Microlectures via Podcasting

The VCU Center for Teaching Excellency recently released their monthly publication for the benefit of future faculty. One of the things I wanted to bring to light, remember and share with others was this background on and applications of Podcasting in teaching.

From that article Dr. Reis from Stanford explains:

Podcasts do not need to contain the full information from a 60-to-90 minute lecture. San Juan College is experimenting with "microlectures," a traditional lecture in which key concepts and themes are condensed down to a one to three minute segment (Shieh, 2009, p. 1). Some faculty find that a three-to-five minute audio clip is an optimum podcast length, similar to the length of a song students listen to on the radio (Walsh, 2004). Because microlectures are limited in the amount of content they can convey, students are required to complete their learning with additional readings and assignments. Pedagogical limitations include situations where a prolonged discussion or explanation is necessary, such as when solving mathematical problems, extending English literature discussions, and explaining complicated processes.

But how intriguing are the possibilities that result from all of the creative uses of podcasting as a learning tool? It reminds me of a section of Grad 602: Teaching and Technology in Higher Education, which focused on learning through generating content. If we can help students to create content, not only will they be learning as they do it, but they will be writing the "textbooks" that the students who follow after them will use. By bringing the textbook authorship back to the people who are learning, you will produce a more relevant and discernible learning aid.

Valedictorian on Education

Swiftkick reposted Erica Goldson's graduation speech as Valedictorian of her high school class.

Her energy is refreshing and she is able to verbalize glaring problems (not new problems) with our system of education.

Here

Open Access and Publishing

One of the interesting topics discussed in my Preparing Future Faculty class has been the change in ownership as well as the authenticity of published journals vs online "publishing". It is interesting to view authorship through the scope of scientific progress. The possibility is that there could be literally no cost to publishing science. This opens the door to all scientists and breaks down the barrier of formal education, but when that happens, fear walks in and proclaims that science itself will not be trustworthy.

It also raises an interesting question of where the funding for research comes from and where it will come from. This has been one of the motivating factors behind my blog posting of my experimental setup. So far my CFD work has been traditional "closed" science, while my experimental work has been "open" science. I am considering ways of making the CFD work more open, but my personal question becomes, "If I make posts about how to really do the work I am doing and someone learns it well enough to do it, what is left for me to do?"

Peace,

Landon

Whorls and Fleas

This morning, I was speaking with my friend who conducts himself in the scientific process within the Life Sciences building at VCU. Over breakfast we discussed the difference between Analytical, Empirical, and Numerical Analysis. These distinctions may not be something that are on your radar, but they play an important role in the drama/comedy of my life and work.

Please allow me to set the stage...

Analytical Sciences are formed out of Philosophic principals applied to societal needs. An interesting side note, Plato can be seen as a good example of the analytical scientist, but he was following in the footsteps of Socrates the "politician" (Good General Greek History). Plato created thought experiments, but he never tested them because of his belief that experimentation was never necessary. Similar to Einstein's thought experiments on quantum study because they were unable to do experimental work on that scale at the time (not by choice).

Similar to Plato stepping away from politics, Aristotle stepped away from unverified thought. Aristotle changed the way we see science by applying simple logic and keeping track of (empirical science). Statements are made by logically following physical observations and isolating the system you are observing to discover what might cause the change. This progressed for a while, but we'll fast forward a couple thousand years or so and settle on Galileo and the easy target of Sir Issac Newton to explore more of what we mean about the merging of empirical and analytical.

Mr. Issac's well known laws of motion (1687) are sentences that describe the motions of objects and relate Galileo's work on celestial bodies to objects we live in contact with. Every word is deliberate and has a precise meaning. These are analytical relationships, but the are confirmed with experimental success. Newton however, also offered "numerical" possibilities in his solution of problems which could not be solved "analytically".

Considering lastly the subject you may be least familiar with, Numerical Anaylsis. Leonard Euleris a good subject to discuss for the application of analytical and empirical thought to the pursuit of an answer, a result, a number. While this branch has been around for a very long time, it is the implementation of the personal computer that allows for a great number of calculations to be followed through quickly and reliably. Prior to the computer iterations would be computed by hand and could take months to complete. As an interesting anecdote, in 1910 Lewis Fry Richardson ran numerical analysis to predict the weather at 1 pm based on the weather at 7 am. Three months later, his results were incorrect, but his process was mostly correct and the amount of work it took to do by hand is astonishing. "He calculated himself that it would need 60,000 people involved in the calculations in order to have the prediction of tomorrow's weather before the weather actually arrived.(ref)"

The process of numerical analysis in terms of my research can be seen simply as using things that people like Euler came up with and Richardson used to simplify complex problems. These complicated problems are Differential equations, which simply means that things that we observe are changing with respect to the change in a quantity (or two, or three or more). These equations are "coupled" meaning that you have to solve them all at the same time. So numerical analysis is taking a small problem that is very complicated and translating it into a simple problem that is very large.

So what?

Ok, so the point is that there are many people who have undergone the tasks of science and I am studying in this line of scientists. I resonate with little bits of each biography and I am beginning to see why it is a good thing that I am studying as I am at VCU. I am forced now to learn to be comfortable with each side of discovery. My advisor excelled in analytical thought during his undergraduate and graduate education and has applied that to Numerical Analysis to become one of the top in his field. He has worked with Dr. Mike Oldham, who is similar and different in various areas of life. His passion for science is similar, but his passion is in the mechanics of the lab, not the numerics of the problem. He walked into the organized lab and just destroyed the cleanliness, but turned it into a real lab. He undid the assembling I had wondered about and guess and connected all the parts in a way that took up a small amount of space and will actually work. It is the kind of thing that comes with ~30 years experience, he's a good person to know.

Dr. Longest and Dr. Oldham both look at me like I'm doing something they are sure glad they don't have to. Both of them have great respect for the other's work, but are not comfortable doing it. Their goal for me is to be able to generate data from computer studies, validate it with experiments. This allows them to pontificate analytical relationships using these correlations. The interesting part for me is the application to the social and political. The application of my project to people and the impact it can have. But I am learning about the other parts because they are necessary to be well rounded.

Till Then, Poetry. - Landon

Big fleas have little fleas

Upon their backs to bite 'em,

And little fleas have lesser fleas

And so, ad infinitum.

-- Jonathan Swift

Big whorls have little whorls

That feed on their velocity,

And little whorls have lesser whorls

And so on to viscosity.

-- Lewis F. Richardson

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.

Dr Oldham visited to round out the first week of empiricism. He walked in lab proud of the equipment and confident in the ability of the devices to produce useful data.

Many hours later he walked out of the lab leaving a parts list for materials needed to finish setting up the lab so we can begin to gather some data. The list comes from a range of suppliers. From the auto store, to McMaster-Carr we will be placing an order next week, and then I will be returning to numerical studies while we wait for the parts to arrive.

I may document some of the more interesting parts of the numerical work, but there is much less attention grabbing items on computer screens than in an experimental lab, so we'll just see how it goes.

Till again-

Landon

Day three, a visit from Ben Kenobi

With Ben Spence's help we have setup the lab and I am beginning to understand what some of the machines do in it. But this is all very important for us to have it like this because today we'll have a visitor. A wise sage, Dr. Mike Oldham, is coming to give us guidance in becoming experimentalists.

We intend to duplicate an experimental setup that he used in 1997. This will be to get us experience with the devices, but then we will branch out and insert our own devices into the experimental design.

Here's to a week on the empirical side of science.

Cheers,

Landon

Day 2 Engineering Experiment

From Ordinary Radical Engineering

With yesterday spent organizing, today is to be spent assembling something to resemble an experiment and help generate questions for the expert, Dr. Mike Oldham. He is coming on Wednesday to answer questions I have and see how we have things setup.

From Ordinary Radical Engineering

With that, I'm off!

Peace,

Landon

What does a PhD in Mechanical Engineering look like at VCU

I'm transitioning from the pursuit of my Bachelor of Science in Engineering to my new pursuit of a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at VCU. I've been writing about the class I have been taking that is preparing me for the teaching and administrative side of obtaining a PhD. This is but one side of a three sided program. In addition to teaching and fulfilling administrative tasks I will also be conducting research.

Without further ado, I will begin my documentation of the experimental side of my research. I work for Dr. P Worth Longest in Mechanical Engineering. For years Dr. Longest has been conducting research in aerosols science and particle deposition . Well, as I am starting my work with him and am going to be here for a while, Dr Longest would like to begin an experimental side of his research to validate previous correlations and create new ones for future works. The difference between computational and experimental sciences is gigantic, but our plan is for me to be able to understand both and create case studies that spring from physical reality and can be validated by systematic numerical analyses.

Before this I have to wash the countertops and the shelves and learn what all this equipment does. Similar to a cooking blog I am hoping to add updates and include pictures. I will try to remember to bring in my camera and take nicer pictures, but to begin I will just post the overall look of the lab.

Peace,

Landon

And The Dream goes On

Speaking of college students, Martin Luther King Jr wrote:

Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

And through the rest of The Purpose of Education, which Dr. King wrote to Morehouse College in 1948, he concludes:

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be careful, teachers!

The theme of my blog indeed seems to be social reform, and it is hard to speak of this change and not refer to Dr. King. My previous entry had a few responses that prompted me to a few questions.

So my questions are: What are we doing to ensure that we are providing the education that we are responsible to provide? Not simply enough to not get fired or bad marks, but are we living up to the moral standard that a teacher should live up to?

How does this education of morality exist and effect our science classes? What is the role of morality and social consciousness in Engineering? (I am not satisfied with the idea that the Engineer needs to have only enough morality to not deliberately choose a bolt that is too small or weak when designing a bridge) As a highly educated individual what is my responsibility to my community and to my brothers and sisters?

Bicycle Apprenticeship

Independent bamboo frame builders are going to be speaking at the upcoming North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS). This concept of giving fish, teaching fish, and the expansions on it are good to hear because we can understand them in this analogy. Similarly we find:

“We’ve all heard the saying , “Give someone a fish and they’ll eat for a day, but teach them to fish and they’ll eat for the rest of their life.” But our friend John Perkins challenges us to go farther. He say, “The problem is that nobody is asking who owns the pond or who polluted it.”

Shane Claiborne - The Irresistable Revolution

Being able to take information and construction techniques that utilize local materials and skillsets is one of my aspirations as an educator, but I do not think that any of this can be separated from the political backdrop of our world. To this extent the small act of teaching someone to build a bicycle from their surroundings is one motivated by goodwill and genuine love for another. I see that as Hope.

The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, so that when the battle is over, a new relationship comes into being between the oppressed and the oppressor.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

The reason I want to be an educator is to help those who struggle with the basic problems of warmth, food, and shelter. The reason I am pursuing training to be a teacher is to have more to offer people in need, meanwhile wrestling the basic problems of a privileged life in a privileged environment. My inclination toward reformation comes not only from my education as a mechanical engineer, but from the rest of my life as well. It comes from the people I meet, from the eyes and hearts of the lost and lonely.

Undergraduate Educators

A general blog to be taken as blog is short for (weblog). So this is more of a log of what I think I learned from this paper, written as I read it...

If beginning teachers are to be successful, they must wrestle simultaneously with issues of pedagogical content (or knowledge) as well as general pedagogy (or generic teaching principles)

There is a list of features of what we want to teach. I'm not sure how this is related to comprehension. In those features are contained,

• To teach students to believe and respect others, to contribute to the well-being of their community
• To give students the opportunity to learn how to inquire and discover new information

I think that these are great ideals, but I would love to hear some ways that we could implement this kind of program in a public school. This is not me being cynical or even skeptical, just feeling like I haven't seen these points spoken of often. These both feel like implicit lessons in our american university setting.

Following the list of interesting points to consider for a teacher (comprehension, transformation, instruction, and evaluation is a statement of logical teaching that falls under reflection:

All teachers must learn to observe outcomes and determine the reasons for success or failure

And this is where we claim no gap between "squishy-hard" sciences. This is teaching, and it is based in reality. If we see something has failed, we try to figure out why it did and we only reenact it in our head. We don't repeat a failed method without good reason.

Moving to our second reading we now consider the shift of paradigms. We wish to observe a shift in our educational system from providing instruction to producing learning. Concerning the differences in how we may rate and quantify our progress we see:

We are so wedded to a definition of quality based on resources that we find it extremely difficult to deal with the results of our work, namely student learning.

I do have a worry about the learning production paradigm that is contained within the next statement:

It supports any learning method and structure that works, where "works" is defined in terms of learning outcomes, not as the degree of conformity to an ideal classroom archetype.

In fact, the Learning Paradigm requires a constant search for new structures and methods that work better for student learning and success, and expects even these to be redesigned continually and to evolve over time.

My worry is that in our attempt to redefine education we will lose some of the qualities that allow for teachers who are less capable to maintain classes. We have introduced a lot of ambiguity into our system by producing learning.. If we talk about it too much we will stray into arbitrary theoretical nonsense. In a sense, we need to be ready to adapt and change our methods, but we must also be willing to choose a method, fail at it, and choose again. We will not be able to provide a structure for some who need it if the class appears to be too floppy or without any structure.

However, I find it hard to argue with the logic in the motivation of our need for change:

"Fractionated instruction maximizes forgetting, inattention, and passivity. Both children and adults acquire knowledge from active participation in holistic, complex, meaningful environments organized around long-term goals. Today's school programs could hardly have been better designed to prevent a child's natural learning system from operating."

I finally come to the point, nearing the end of the article when I find that I need a direction of what needs to happen as opposed to what is wrong with everything. I am pleased to find a clear direction:

We need to work to have state legislatures change the funding formulas of public colleges and universities to give institutions the latitude and incentives to develop new structures for learning.

In reading this article I find that same push of governmental change. But there is still a fine balance between change from the top and the bottom. We need to begin by speaking the language to each other. Wondering what our university can look like, but also speaking the current language of failure to our legislative branch. This feels like a complete and refined thought, I like it.

Engineering Social Reform

Why?

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. - The Bible, NIV, Isaiah 58:12

In the summer after my last semester of classes as an undergraduate engineer I took a writing class that allowed me the opportunity to reflect on the education I had just received. I have attached a paragraph as well as the linked to the entire document below. During my teaching and technology class I was asked what an engineer thinks (or more why an engineer thinks) about social reform (see previous post), and I think this will shed a little bit of the light on the matter.

There is visible a great downfall to this whole progression of business. That downfall is that the upward march of progress in the global market appears to be to the edge of an unsure cliff. We want to compare what it is that we are hoping to accomplish versus what we are actually accomplishing. Therefore we need to stop teaching our students facts and formulas while withholding the dynamic interactions and conflicts within their very education. Can you train a student to solve a local problem within the frame of the bigger global picture by instructing her in how to solve a problem without a bigger picture? This compartmentalization of education has lead to a disenfranchised generation by causing a lack of coherence and purpose in our curriculum.

An Engineering Curriculum

Chlorophytum comosum

The ideal student/teacher relationship: Chlorophytum comosum, or better known as the spider plant. Out of the plant grows a new plant. It branches off and lands on the ground. Still connected to the mother plant, it gains nutrients from the host while developing roots of its own. It is possible for these roots to grow in water without the host plant, but the result will not be as full. Can this be considered an analogy for an ideal student teacher relationship? The teacher can provide a secure structure to work within and students branch out to develop roots of their own. Influenced by the host yet unique to themselves, these students have the capability to flourish on their own and in time play the role of host or teacher to the next generation of students.

This may also help to explain the disparity of how a student becomes a teacher. Thus we respectfully submit our solution to the transient problem of the ideal student/teacher relationship.

Signed,

The Radical and Empirical

fierdeltreempirical.wordpress.com

radicalteachings.blogspot.com

Teaching Perspectives

I attached the TPI results I received when I took this survey. My result was high for Developmental and Social Reform. This seemed to arouse some questions in the class on what an engineer can feel for Social Reform. As a quick view of where mechanical engineering can be used to speak a language of Social reform, we simply look at needs. What needs are there? Who needs it?



04-FEB-10
----------------------
Transmission total: (Tr) 33.00
B=13; I=9; A=11
Apprenticeship total: (Ap) 35.00
B=12; I=12; A=11
Developmental total: (Dv) 37.00
B=11; I=12; A=14
Nurturance total: (Nu) 31.00
B=10; I=10; A=11
Social Reform total: (SR) 37.00
B=11; I=12; A=14
----------------------
Beliefs total: (B) 57.00
Intention total: (I) 55.00
Action total: (A) 61.00
----------------------
Mean: (M) 34.60
Standard Deviation: (SD) 2.33
HiT: (HiT) 37.00
LoT: (LoT) 32.00
----------------------
Overall Total: (T) 173.00


For what it's worth, people have told me that I am not a normal engineer.

- An Ordinary Radical Engineer

Modulation in Moderation

The ideal student - teacher relationship is like a brother or a sister.

Expound..

...

Decompressing file...

...

Enter Assumption

People will encounter life and fit what they encounter to what they have experienced.

...

Processing.. Please Wait...

...

Result Found.

/Display/'Result'

Given that the ideal Teacher knows all he needs to teaching and the Ideal student is disciplined and obedient, we infer from these facts that there is a dynamic other than equality between these "siblings." Perhaps these "siblings" are not twins. With an age difference comes a different level of respect.

To Clarify,

The ideal student - teacher relationship is like a younger brother or a sister to an older brother or sister.

The older brother or sister has the respect and commands authority over the younger sibling through a message of "I know what you don't know yet." It can be either an attitude of strong encouragement or limiting intimidation. The role of the teacher is then to promote this idea of strength, trust, and wisdom and then encourage the student to take the steps to be more like the teacher (gain wisdom and confidence).