I had an amazing time in Rome. Visiting Rome was probably the best trip I have every been on. A once in a life time opportunity. This was my first time out of the country, hopefully not the last but one never knows.
It was incredible to see all the structures that the groups researched and presented in person. It was learning coming to life. Not only could I physically see the structures that were talked about in class, I could image life in ancient Rome based off a history class I took in high school. It was history coming alive. It was also engineering at its finest. It is hard to imagine that ancient Romans did not have the type of technology we have today buy they were still able to build the grand structures that have been standings for hundreds of years. The Coliseum was probably my favorite place to go to with Pompeii as a close second.
Another thing I loved about this trip was getting to know everyone, both students and professors. The people I went with helped make the trip far better I could have imagined. It was so nice to become friends with a diverse group of people. Even though we do not have the same major, it's really neat to see us all get along and find common grounds with each other.
It is impossible to go to Italy without mentioning the food. I love pasta, so I was in heaven when I was eating in Italy. I tried all different kinds of pasta types and sauces. Every meal I had was great. Only one small thing, I think I like US pizza better than Italian pizza. W was extremely grateful of the dinner provided to us by CAS and the professors. It was a meal to die for.
Since this trip was my first time out of the country, it was neat to experience the new culture. I was nervous with the language barrier but it was nice to find out that in most places there was at least one person who spoke English. It made things easier although I did try to use my extremely limited Italian as much as I could. Only one major culture shock for me, Italian drivers. They are completely crazy. I have never seen drivers that are as inpatient as Italian drivers are.
In my next post, there will be pictures of some of the places I visited. Pictures with people will be posted on my facebook page. Although pictures cannot live up to the real places, they are great reminders of the amazing places I went and the great times I had with an amazing group of people.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Course Objectives
The following is the attached syllabus for this course:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dddv39kk_38gn2mj3n9
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dddv39kk_38gn2mj3n9
PBL #1- COLOESSEUM
The problem based learning assignment group one (Phil, Remo, and myself) had was structured towards the Roman colloseum. The following is the PBL situation:
2. Although the entire roman heritage is addressed, the focus will be on the Colosseum project
3. Resources shall include but are not limited to art, history, technological solution to building design and construction problems.
4. The research of the heritage shall link the history to the present and future
5. The proposal shall extend to methods of dissemination of the resources to school children.
2) The three of us read through the PBL and decided that we needed to create some sort of presentation that could be interesting for all ages. Using the PBL as a guideline, we created a c-map to show all the ideas and topics that were related to the Colosseum. From there, we split the categories so each one of us had a few things to research. Since we had to have a presentation for all ages, we needed to simplify things enough for younger ages to understand but also not too simplified for the older pupils.
3) It helped a lot to work in a group environment. There are so many categories that the Colosseum has that in order for most, if not all, the information to be covered it is necessary to do research in groups. All the members in my group did their share of the work and if one of us found information for someone else's category, we gave it to that person.
4) The overall PBL experience was new to me and I did not know exactly how to approach this type of learning. To me, the problem was a bit difficult to figure out exactly what was wanted. Our presentation had the necessary information but it probably wasn't the best format for the problem. After having experience with one PBL, it will be easier for me to work on the next one.
Presentation slides:
In our presentation, we used a scene from the movie Gladiator called "Maximus the Merciful" to show gladiatorial fighting. The following is the Gladiator trailer that includes gladiator fighting scenes:
The Big Contest
Part One
Sam carefully maneuvered his motorcycle between the cars in the parking lot next to the International office. He is a man on a mission; the latest university budget cut has left his group with little money to run a program very dear to his heart, the “International Business and Technology” program. There is no money what-so-ever to travel; meanwhile his group members had set their eyes on the Eternal City “Rome” as their next destination.
Sam was in a reflective mood, he just came from the tribunal meeting where he had a serious discussion about keeping the program alive. However, without a travel abroad experience, his will have to limit their activities to seminars and discussion. He predicts that most of the members will drop out if the international travel component is eliminated. Sam‘s group wanted to raise money, but did not know how? They have heard of the cut in the international grants for travel but they did not feel that bake sale can make-up difference to help them in their travel expenses. After all, the trip to Rome will cost two thousand dollars without food. They could go on the diet…. But even that is not sufficient!!
As Sam stopped by the International office, he noticed a sign about a competition posted by the Association of Professionals for Preservation of Heritage (APPHS). The APPHS is trying to raise the awareness of school students of all ages of professional careers in preservations of heritage by providing exciting resources that stimulate their interests. The association is phasing-in a new program about international and historical architecture, construction and culture; it has announced a contest for college students to develop resources for school students about the subject in the Eternal City, Rome.
Resources on Construction in Rome for Children of all Ages
Prize is $5,000 in scholarship- The scholarship will be used for exploration of archaeological sites involving Historical Structures.
Guidelines:
1. Develop Authentic and Engaging Educational Resources (in any form) that stimulate the interest of school students in historical architecture, construction and art in Rome and excite their inquisitive minds of the culture in Rome at that time.2. Although the entire roman heritage is addressed, the focus will be on the Colosseum project
3. Resources shall include but are not limited to art, history, technological solution to building design and construction problems.
4. The research of the heritage shall link the history to the present and future
5. The proposal shall extend to methods of dissemination of the resources to school children.
Selection of winning proposals will be based on the proposal strength in engaging the school children, fostering their interests in conservation of heritage professions, and the proposed resources and their methods of dissemination. Oral Presentation will be given in front of a committee of professionals on Tuesday October 28. The committee encourages the students to be creative in their proposal presentations.
Part Two
At University Hall
At University Hall
The next day, Sam, Angel, Antonio, Sarah, Matt and Andrew are discussing the subject at lunch at one corner of University Hall cafeteria. “Look dude”, said Antonio, “my major is Spanish, I have taken some Gen Ed classes in History and Culture, but repairing the steps of our back porch is my only and last experience with construction projects”. Sarah mumbled “I am a Business major, what do I know about the subject? I am just interested in traveling.” Matt remarked kiddingly, “I am a techie I may be able to contribute in the technology area but the Roman did not have computers then!” After a heated discussion about the subject Andrew stood up and said “hold-off you guys, we each have our own strength and we all have done research, it is all about research, isn’t it..” “No!!” quickly interrupted Matt, “it is also about putting together a successful proposal and delivering it.” Angel who remained quiet during the entire discussion, raised her head and said “I really think we can do it and have fun on the way!! There are zillions of materials available on the subjects, all we have to do is to assemble the information, make sure of its accuracy and document it, then deliver the proposal in a creative way. That should be lots of fun!!”
Finally, Sam puts an end to the conversation: “look guys, this will give just about $1000 a piece to go to Rome, isn’t that the destination we discussed last term. So.. OKAY!! We have been at this now for a whole hour, let us vote. How many are willing to take the plunge and pull their weight.” Sam, Angel, Matt, and Andrew raised their hand. “OK!! Let us meet on Saturday and draft a C-Map and make some plans.”
Reflection:
1) I learned a lot about the Colosseum since it was the basis of our PBL. I learned about the history of Rome that includes the Colosseum. I also learned a lot about the sport of gladiator fighting, such as the origin and the type of people involved. I learned about the other kinds of games displayed at the Colosseum. Through my teammates, I learned a lot about the construction of the structure and the basic construction of the arch since the arch is the basis of the Colosseum. I also learned about the Veradum, the spectators sun protection. There was a lot of information about the Colosseum that any source that I went to, I learned something new.
2) The three of us read through the PBL and decided that we needed to create some sort of presentation that could be interesting for all ages. Using the PBL as a guideline, we created a c-map to show all the ideas and topics that were related to the Colosseum. From there, we split the categories so each one of us had a few things to research. Since we had to have a presentation for all ages, we needed to simplify things enough for younger ages to understand but also not too simplified for the older pupils.
3) It helped a lot to work in a group environment. There are so many categories that the Colosseum has that in order for most, if not all, the information to be covered it is necessary to do research in groups. All the members in my group did their share of the work and if one of us found information for someone else's category, we gave it to that person.
4) The overall PBL experience was new to me and I did not know exactly how to approach this type of learning. To me, the problem was a bit difficult to figure out exactly what was wanted. Our presentation had the necessary information but it probably wasn't the best format for the problem. After having experience with one PBL, it will be easier for me to work on the next one.
Presentation slides:
In our presentation, we used a scene from the movie Gladiator called "Maximus the Merciful" to show gladiatorial fighting. The following is the Gladiator trailer that includes gladiator fighting scenes:
PBL #2- Pantheon
The PBL we had to address:
The Pantheon_ DELEMA
For the last several days a near riot has taken place on the Piazza della
Rotunda as people from all walks of life protest the purchase of a crypt in the Pantheon by the wealthy Prime Minister. Unbelievable!.... Unheard of!.... This is just not done.
It is not money that gets you a burial site in the Pantheon.
What can be done? Many people, rich and poor, from the government and from the church have met behind closed doors. They determined that a committee should be formed to evaluate the architectural layout and to recommend that the building be converted to new uses to circumvent this outrageous act by this high government official.
The committee will be made up of individuals representing constituencies in the population with direct interest in the outcome of the discussion.
Members of the committee will look at the construction and history of the Pantheon and will determine its future use. The committee will include a church official from the Vatican, a monarchist, a communist, an architectural historian, and a person of the arts preferably a film director or a computer expert.
Considered in the discussion will be the configuration of the building, the conceptual significance of the dome, and the use of light and its effect on time and space.
They will take into account the evolution of the building from mythology to Christianity and its relation to architectural design, and how it will be reconfigured to serve the new function.
A difficult task in lieu of the precise design of this building.... Could it be added to in some way..... We will have to wait and see...
We approached the problem as a meeting between four different people representing different views of what to do with the Pantheon. We played out the meeting on video (posted below) and in class we were a news crew playing the video to their viewers. We also had a commercial to break up the meeting for the decision time.
Reflection:
With this PBL, my group did much better in solving the problem and presenting the solution to the class. We tired to use the critiques from our first PBL to improve our next one. In this PBL, we tried to be more creative in our presentation and made sure that we addressed the problem.
Through our research of the Pantheon, we felt that there four major areas needed to be represented in the meeting. After narrowing down possible ways to present the meeting, my group decided upon a video presentation, which can be viewed below. To add interest, we molded the video into a news piece including live reporting and a live commercial in class. I think the audience enjoyed the presentation almost as much as my group members and I had while creating and presenting it. Overall, I think we learned a lot about the Pantheon and about how creative we can be even with a limited amount of time together.
The Pantheon_ DELEMA
For the last several days a near riot has taken place on the Piazza della
Rotunda as people from all walks of life protest the purchase of a crypt in the Pantheon by the wealthy Prime Minister. Unbelievable!.... Unheard of!.... This is just not done.
It is not money that gets you a burial site in the Pantheon.
What can be done? Many people, rich and poor, from the government and from the church have met behind closed doors. They determined that a committee should be formed to evaluate the architectural layout and to recommend that the building be converted to new uses to circumvent this outrageous act by this high government official.
The committee will be made up of individuals representing constituencies in the population with direct interest in the outcome of the discussion.
Members of the committee will look at the construction and history of the Pantheon and will determine its future use. The committee will include a church official from the Vatican, a monarchist, a communist, an architectural historian, and a person of the arts preferably a film director or a computer expert.
Considered in the discussion will be the configuration of the building, the conceptual significance of the dome, and the use of light and its effect on time and space.
They will take into account the evolution of the building from mythology to Christianity and its relation to architectural design, and how it will be reconfigured to serve the new function.
A difficult task in lieu of the precise design of this building.... Could it be added to in some way..... We will have to wait and see...
We approached the problem as a meeting between four different people representing different views of what to do with the Pantheon. We played out the meeting on video (posted below) and in class we were a news crew playing the video to their viewers. We also had a commercial to break up the meeting for the decision time.
Reflection:
With this PBL, my group did much better in solving the problem and presenting the solution to the class. We tired to use the critiques from our first PBL to improve our next one. In this PBL, we tried to be more creative in our presentation and made sure that we addressed the problem.
Through our research of the Pantheon, we felt that there four major areas needed to be represented in the meeting. After narrowing down possible ways to present the meeting, my group decided upon a video presentation, which can be viewed below. To add interest, we molded the video into a news piece including live reporting and a live commercial in class. I think the audience enjoyed the presentation almost as much as my group members and I had while creating and presenting it. Overall, I think we learned a lot about the Pantheon and about how creative we can be even with a limited amount of time together.
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