It is now a little over two weeks ago, that on a very rainy Friday afternoon my doctorate in education was approved. I signed the last of the official graduation papers and as I began to make my way out of the Graduate Studies building at the University of California, Davis, a bell was rung and a voice from within shouted out- "Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you Dr. Brian Donnelly.  Apparently the bell ringing is a long standing tradition to officially acknowledge the awarding of a doctoral degree.  After many years of hard work I thought this moment would bring a sense of exhilaration- liberation from all of the nights and weekends of taking courses, reading, writing and analyzing data. Alas, it was 7:45 a.m. – there was no sense of exhilaration- and I had little time to waste.  I needed to be back at my middle school Industrial Technology classroom and ready for the 150 plus students I would have the opportunity to work with that day.

 Looking back, I now find my self thinking about an intriguing experience that occurred on the same day that perhaps explains what happened in the morning. Students in my second period class were excited about a new project we just started using Autodesk Inventor software and a 3D printer that has been generously loaned to us by Klein Educational Systems. After completing an Autodesk Design Kids curriculum jewelry project, I had challenged student to develop designs for rings that we could fabricate with the printer. Amidst the classroom chaos that I’ve grown to embrace, kids were running around trying to determine the proper diameter for their rings, how those dimensions related to the inner and outer circumference which in turn determined the size of the flat rectangle that they would create and sketch on prior to using the bend command. Here were some of the same kids who I often heard say they hated math – and they were whipping out the calculators, arguing about whether to use 2 Pi R or Pi R squared or predicting the mass of the finished ring and volume of material required to produce it.  Well I can’t say that my emotions reached the level of exhilaration- but I certainly felt good inside. 

This to me was where the rubber was meeting the road. The doctoral work lead me to investigate countless books and articles extolling the virtues of integrating academics and relevant experiential learning.  Yet, here  I was in a public school that based on traditional standards was considered high achieving. But there are still many students who are struggling, especially in the areas of math and science. Like the vast majority of schools, we deliver academic course content through a system that is still largely driven by an archaic 20th century model of discrete course sessions. I think I felt good for those few moments because I was reminded that my heartfelt belief in the need to dramatically change the way we “do school” was validated by the enthusiasm with which these students’ took to this “math” project. But my course is a stand alone elective- after the bell rings they will still find themselves at some point in their day sitting in a math class for another 55 minutes. 

 Maybe it wasn’t so important that I didn’t feel some thrill at hearing that bell ring pronouncing me “Doctor”.  Maybe the exhilaration comes in sensing that I’m on the right track-- advocating for greater integration between “academics” and experiential learning- where learning isn’t dissected into neat 55 minute packages.  Maybe- hopefully, the thrill will be in discovering how to use this newly minted doctorate to contribute to the groundswell of educational reform efforts where seemingly insignificant activities, like designing a ring are viewed as rich learning opportunities.

 
  
I’ll call her Alyssa.  She is in 8th grade and has this wonderful sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for problem solving.  This is my first time working with the Autodesk VEX Robotics curriculum ; so I was up with Allysa and her classmates – “I’m going to learn along side you”. I had some advantages having worked with Inventor for several years and participating on developing some of the STEM content for the curriculum. But this wonderful group of students seems to be perfectly ok having a teacher admit that they too are a learner. So Alyssa has this idea- how can I assemble theVEX components to create a device that could pick up and “deliver” a bowl of cat food from the floor to the counter. With confidence,(despite uncertainty) she emerged a few days later saying check this out…clunky yes- but did it work- yes.

So why am I excited and intrigued by this. Simply put, I think this is what learning is about, i.e., “making it your own”. This notion of students taking control of their own learning is central to the important theories of constructivism and cognitive development- theories that are often ignored in the quest to standardize learning.  What was Alyssa doing?  She was embracing this constructivist approach that emphasizes using prior knowledge and experience- (she had spent a couple of weeks going through the Autodesk VEX curriculum ) and then taking that knowledge and experience and “applying it to new situations”.

I’m not sure if it was a completely conscious decision, but the structure of the Autodesk VEX curriculum encourages this sort of “Disciplinary Understanding”, that Educational Psychologist Howard Gardner espouses. (Gardner is attributed with the notions of multiple intelligences).  So Allysa , although she might not label it as such, was reaching for deeper understanding as she engaged in “thinking like a designer or engineer”.  
 
The Autodesk VEX curriculum in this sense might be seen as a model that challenges the typical cookie cutter “drill and kill” curriculums that dominate our standards based (can you say “No Child Left Behind” ) curriculum. There is plenty of guidance to get you started, but learners are encouraged to use that experience as the platform to dive into their own ideas.  It doesn’t matter if Alyssa or any of the other students in my class become engineers or designers (Although I bet a few will). What matters is that our classrooms must become places for contextualized problem solving. Places where students use resources, build on prior experiences, collaborate with others, and interact with other cultures.  One curricular “kit” is not going to solve our educational crisis- but the focus on problem solving found in the Autodesk VEX curriculum is definitely on the right track.

 I had a student come to me the other day totally excited about the new computer that he has at home.  He asked “remember when we worked on that program "Inventor" last year- where could I get something like that? When I showed him the Autodesk Education Community site-- well he was more than pleased! Writing this blog I find myself connecting that experience with a report I read the other day from the Macarthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative.  Titled, The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, the authors make the case that the emergence of new technologies forces us to re-think the whole notion of learning and learning institutions. They write “Technology, we insist, is not what constitutes the revolutionary Nature of this exciting moment. It is, rather, the potential for shared and interactive learning that Tim Berners-Lee and other pioneers of the Internet built into its structure, its organization, its model of governance and sustainability". It strikes me that this educational community, which I am honored to be a part of, is in fact helping to redefine learning- how it happens, where it happens and how it can be applied. 
So I want to bring to your attention the 2010 Autodesk Design Academy curriculum that is now available for free download.  From the home page click the Learn Tab- go to Curriculum- 2010 Curriculum Resources.  ADA offers an array of project experiences that includes Design Basics, Pre-Architecture, Pre-Engineering, Robotics, Sustainable Design. Grounded by a STEM foundation, the curriculum can help your students make the links between academic content and real life challenges. This I bleieve is representative of what we can thnk of as a new type of shared and Interactive learning!

 As I read the September 10th Cadalyst article titled “Santolupo's High School Students Tackle Real-World Design Challenges”, I was reminded of Professor Howard Gardner’s work in the area of learning theory. In his book Five Minds of the Future, Gardner talks about two types of understanding – “subject matter understanding” and “disciplinary” understanding”.  He argues that schools place far too much emphasis on mastery of subject matter:

 Subject matter can be viewed as the acquisition of what the literature refers to as “procedural knowledge”, i.e. understanding procedures, comprehending facts and information.  Gardner asserts that subject matter knowledge can be too easily lost and forgotten because it is not connected to a larger conceptual framework. In contrast to subject matter understanding, he defines disciplinary understanding as “a distinctive way of thinking about the world and a distinctive way of analyzing”( p. 9). He suggests that a major goal of education should be to support students in developing the abilities and confidence to think like historians, scientists and mathematicians.

 In his High School class in London, Ontario Canada teacher Mike Santolupo is working to help students develop disciplinary thinking- guiding them to “think like designers”. His 11th graders have been asked "to design a concept vehicle that would improve mobility in an urban environment for the physically impaired and accommodate both driver and wheelchair."  Subject matter expertise related to engineering, math and ergonomics and a strong foundation of skill sets with programs such as Inventor and Alias provide the important foundation. But this project takes that subject matter knowledge and goes further by asking students to consider how their work fits into a much larger conceptual framework that includes consideration of the urban environment, smart use of natural resources and accommodating the needs of people with disabilities.

   Top : High Tech High  "Holy Cows"          Middle: Thunder Chickens  

    Bottom- Images from the "Cybersonics"- winners of the 2009 Autodesk FIRST Inventor Award

  They entered the competition with team names such as “Thunder Chickens”  “RoboRaiders”, “Einstein’s Daughters” and “Blue Cheese”.  These quirky titles already reveal something about the creativity level among the high school entrants in the 2009 FIRST Robotics competition. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) In speaking about the competition, Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST stated” Our mission is about more than building robots; we are working to inspire and change a culture”. The culture he references is one of innovation, collaboration and community spirit.  I had the wonderful opportunity to see this mission in practice by getting to meet and speak with several members of the “Holy Cows, the FIRST Robotic competition team at high Tech High San Diego, CA.  As an educator, with a keen interest in student engagement, I was extremely impressed by the intelligence and sense of confidence/ maturity expressed by the young men and women at High Tech High. 

    Autodesk has been involved with the FIRST competition for many years.  Among the many 2009 teams that received support from Autodesk were two award recipients.  Team 103, “Cybersonics”, from Pennsylvania were this year’s winners of the Autodesk Inventor award. Team 1716, “Redbird Robotics” from Wisconsin was the recipient’s of the 2009 Autodesk Visualization Award.  By supporting student participants, Autodesk is doing more than facilitating acquisition of technical skills. Through the melding of academics and real world applications, competitions such as FIRST, present opportunities for students to develop the full range of 21st century skills that will be necessary for success in a rapidly changing global economy.  information about FIRST and Autodesk can be found at Autodesk FirstBase.

1. KIPP students designing a school mascot bracelet using Inventor 

2. Student catapult design for the 2009 Tech Challenge

3. KIPP student's work on designing a community skate park

    I recently found myself unable to put down Malcolm Gladwell’s new book “Outliers, the Story of Success”. Outliers, as Gladwell suggests, are often viewed as those rare individuals who, because of some magical set of conditions are able to achieve enormous success where many others either meet with failure or at best achieve mediocrity. By digging into real life stories- some about our popular success stories and many about seemingly “ordinary” people, the author ultimately makes the argument that while chance and “magical circumstances” do play a role in building success, there are other factors related to persistence and community support that can turn the tide for people, diverting them from a path towards failure to a trajectory of personal and professional success.
     As I turned to page 250, my attention was riveted by what the author had to say about KIPP Academy programs. While I don’t want to give away the story, I did find a great deal of inspiration and hope in this section. Hope, based on the fact that the KIPP programs (along with many emerging innovative educational programs) have demonstrated that despite the challenges students may inherit, schools (leaders, staff and community), when willing to break from tradition and engage students in new ways can have a profound impact on nurturing success.
     When in 2007 Autodesk teamed up with Kipp Summit Academy in San Lorenzo, CA they were helping to create the sorts of conditions that Gladwell identifies as crucial for success. Using Autodesk Inventor software, Kipp staff members have created opportunities for students to become real world problem solvers with many of their efforts aimed at giving back to the community.  The academic knowledge, technical skills and relationships derived from these school-community efforts are pivotal in helping students find their own path to success.

So, here’s my confession… I’ve been so wrapped up in my dissertation studies on project based learning that I’ve missed several opportunities for postings. But the time I’ve spent reading, interviewing students and teachers at High Tech High San Diego, writing and re-writing has given me lots to share in this blog. So let’s start off this week with another entry about the KIPP Summit Academy,San Lorenzo, CA. This school was the recipient of a gift from Autodesk and among the many projects students have worked on this year is the TECH challenge presented by the San Jose Tech museum. In sending me some of her documentation on their entry, KIPP teacher Sylvia Gonzales included this note: “I have found that there are no limitations on what our students can create in Autodesk.  They always seem to go beyond the module or lesson to create their own designs.  At times, when they come up with an idea and I cannot show them how to do what they want – they experiment and that is where the real learning takes place”.  What struck me was her use of the term “real learning”.  What was she getting at- how does this learning different than other types of learning?  I’ll be relying to her e-mail with a suggestion that she take a look at a book titled “Real Learning- Real Work" by Adria Steinberg. The author suggests that the use of projects as a classroom pedagogy integrates what she coined as the “Six A’s- Authenticity, Academic Rigor, Applied Learning, Active Exploration, Adult Relationships, and  Assessment Practices.

If you go to the 2009 Tech challenge on the Web, you’ll get a sense of how the projects that the KIPP students worked on integrate the six A’s.  As noted on the site this challenge involved developing a device that can deliver a payload of up to 6 geological instruments (6 ping pong balls) to the top of the volcano in 3 minutes. The volcano will be 10 ft high and you must launch your device 20 ft away from the volcano. Read about the challenge and see where the A’s come into play.  In talking and reading about all of the problems inherent in our current educational system I can’t help but think that paying closer attention to how this configuration of A’s might steer us in the right direction for true educational reform.

  Last year I had the opportunity to introduce the Autodesk DesignkKids curriculum to teachers at the KIPP Summit Academy. (KSA) is a free public middle school founded for historically underserved students and families in and around San Lorenzo, CA.  The acronym KIPP stands for Knowledge is Power Program; the activities that KIPP students have worked on using DesignKids underscores the value in acquiring knowledge through relevant, real-world experiences. I’ve been giving the notion of Knowledge a lot of thought and it strikes me that there is a huge difference between knowledge and the acquisition of information. Knowledge involves a type of learning where students take ownership by making connections between school and applications to the world around them. I’ve been thinking that there are four major factors that come into play when we try to create opportunities for acquiring knowledge. These four include Relationships, Evidence, Presentations and Assessment.  In the project depicted above, students developed relationships with the local city government to help develop new concepts for an outdoor skate park; their evidence was produced through virtual models generated with Autodesk Inventor and their presentations included 3d animations created with the software. The KIPP project teacher, Sylvia Gonsalves took this notion of relationships further, by inviting an engineering instructor for the local community college to evaluate the projects and offer students insights regarding careers in Engineering.  I’m convinced that this type of Project Based Learning (PBL) approach has to be seen as a critical element of school reform. In the next several blogs, I want to explore Project Based Learning using KIPP and several other educational programs as models.  In the next blog we’ll take a look at a project KIPP students worked on based on the TECH 2008 Challenge program sponsored by the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation. I’d encourage you to check out the Tech Museum website regarding the 2009 Challenge.  The presentation date for winning entries for that initiative will take place on April 26th.

      In the course of many years’ worth of reading on educational reform and the inadequacies of the U.S. K-12 system I have encountered numerous articles and reports advocating for a new type of 21st century education. A recent article on Edutopia’s website captures the essence of what folks from business, government and education are saying. As anyone in K-12 understands, NCLB legislation has profoundly impacted what and how we teach.  I loved this comment in the article:

“Let's assume the No Child Left Behind Act works fine and that by 2014 every student meets the targeted standards and passes his or her state's exit exam. Will those students be successful as citizens and workers in the twenty-first century?– Not a chance!

                                                                                  
The reality from my perspective and based on a lot of reading on the subject is that students are growing up in a globalized world that demands a new type of education that is radically different than the dominant 20th century model structured by the belief that knowledge is largely transmitted to students by teachers and texts. In fact the idea that knowledge can be transmitted is in fact a dubious notion. Advocates for a new paradigm of education stress the importance of students becoming critical thinkers, collaborators, communicators and problem solvers.  In the landmark book, How People Learn, (2000) the authors emphasize the importance of what they term “active learning” to support students in the development of  these 21st century competencies.  The authors stress the need for people to take control of their learning by engaging in a generative process of self evaluation and articulated reflection to recognize what they currently know, where knowledge gaps exist, how they can develop strategies to assess the validity of information and knowledge sources and ultimately how they can construct their own meaning as they encounter those sources. It strikes me that this take on what is known about learning supports the types of project based learning activities where the sorts of tools and curriculum that Autodesk provides is absolutely on target.

What I'd like to see more of are case studeis where we not only showcase student work but where we can take a close look at how students are thinking- What connections are they making between their clasroom work and the outside world? How are they assessnig what they know in order to devise strategies to fill in the gaps and advance their learning? How are they engaing in collaborations; how successful are those collaborations; how do they use technology to facilitate colaborations?

I invite educators to share their reactions to these ideas and to invite students to share their personal stories about learning by postng to this blog.