Please check out my newest RoboSlam post:
http://roboslam.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/learning-to-teach-bot-building/
Emma and Ryan with a their working robot.
Learning to Teach Bot-Building
Group- and Project-Based Learning
We’ve got 19 shining faces in the Problem-Based Learning module we are conducting on Tuesdays in May. (Not to mention three shiny teachers!)
In the Fulbright application I submitted two Augusts ago, I promised to co-teach a class at DIT that used Problem-Based Learning. At the time I applied, I anticipated that I would co-teach an architecture course. But in the course of the interviews I conducted, I discovered it had been quite a while since DIT’s Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) had offered a module for faculty/staff on how to implement Problem-Based Learning.
I’ve witnessed such remarkable results that seem to have accrued as a result of the topic having been offered in the past–by Terry Barrett and Brian Bowe.
So, I recruited some folks (Orla Hanratty, Brian Bowe, and Gavin Duffy) to help and 19 students enrolled in the course. Here are some photos from Day One….
Orla introducing the Problem-Based Learning class on Day 1.
Eric Bates and team discussing aspects of PBL
This class is about helping students learn in groups.
And have fun doing it.
Brian Bowe, the Head of Learning Development for the College of Engineering and the Built Environment at DIT, is our resident expert.
Reflecting a Lovely Spring Weekend in Dublin
Grafton Street, May 2013
Starting with Circuitry
RoboSlam starts with an introduction to the overall robot-building process and then delves into assembling the electronic components (i.e., building the circuitry). The photos below track the progress of several groups of participants in the “Engineering Your Future” event held the week of May 13-17 at DIT.
These photos were all taken by DIT’s current Fulbright Scholar in Engineering Education, Dr. Shannon Chance. Participants are welcome to download them and share them with others. Shannon will post images of the rest of the week in the days to come….
DIT in Top 1% in the World for Engineering Research!
For the first time ever Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) has been listed in Essential Science Indicators. More impressively, the institution achieved a listing in the top 1% in the world in the areas of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences (which includes Environmental Science)!
I’m hoping that my efforts here contributed in some small way to this achievement — I’ll have to see if any of the conference papers I’ve authored with DIT colleagues while I have been a Fulbright Scholar here at DIT counted in this ranking.
Apparently, DIT now outranks Trinity College Dublin with regard to Engineering research!
DIT research ranking, May 2013
A Week in the Life of a Fulbright
This past week has been fairly typical of what I do as a Fulbright Scholar here in Ireland. I thought you might be interested to see what a typical week is like, work-wise:
- finalized and submitted a conference paper for the International Research Symposium on Problem-Based Learning
- taught a class on Project-Based Learning for 19 students at DIT’s Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) and started assessing/grading student papers
- assisted Ted and Damon in delivering RoboSlam events on Tuesday and surveyed the students at the end of the event
- documented additional RoboSlam events on Thursday and Friday
- delivered a lecture at Arcadia University’s College of Global Studies
- met with DIT’s Head of Research about a grant proposal I’m preparing
- met with DIT’s Assistant Head of the Department of Engineering Science and General Studies
- met with RoboSlam organizers about how to improve the program
- held an open house of my photography exhibition at Notre Dame’s O’Connell House
- worked on a review of an article for the editors of the Journal of Engineering Education
Director of Arcadia University’s program in Ireland, Tom Kelly, alongside Shannon Chance following her Wednesday night presentation.
RoboSlam–Extended Version
Yesterday the students who built robots with the crew coordinated by Drs. Ted Burke and Damon Berry headed over to DIT’s Bolton Street location to learn about mechanical, industrial, and product design. Thanks to Kevin Delaney, Ger Reilly, Susan O’Shaughnessy and crew for a fascinating day! I’ll be posting lots more photos of RoboSlam in the days to come. It’s been such fun!
Refining the electronics…
…and tweaking placement of the sensors.
Creating bodies…
…and making sure they fit the chassis and electronic components.
Irish Music Radio with Mick O’Grady
Charlottesville’s Kevin Donleavy has an Irish music program on air tomorrow. I hope you’ll tune in via internet! He explains how, below. I always enjoy hearing Mick O’Grady play at the Cobblestone pub, and he’ll be featured in the program.
Photo of Stefan Paz Berrios and Mick O’Grady, downloaded from Danny Diamond’s Flickr site.
Hi, music heads and tune-fanciers,
The next radio program of Irish trad music presented by Kevin Donleavy can be heard on-line as usual this Saturday, May 18, from 10 am till 12 noon. (Irish listeners should tune in from 3 to 5 pm that day.) The program is called ATLANTIC WEEKLY PART TWO, and here are the easy listening steps :
To listen on your internet radio, select WTJU in Virginia, USA, or pick up the “Tune In Radio” app for your iPhone or other mobile device and easily dial up the station.
On your computer, go to http://wtju.net. Next, select Listen Live on the right side bar. Then, choose between Ogg and MP3.
This week’s musical material includes singers Andy Irvine, Paddy Reilly, Tim Browne, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (Maryann McCauley), and Christy Moore. There will be tunes from banjo expert Kieran Hanrahan and fine box-player Danny O’Mahony. The fiddlers this week are Mick O’Grady and Washington/Baltimore’s own Jesse Smith. And if you like the sounds of uilleann pipes and fiddle, you’ll enjoy tunes from Mick O’Brien and Caoimhin O Raghallaigh.
There will also be some chat about such Irish organizations as Comhaltas, Clann Mhor, and BRIMS (the Blue Ridge Irish Music School).
Hope that you can have a listen on Saturday ….
Kevin
Amazing Sights of Lisbon
The Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has designed some of the world’s finest train stations and bridges. The station in Lisbon reflects the care and precision of Calatrava’s design work.
Lisbon is a glorious city.
I was truly blessed to spend five glorious days in this place–the capital of Portugal–as part of the Fulbright Inter-Country Lecturing Program. I will never forget my time there, the places I visited, or the people I got to know.
I’ve attached a few of the iPhone photos snapped during my stay. (Copyright Shannon Chance, 2013.)
This Art Noveau Metro entry must have been moved to Lisbon from Paris.
Lisbon is a sea port…
…home to some of history’s most accomplished navigators.
The Jerónimos Monastery…
…is an architectural delight…
…inside and out.
It has been described as Manueline, Plateresque, Renaissance architecture.
The train station…
…designed by Santiago Calatrava…
…is an architectural and structural marvel.
Another Hampton University Success Story
I’d also meant to share a Facebook post Chris Torres made several weeks ago. He won an impressive award for journalism. I’m thrilled to find I advised him well!
Facebook post by Christopher Torres.
Ireland by Chance 