Not either or, but both and

Schon’s dichotomy of the soft and hard sciences is ignoring the paradox of which they sit. Schron gives an example of the hard manageable problems being a solid high ground looking over the swamp below which are “incapable of technical solutions.” He goes on to explain “the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to individuals or to society at large, however great their technical interest my be, while in the swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern.”

I would state this is not true. Global warming, clean water, hunger, cancer, heart disease… all have technical components coupled with societal issues that need to be addressed. Society needs efficient technologies and progressive policies to start putting an end to global warming. There needs to be a filtration system and a community structure in place for a village in rural Africa to gain access to clean water.

Solutions to human concerns is not an either or, but an both and we do not need to separate them form each other. We can have bother rigor and relevance; as a matter of fact, we need both.

The New Scholarship Requires a New Epistemology
In this paper, the author presents a new scholarship which is more practical. This scholarship requires a change in the epistemology. To prove this claim, the author brings in the “reflection in” and “reflection on” concepts, which are used in the paper to explain many of the examples, including the MIT’s project, and can be seen very frequently in our everyday life.

The “reflection in” and “reflection on” concepts are very important in the process of learning and teaching. From the teacher’s point of view, what is going to be taught should be based on how much the students have already known. So during the teaching process, the teacher should observe the feed backs of the students and then decided what to teach and how to teach. This process is a reflection process. From the student’s point of view, during the learning process, they should not only learn what they are learning, but also learn how to learn and what to learn. This process is also a reflection process. To promote the efficiency of learning, the teacher and the students all need to be aware of the reflection concepts.

The Hidden Wholeness-Paradox in Teaching and Learning
In this book chapter, Palmer analyzes the concept of paradox of the world and presented the application of paradox in pedagogical design. Paradox presents everywhere around us. Right and wrong cannot be separated; light and dark cannot be separated; good and bad cannot be separated. Phelps’s parents are well aware of this concept. Paradox and wholeness also exist in the classroom. The students were divided into several discussion groups. However, the students all discuss under the same topic. Furthermore, everyone can express their opinions and participate into the topic better because of the division, so that a better wholeness or integrity can be reached.

The author talked about how to handle the six paradoxical tensions in pedagogical design regarding to its range, participators, contents, etc. For the fourth tension, there is an example. The engineering textbooks should include both the “big” theories and the examples or stories happen in students’ everyday life. It can help the students remember the theories. It also tells students that these theories can be used to solve practical problems.

My own “reflections”
During the transition from engineering discipline, there are several things I should keep in mind. First, making notes is very important. In the first class, I did not make notes. Then when I sit in front of the laptop, I found I cannot remember what other people have discussed. I started to realize that notes can not only help me remind the content of the class, but also allow me to look into the class in a different angle of view. After reading more articles or experience more, when I remember the class again, I can understand more of others’ opinions and why they presented these opinions. Similar to making notes in the class, making notes during reading also help me remind the content of the materials. Different from engineering textbooks, the educational reading materials are more like assays. It is impossible for me to read them again, but notes can help me remember the ideas in the articles.

Second, summary is very important. Making summary is also a “reflection” process. This blog is a summary. By writing this blog, I get reflection on my way of reading the materials and my performances at the class.

First Week's Reflection

Now I will reflect on "what I reflected in" last week :) Palmer suggested people should think in the way of "both...and", instead of "either...or". He also proposed the concept of "profound truth", which led us to think of "paradoxes". The paradoxical way of thinking suggests that people should comprehend the world in a thorough way. It is not only abstract mode of knowing, but also it can help us to examine how good learning happens and what hard and/or soft scaffoldings we can provide to facilitate students' learning. The six paradoxical tensions mentioned by the author were meaningful when building a effective learning environment. An interesting thing that draws my attention is, my first history & philosophy class potentially followed the six statements by encouraging both "small group" discussion and "the big group" discussion to allow us sharing both the "small stories" and the "big thoughts". Furthermore, I totally enjoyed the free and kind atmosphere in class. I felt relaxed and would want to talk more with my friends. Another interesting topic in our small group discussion was about the different understanding about "silence" by culture. Emily, Pretti and me were all from Asia, and we believed, to some extent, silence indicated more positive facets, such as showing respect or introspectiveness. On the other hand, the western culture may hold more negative perspectives towards silence.

What I got most from Schon's reading is the difference on "reflect on" v.s "reflect in". Reflecting on emphasizes standing with a distance to re-examine what you have done, and trying to figure out the ways to refine and to improve. It was like "If I could have a second chance, I would do it in this way to make it even better". Reflecting in means when you are in the process, you are tying to find the flaws and correct them immediately before it is done. One example that came into my mind in the group discussion was making cookies. When I stirred the milk, eggs, suger and flour together, I realized I might put too much milk, so I decided to put some chocolate power to make the dough dry. That is what is called "reflecting in". After my cookies coming out of the oven, I tried one, and I found maybe I should add some cinnamon to make it more tasty. That is what is called "reflecting on". It also made me to relate what I have learned in instructioanl design. Reflecting in and reflecting on are like the formative evaluation and the summative evaluation. A famous saying from Robert Stakes about this two evaluations is, "When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative."

Finally I want to share my two cents about the group behaviors. People are unconsciously playing different roles in a team. Personally I excel in providing information and clarifying the thoughts. I am not a good starter since too much information fill into my brain and sometimes I am too sensitive on details. I am afraid I may mislead people away from the main structure. But no matter what roles we play, we should think together. I appreciate what Beth and Julie did to keep everyone on the same page. Secondly, Everyone will gradually grow up and become comfortable with teamwork. As a foreign student, we don't need to "hate" or "blame" our English or slower reaction towards a topic. What we can do is to practice more, and let time shape. The more we practice and participate, the faster we can grow up and get used to the style.

His & Phi of ENE-Week 1

Group Behaviors

This was the first time that I attended a class with a lot of discussion. And I have to say that my English sucks. I wanted to speak out, and I’d got lots of words in my mind, but I just got tong-tied. I kind of hated myself at those moments.

Speaking of group behaviors, I think my strength is seeking information or opinions, because I am not afraid of losing face and I think it is a shame to pretend to know something that you don’t. And my weakest link is the language issue, obviously. I hope I can do better in giving information or opinions next time.

By the way, Noah, Julia, Beth and Sensen did a very good job in giving information or opinions, and Julia and Beth did an excellent job in encouraging teammates. I can learn a lot from them.

The Courage to Teach-Chapter III-The Hidden Wholeness-Paradox in Teaching and Learning-Parker J. Palmer

I have to say that I love this chapter. The concept of this chapter “wholeness and paradox” goes with my mind of philosophy. There is a classic picture of “taiji” which shows my opinion. It is a kind of traditional Chinese theory. You can see the paradox: half white and half black, but together they make a whole. Also, there is a small black dot in the white half and a small white dot in the black half, which means that you cannot separate the white from the black or the black from the white completely.

Paradox

I have a feeling about the sixth point the author mentions in the article: “The space should welcome both silence and speech”. I have a memorable experience of paradox of silence and speech. I was taught to not to speak too much when I was a kid and people in my country often said that “silence is gold”. People believe that People who talk much would expose their weakness and ignorance and got attacked easily. There is a old Chinese saying: “ The bird which flies the highest get shot.” So everyone would like to keep low- profile. You can always see a scenario in a class in China: A teacher asks a question, and nobody raises their hands. And there is an awkward silence spreading the whole classroom. And the silence keeps as long as the teacher waits. Surprisingly, I found some engineering classes in Purdue played the same show too. Differently, non-science/engineering classes encourage speech. I have already been given heads-up from one of my friend in Education Department that you have to be active and speak out a lot in class if you want to receive good grade. It seems that the American culture welcomes speech. So I am still struggling to find a balance between silence and speech, since now I am a little bit too silent.

Holding the Tension of Opposite

I think it is unwise to choose one side and abandon the opposite side. Half white and half black make the whole circle. Day and night make a whole day. In my opinion, the first step should be realizing the truth and embrace the paradox. Then you can figure out a way to hold the tension of opposite. Frankly speaking, it is an art to me.

The New Scholarship Requires a New Epistemology-Donald A. Schon

This article is kind of difficult to me, although it is shorter than the previous one. My focus on this article is reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action is that during the process of research or other things, keep evaluating and making proper changes. Reflection-on-action happens when the research or other things are done. Here is my example:
My research was “swimming pool chemistry” last semester. When I was testing samples, sometimes I got awkward numbers. So I started to wonder what was going on. Are the machine malfunctioned? Do I need to test extra samples? It is reflection-in-action. When I got back to my desk, analyzing and making conclusion, it is reflection-on-action.

Here is another example I heard from Sensen:
She likes cooking. I think she is a great cook. When she is making cookies, she thinks: “Maybe adding some white chocolate will be better.” It is reflection-in-action. After the cookies are taken out of the oven, she tastes it and thinks:” It is a good idea to add white chocolate.” It is reflection-on-action.

Honestly speaking, as engineers, we are all trained to have reflection-in/on-action when we are doing research. Keeping evaluating and making proper changes during or after research seems a pretty normal thing to do for me. I think this article explains simple things in a difficult way.