I was sitting in my doctoral quantitative research class feeling overwhelmed and frankly, stupid. I didn’t understand numbers. I was an English teacher. I had subscribed to the notion that as an English teacher, I could embrace being bad at math. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, if I wanted to get my doctoral degree, I was going to have to learn how to conduct quantitative research which...
Robots are increasingly entangled in our lives, whether we realize it or not. If you’ve ever ordered from Amazon, chances are a robot helped with fulfilling your order at some point. Check out this video from the science television show NOVA that gives a glimpse into how Amazon’s distribution facilities work. Now, obviously Amazon is a bit ahead of other corporations—but they are not...
As an English and speech teacher for mostly sophomores, I found myself frustrated when students seemed to be just going through the motions, looking for every shortcut available (ahem, Sparks Notes). I wanted my students to be genuinely curious about the literature we were examining or to be genuinely excited to write for an audience. The speech teacher in me wanted students antsy for their...
One of the myths of making that I addressed last month was if you want a makerspace, you need expensive tools. Low-tech tools and recyclables are some of my favorite materials. I find that it can actually be less constraining for students than some robotics and other electronics. It also provides them with a much lower barrier to entry—just about anyone can make something with...