11 - A Pedagogical Odyssey

Summary

Editors' Commentary

Michael Burke's odyssey in this inspirational chapter could be characterized as a “vision of the possible” investigation, initiated because he wanted to try something unusual. He began with a desire to help his students gain a deeper understanding of the concept of a function. He also wanted them to encounter genuine applications of mathematics, ones that were truly interdisciplinary. He thought that asking his students to write about this would help them clarify their thinking. As his experiment unfolded, to understand what was happening and to refine what he was trying to achieve, he first used reflective practice, and later SoTL. This chapter underscores the usefulness of observation and data collection on two levels. In aiming to teach his students the value of observation and data collection, the author discovers that this is exactly what he must do as their teacher – observe and collect data. The author writes in an engaging style and with passion about his journey to the discovery that the scholarship of teaching and learning enables him to understand what is happening in his classroom.

Introduction

“I've gone to find myself. If I come home before I return, keep me here.”

My title is a bit Homeric, which is perhaps a little highbrow for me, so I thought to follow it with a quote from a t-shirt. I saw the above quote in 2006, written on a t-shirt worn by a young man walking across the Charles Bridge in Prague. If we attempt to decipher its literal meaning, we see that it falls somewhere between puzzling and incoherent. It is for this reason that it seems an apt expression of the sentiments of a young American traveling in Europe, particularly one who finds himself in Prague; it expresses, in a humorous way I think, a sense of massive confusion about who and where he is, about here and there, and about time. Prague frequently has this effect on young Americans.