big questions & masterpiece topics

Here, in all their glory, are the topics you raised during Finals Week.  Please comment to this post with any additions, suggestions, questions, or corrections.  Please also feel free to contact researchers/explorers/makers directly to discuss and exchange ideas/resources.

Ephraim: study of the brain & neurology applied to chemistry and decision-making
Eric: the impact of societal influences on human nature 
Annie: systemic lupus--> cookbook
Michael: "how to blow sh*t up with my mind" (questions welcome)
Taylor: psychological study of American serial killers
Daniel: how people respond to pictures/videos (bias toward focusing on bad/overlooking good?  connecting through emotion?)
Jordan: how to achieve a transcendent sense of success
Lukas: marine biology; "Into the Wild"; surf/backpack/vision quest/rite of passage adventure
Omar: does medical research interfere with micro-evolution?
Jose: video channel
Miles: becoming youtube famous through teaching with humor; studying space, aeronautics, & aviation in pursuit of learning about what we can't see
Ashlyn: competition, body image & media advertising
Brenissa: physical therapy & patient support
Matthew: synesthesia research from inside out; GSA development
Alec: evolutionary biochemistry with emphasis on psychedelics, specifically DMT
Alyssa: Twelfth Night
Melissa: how we present ourselves; book on inner/outer selves
Elizabeth: the happiness project (person of the week); improving confidence
Victoria: photography
Judith: elementary education; philanthropy related to homeless children
Sierra S: fashion design/merchandising
Imanie: swing set that generates energy
Courtney: law; integrating special needs and mainstream/popular kids
Hannah: physical appearance & illness
Shailynn: medical/healing
Noah: ["world sucks"] + ["Millenials suck"] = [how do we change this?]
Alec: writing and baseball
Susel: writing; bringing city life to the small town (culture, flash mob-style collaboration)
Antonia: racism
Naiomi: music & writing as a way to share oneself (with Jisu)
Lily: space exploration; ER medicine
Siera B: high school transformation
Stevie: third world medicine
Henry: censorship
Yesenia: language (use case: Mixteco as study of diversity v. deficiency)
Lupita: reading; sign language; animal cruelty & vegetarianism
Edgar: art & culture of Los Angeles
Sophia: psychology and mental illness
Millie: genealogy
Jisu: piano/music; writing songs with Naiomi
Haley: Yosemite odyssey (2nd annual); kinesiology
Taylor: marine biology; mammal rescue
Bridgit: dance; Crohn's Disease
Jhaicelle: women leaders (types/strategies/fashions/clothing)
Connor: business & entrepreneurship
Chrystal: giving Santa Maria teens something to do
Eric: computer engineering
Laike: Instagram-->art (*or a road less traveled; she's open to suggestion :)
Sean: how we perceive ideas through our emotions
Chase: "the search for stoke"
Tyler: design in art, fashion, & film
Terry: environmental resource engineering
Tia: homelessness; "Theme for English B" --> racism
Haley: architecture & interior design
Will: "there is a lot of hate in the world and it doesn't need to be that way"
YunSoo: real estate
Jeff: life outside Earth
Megan: journalism
Stephanie: Children's Hospital Los Angeles; therapy dogs
Erica: cultural awareness and unity; transmediated communication
Marcel: biological research on sleep; life purpose
Jacob: music/guitar (writing, performing)
Joey: mechanical and structural engineering; travel & culture
Alexus: music's effects on our daily lives
Jared: biomechanical engineering
Bailey: art censorship (i.e., what makes art "Art"-- use case: old cartoons banned from modern TV)
Gianni: new forms of story and storytelling
Cameron: "Why do 800M people suffer from malnutrition (i.e., starve) when there is so much food/waste?
Bianca: "Why do we compare ourselves with others?' and (since she just got a 1930s piano): "How does music affect our learning?"
Breanna: Yosemite (with Hayley); travel; nonprofit organizational development
Aaron: How do sports bring people together?
Matthew: Why don't people live their dreams?
Val: American history & teaching
Kurt: scientific analysis of the origin of the universe and the diversity of species
Lillie: history: the Getty Museum
Anaya: art grant with Dr. Del Rio; documentary film on students pursuing their passions
Shanaya: neurology/cognitive science; the relationship between nutrition and autism; 1/23 symposium
Hikaru: How will technology shape the future?
Jayce: dance & medicine; sociology; time travel; video
Dani: Why do we push others away based on differences? (community)

big questions: next steps over winter break

Hi Everyone,
Thank you for a very inspiring and thought-provoking Finals Week.  Special congratulations to Imanie on her work in Belize-- her video & presentation left a powerful impression on us all.

I will be posting more after I get back to town December 29; in the meantime, here are next steps for you to take over break and a list of everyone's Big Questions.  Please feel free to comment with additions, corrections, suggestions, questions, etc. etc.

Enjoy your time with friends and family.

Best,
Dr. Preston

NEXT STEPS

Now that you have experienced a full semester of Open Source Learning and you have identified a topic worth pursuing, it's time for you to take charge of your own education.  Here is how to start:

1. Write a post for your course blog in which you:

• Describe your topic;
• Explain how you came to be interested in your topic and why you care about it so much;
• Predict how learning about this topic will enrich your life and provide value for learners and others in your community who read/see what you do;
• List the academic disciplines and/or skills the topic requires (for example, game development requires an understanding of psychology, math, coding, literature, music, history/social studies, and many others);
• Map out how you will begin learning about your topic (it's OK if you don't have a formal plan yet-- in fact, learning how to make a plan in this area may well be your first step);
• Describe the resources you will need (wave the magic wand I just handed you and imagine for a moment that time, money and access are not obstacles. Who do you want to meet?  What materials do you need?  What types of experiences will you seek?);
• Consider which tools you will use to tell your story.  Will you continue posting on your course blog?  Will you start a new blog, and if you do, will it be on Blogger, or WordPress, or Tumblr, or another platform?  Will you use other media and collaborative tools to curate, remix, and share your learning?  Do you have ideas about what would be cool but you're not sure what's out there? 

• REMEMBER: At this point you are merely dreaming/thinking out loud.  It's important to express your thinking even if (especially if!) you're not sure of something, or if you have questions or doubts.  Plus, we learners are all in the same boat; these are the moments that restore a small sense of humanity to the learning process.  Imagine the comfort you'll provide to a student in New York or New Delhi who stumbles on your post and realizes she's not alone after all.  For us, certainty is overrated and uncertainty is a GOOD thing.  Have a look at what some very bright people have said and written about this.
• ALSO REMEMBER: If you're still thinking of this as "homework" or an "assignment" you're missing the whole point.  This is you deciding what you think is important and telling the world about it.  Don't ask how long it needs to be or whether it fits a five-paragraph essay format-- it's time for YOU to decide how to most effectively express your thinking.  (And don't worry, if we don't understand something we'll ask!)  This is your chance to explore fearlessly so that you can: a) get the best information, b) learn something and/or get better at doing something, and c) begin to make a name for yourself in a community of interest, critique, and respect.  Therefore, you shouldn't just answer the items above to check boxes.  Go deep.  Take the opportunity to make this thing your own.  And, at any point you have questions or need help, reach out to Dr. Preston and your peers (and your friends, families, employers, mentors).  We're here for you and we want you to succeed so that we can all hit the ground running when we meet again in January.

2.  Find a fiction or non-fiction book that relates to your topic.  Read it over break and complete a literature analysis on it.  Post the analysis to your course blog.

3. Start a conversation with at least three other people in our network about their topics, and post to your course blog about your conversations (at least one post per conversation).  Networks function most effectively when their members actually network; this is a great way to get ideas and create innovation, and you will be surprised by the benefits your colleagues can offer!

finals week

Seems like we met just yesterday.

Soon we'll be congratulating each other on graduation and we'll part ways.

Right now, in this moment, we have the opportunity to reflect and imagine.

AGENDA:
1. Nourishment and storytelling
2. Performance/status conferences
3. Big Questions/Masterpieces
4. Over the break...

American Council of Engineering Companies of California YouTube video contest

ACEC-CA Youtube Contest

december 15

The Journals have been written and (mostly) read.  The Grades are in progress.

The Order of the Day:

1. Please evaluate your performance this semester by answering the following questions.

• What did this course and the instructor ask of you?
• What did you ask of yourself?
• How much time and effort did you invest in what the course/instructor asked of you?
• How much time and effort did you invest in what you asked of yourself?
• Where does the sidewalk end for you?  Next semester can we meet in a field beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing? 
• What is the biggest question on your mind right now?
• Since you've spent more time with you than anyone else has, and you know exactly what you attempted and accomplished, what letter grade would you assign to your performance this semester? 

2. Organizing for the two-hour final

3. Preview of January 14

 

apply for a santa barbara foundation scholarship

This just in from Mrs. Dirkes.  Visit the Santa Barbara Foundation website here.

december 12

JOURNAL TOPIC: [Psych. There isn't one. If you haven't turned yours in, please do so now.]

AGENDA:
1. Yesterday, Continued (sounds like a great title for something)

HW:
Please post anything you want considered for your semester grade by tonight