the 2005 Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad program I conducted. It was a true joy to have Donald among the 23 American students and 65 Tanzanian students on the program. He was immensely popular with the entire group and his soft-spoken but optimistic spirit uplifted our group every day.
Our 2005 Fulbright-Hays group in Tanzania.
Donald also made a big difference in my life when he introduced me to Malcolm Gladwell. He even handed me a copy of The Tipping Point as we were leaving Sunset Beach on our last day in East Africa.
The Tipping Point is about “how little things can make a big difference.” Interestingly, the NYT feature ends with a quote from Fabi about little things that make a big difference in one’s quality of life (like a dishwasher — and I totally agree!!!).
Thanks, Donald, for sharing with me your reflections on Gladwell’s ideas when we were beginning our trek home. Your insights got me interested enough to invest time in cracking the cover, and I had almost finished reading the book by the time my plane landed in Norfolk.
Since then, I’ve read each of Gladwell’s new releases cover to cover. A new one, about David and Goliath, just hit the shelves and beacons me to read.
There are interesting TED talks by Gladwell on David and Goliath and “choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce” to help get you started if you haven’t yet cracked the mystic of Gladwell’s storytelling ability… or if you just want to have some fun learning about the break through discovery of vegetable chunks.
Last month, while working on our chapter, Tim Cole and I discussed VBCPS’s sustainability strategies.
I’m celebrating a moment of success here before I hit the sack for the night.
I just submitted a full draft of a chapter called “Designing School Buildings to Enhance Performance and Learning” for a book called Marketing the Green School: Form, Function, and the Future that will be part of the Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership (AEMAL) Book Series. To make that project more fun, I enlisted Virginia Beach City Public School’s Director of Sustainability, J. Timothy Cole, as my supporting author.
This chapter provides a way for me to share some of the research I did for my dissertation and to extend my knowledge — I got to learn from Tim’s successes in Virginia Beach. Tim has helped create 8 LEED-quality school facilities (5 are certified and 3 are in process to become certified). He even helped pilot LEED v1 in the 1990s.
This is the second chapter I have completed in the two months since I’ve been home. The other chapter is called “Bringing it all Together Through Group Learning.” It is for a Wiley publication called New Directions for HIgher Education. That project was fun because I got to work with the book’s editor, the illustrious Dr. Pamela Eddy.
Since returning home on August 23, I’ve also managed to compile and submit a dossier to my University, submit a grant proposal asking for funding to help conduct future research, spend a good amount of time with my students, implement some new teaching techniques, and — this week — get my midterm grades in on time and prep to advise students.
Oh, yes, and tonight I also had a lovely dinner with my dad and step-mom, Joyce, who are in town on business! It was a real treat to spend a few hours with them. Joyce is the Director of Admissions for the Vet School at Virginia Tech and she is recruiting at Hampton University in the morning.
All this is pretty typical in the day of a professor… but I will sleep well tonight, knowing that I’m doing the best job I can possibly be doing right now, despite all the odds I’ve stacked against myself.
It is really nice to step back, take a deep breath, and be thankful for work and health and a ray of happiness every now and then.
And now, to sleep. There’s much more to do in the morning….
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).
Mark Matel (to the far left) with community activists in Boston.
Thanks to a Facebook post by my (awesome) former student, Elbert Whitfield, I just discovered an article titled Enterprise Rose Fellowship Redefines Community Design at NeighborWorks Organizations, which features former student Mark Matel.
I’ve worked with many extraordinary students at Hampton University, like Elbert and Mark.
Today, I’m boasting of Mark Paulo Ramos Matel’ success. I had the honor of teaching Mark in architectural design studios, study abroad, and environmental sustainability courses while he was working toward his Master of Architecture degree at HU.
Mark Matel (right) with fellow student Leon Peters presenting a second year design project at Hamtpon University.
Mark was an ideal candidate for the Enterprise Rose Fellowship, which the article explains is “a highly competitive and innovative program that places some of the nation’s finest early career architects in underserved communities across the country to team up with community development host organizations.”
Mark is intrinsically motivated to succeed, to help people, and to spearhead new initiatives. His energy level, work ethic, creativity, self-direction, and ability to collaborate effectively were unparalleled among the students I have encountered in my 15 years of university-level teaching.
Mark was a major player in the formation of our department’s Studio Culture Policy and he represented our department impressively at the local and state level.
An exhibition that Mark and his colleagues Brandon Clarke, Smitty Lynch, coordinated along with other members of our spring break trip to Prague.
He is also a highly skilled designer, as is evidenced in design awards from Auburn and Hampton Universities.
Mark earned a NAAB-accredited degree from Hampton University – a program emphasizes urban planning as well as architectural design – and he then earned a design-build degree from Auburn University to boot.
To interview for the Enterprise Rose Fellowship, he went to Boston along with the two other candidates (both from top Ivy league schools). After a rigorous multi-day interview, representatives from the community and the fellowship program voted, and then wholeheartedly extended the three-year fellowship to Mark.
During his time at HU, Mark’s research regarding water systems in the Philippines, and his work with the Virginia AIA’s Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) program, were particularly relevant in preparing him for his work as an Enterprise Rose Fellow.
Mark sketching in Prague.
Marks’ activities all had an underlying theme of social activism related to the built environment. He has always been able to think and work at multiple scales and with complex, inter-related issues. His architectural studies enhanced these abilities.
Our department nominated Mark to represent Hampton University as part of Virginia AIA’s ELA program and his work with the organization exceeded our expectations. The focus of the ELA program that year was on community revitalization and leadership. Mark was highly engaged in his cohort’s project and he even defined the program for the subsequent year’s cohort. (He identified specific conditions that needed to be addressed in Norfolk, Virginia and he helped get the new ELA group involved in fostering change where he knew it was needed.)
In his classes and teaching assistance-ships at Hampton University, Mark reflected a high level of engagement as well as what Daniel Goleman calls “emotional intelligence.” Mark has the ability to share knowledge and to teach others techniques and strategies for improving themselves and their environments.
While he was at Hampton University, Mark was a very important part of defining a positive, learning culture within the academic context, as well as in the professional context (at the local and state levels) and in the larger community.
I couldn’t be prouder of Mark and all his many varied accomplishments.
You can see more of our trip to Prague in my archives. My own presentation boards from Prague are also available for viewing.
The William and Mary contingent in full regalia before the 2013 HU Convocation ceremony: Drs. Kianga Thomas, Shannon Chance, and Andrij Horodysky all graduated from W&M. (Dr. Ralph Charleton was present, too, but sporting a regular black robe.)
The Honorable John Charles Thomas, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, got a double standing ovation. And, he delivered an encore!
Rituals are vitally important to any organization. They help define the culture.
By participating in rituals, members of a community can come to understand what the organization is about, what it prides itself in, and what it wants to become.
Events like Hampton University’s annual convocation provide time to reflect, to express aspirations and share stories, and to celebrate accomplishments. Being that Convocation marks the start of the academic year, this particular event also prompts us to set goals that align with those held by others at “our home by the sea.”
This year, the historic Ogden Hall overflowed with families and with enthusiasm. This event coincided with Parent’s Weekend and so the crowd was particularly large. The choir was amazing (as always)! The students performed two different spirituals: Let the People Sing Praise Unto the Lord, and You Must Have that True Religion. We also had lovely trumpet performances for the processional and recessional, with architecture alum Adam Davis on organ for the opener.
The university’s president, Dr. William R. Harvey addressed the crowd and recognized two members of the faculty (Drs. Francisco Cornell and Paula Barnes) with awards for outstanding teaching.
Then to top the festivities off, the Honorable John Charles Thomas, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, delivered a stirring keynote address.
And he received TWO standing ovations.
I’ve never seen that happen before except at a rock concert!
Justice Thomas had ended his resounding speech with a poem, and he followed the ovations with an encore… reciting a second poem to an appreciative crowd of students, families, and faculty.
The entire HU faculty was present. To tell the truth, it’s a contractual obligation to attend. We’d also been required to attend the speech to parents the morning before, so we were all very happy to have such a motivational speaker.
This year the time in Ogden Hall was very well spent. Justice Thomas, a life-long Hamptonian who sported HU t-shirts even as a toddler, reminded us of who were are and why we are here. I, for one, appreciated the reminder because it was delivered in such a positive, lively, and engaging way.
Reconnecting with Hampton University’s Dr. Edison Fowlks is always great fun. I’m perpetually intrigued by his radiance and his zest for learning and teaching. For several years, our image anchored HU’s faculty page:
The three of us (pictured above) are all still going strong. In fact, the third professor in the picture, Dr. Francisco Cornell, was just recognized with Hampton University’s highest teaching award.
Dr. Edison Folks
Recently, I had opportuity to share lunch time with Dr. Fowlks and to hear about his many new studies. He’s teaching botany this semester, which he’s never done before. His eyes sparkle and he radiates joy as he explains the new concepts he’s teaching and how he’s getting the students to learn.
“Problem-Based Learning” techniques are second nature to Dr. Fowlks. Seems he’s always been a hands-on teacher.
Today, he’s teaching his students to isolate genes in soybeans and splice together new combinations. He building new knowledge in genome sequencing and “synthetic biology.”
I recall he was once working to get cotton to grow blue so it wouldn’t need to be dyed. I’ll have to remember to ask how that went.
Dr. Fowlks recently led a summer camp on synthetic biology. He took students to Yale for ten days last summer to work in a lab. He’s also a member of the Genome Consortium.
Fun over lunch.
At lunch last week, we discussed bio-remediation and using living gardens to purify water. I’ve been wondering if we could use the techniques to help an art professor who came to a sustainability lunch I held a few weeks back.
Over lunch on this particular day, Dr. Fowlks also introduced me to the concepts of “the new bio economy” and “metagenomics” which means “around genomics.” One of his friends actually coined the term metagenomics.
I often remind myself how fortunate we are to have this genius and teacher extraordinare here at HU. He does his namesake (Edison) proud, and I’m certain he could be working anywhere he’d like. A glance over his bio on the Hampton University’s website makes that much clear:
Dr. Fowlks received the Ph.D. degree in Plant Pathology from the Ohio State University. For four years he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Plant Molecular Biology at Michigan State University and in Molecular Virology at the University of California at Berkeley. At Michigan State and UC Berkeley, he studied the primary structure of ribosomal and viral RNAs respectively. Later at Bishop College, research in his laboratory led to the development of a two-dimensional RNA fingerprinting technique for studying mammalian RNA viruses. At Hampton University, he and his students use the tools of genomics, metagenomics, bioinformatics, and synthetic biology to focus on some unanswered questions in biology and medicine. Moreover, he is establishing DNA Microarray and Bioinformatics labs to serve as models for teaching biology as an information science and organisms as networks or circuits, and blending computer science, mathematics, and genetics into the curriculum. Dr. Fowlks instructs Principles of Heredity, Bioinformatics and Genomics and Advanced Genetics and is the director of The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Undergraduate Education Program housed in the Department of Biological Sciences at Hampton University.
We made a special journey over to see the liverwort outside Armstrong-Slater Hall. It’s one of the oldest strains of plant anywhere.
Walking back to our academic buildings, Dr. Fowlks and I stopped to investigate botanical wonders–like this bloom that sprouted out of season.
Ireland by Chance 