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Agency in the Education of an Architect: Models of Engagement Toward Empowering Students
Get PDFThis paper was presented at the 2020 Schools of Thought Conference hosted by the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma.The disparity between education and practice continues to dominate academic discourse, but oftentimes forgotten is the impact that agency plays in architectural education and, in turn, a student’s presence and contributions within the future of the built environment. Integrating a haptic and tangible process with easily recognizable social implications alongside traditional didactic models in architectural education engenders a sense of empowerment and obligation to a larger social authority. How might agency drive the education of an architect? In addition to teaching technical skills, how might academia address the methods to develop students’ skill sets working with and through local and political actors? Implemented as an experimental design-build course, the intention is to enable students to apply their understanding of the design thinking process and knowledge of architectural principles in their community. The specific course that is the case study engages students across a variety of levels outside their comfort zone through collaborating with departments, administrators, and stakeholders to truly understand the inner workings of a project at the scale of a community. The outcomes, presented through a case study of an experimental course, further exemplify how architecture students employ the concepts of environmental psychology and participatory planning in action, within the context of a semester-long design-build, to create a more integrated user-driven approach to architectural education. Leveraging the next generation of thinkers by empowering them to apply their skills for the betterment of society is critical to the future. In cultivating experiences that empower students, it is imperative to recognize each student’s ability to impact the built environment, further establishing the basis of their responsibility as a designer through developing a sense of collective agency in their design education. Therefore, not only addressing but actively pursuing engagement in the context of their education transforms their academic experience from a passive learner to an active participant.Ye
Management intensification and temporal dynamics shape microbial communities in a Southern Plains agroecosystem
Get PDFLand use intensification has resulted in the conversion of complex natural systems into simpler, managed environments which has a considerable impact on physical and chemical soil properties as well as above and belowground diversity for crop production. The productivity of agricultural systems greatly depends on a number of ecosystems services provided by the soil biota which are directly and indirectly affected by land use. Important ecosystem services provided by soil microbial communities include biogeochemical cycling, plant nutrient availability, and organic matter decomposition, all of which contribute to the overall functioning of the soil environment. Soil microbial communities and soil properties are not only influenced by land use, but a combination of temporal dynamics including seasonal management, climatic variations, and their interactions. While detecting differences in the microbial DNA pools over shorter periods is challenging, microbial communities changes have been clearly documented over months, seasons, and years raising the question if sampling at a single time point is enough to describe microbial community differences especially concerning environmental changes and management practices. Therefore, understanding the consequences of such interactions on soil microbial composition, diversity, and function is essential for maintaining the productivity and stability of valuable soil ecosystems. Thus, this dissertation aimed to explore the interaction between land use and temporal variation on soil microbial communities under varying levels of management disturbance in a U.S. Southern Plains agroecosystem with the goal of better understanding the impact on microbial community diversity, function, and interactions in order to provide information to better inform future management decisions to sustain soil health. Overall, the work in this dissertation provided valuable evidence on the microbial community response to land use and land management disturbance as well as the interaction with time in a U.S. Southern Plains agroecosystem. Intensive management disturbance greatly impacted the soil bacterial and viral communities reducing abundance and diversity in addition to diminishing many soil properties generally associated with healthy soils. A more in-depth look at the microbial community interactions also revealed that long-term cropland use impacts network complexity, stability, and their interaction generating microbial communities that likely can quickly adapt to repeated management disturbance. Many of these findings support the idea that land use conversion and management disturbance has a negative impact on soil microbial communities and soil properties, while also providing new insight into other vital parts of soil communities (i.e. viruses) and looking beyond changes in microbial diversity to better understand how agriculture affects soil microbial communities
Can We Talk About Vocational Awe?
Get PDFText of talk given by Dr. Betsy Van der Veer Martens at the March 7, 2022 Lambda chapter initiation ceremony of the Beta Phi Mu international honor society for library and information studiesN