SAVVY CITIZENS
A Foundations of Inquiry & Service Learning Project
This website is a result of a semester-long project created by three Foundations of Inquiry classes (70 students in all) taught by Gwen Lowenheim at New York Institute of Technology in Manhattan during the Fall of 2018.
The Foundations of Inquiry classes focus on the development of critical thinking skills in academia and in personal and professional life. We took a tour of a variety of academic disciplines (including their histories dating back to the Catholic Church in the middle ages) – economics, psychology, political science, history, philosophy –and explored them all through the special lens of paradigm shifts.
We coupled our academic exploration about what constitutes a science and what supports innovative thinking and design with the creation of a product – this website – that could be of use to educators, students and the broader community.
New Partnership with Brazilian Community & University Colleagues
This semester kicked off with the development of a new partnership with a Brazilian research group lead by Fernanda Liberali, Ph.D.: “Language in Activities in School Contexts” (LACE), associated with Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and Digit M-Ed, is a university-school collaboration. Digit-M-Ed was created as a ‘Hyperconnecting Brazil Project’ in response to the demands perceived in society and in the research and practices of the researchers and practitioners of the group. https://digitmed.wordpress.com/universities/pucsp/fernanda-liberali/
OUR PROJECT: LACE, Digit M-Ed and our Foundations of Inquiry classes designed the semester as an exploration of the housing situation in New York City, Brazil and the broader international context of which we are all a part. (See the “International Housing” page on this website for a gripping and educative film of a community response to homelessness and the abandonment of multiple buildings in Sao Paolo).
We utilized a Design Thinking Method, the key elements of which are empathetic listening and the creation of prototypes used to create possible solutions to problems and challenges.
Using this method, we decided to invest what we learned about the economic, social and political complexities of our inquiry about housing into the development of this website. We wanted to do a website because it allows us to easily share this project with the broadest community of people, including educators, community and civic leaders, friends and family and other interested parties.
We want it to be used, so here are a few of the ways you can do that:
- Look at the creative video and art installations which students made to give you an overview of what we learned, at times in some poignant ways. They are located on different pages throughout the website. Check out the video below as your entre into the project.
- Travel around our Mind Maps to get a sense of the journey we’ve been on. Try to focus on the totality, not the particulars.
- Check out the community interviews (in video and transcript) to hear the voices of ordinary New Yorkers. And find out what is happening in Fall of 2018 with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the response of residents and the broader community.
- Find out what’s happening in the Fall of 2018 with the Amazons plans to build a headquarters in Long Island City, Queens
- Learn how to be a design thinker – follow our poster-lesson.
- Expand your thinking thinking with our exploration of Paradigm Shifts and their relevance to innovation for social issues as well as hard sciences.
Coming away with questions is as important as coming away with new knowledge. That’s what an Inquiry Project is all about, right?
Thank you for joining us on this discovery journey.
Let us know what you think! All questions, comments and responses can be sent to Gwen Lowenheim at glowenhe@nyit.edu.
FOUNDATIONS OF INQUIRY – STUDENT CONTRIBUTORS:
M02
Maryam Abuhashish
Kassandra Acuna
Joel Andrade
Jeremiah Biggins
Thomas Blandino
Adhemar Capellan
Oscar De La Cruz
Brianna Duvivier
David Fleksher
David Gonzalez
Nushe Hasanramaj
Moussa Kaba
Joshua Kotrous
Sydney Long
Shaina Ninon
Sophia Rondon
Raian Rahaman
Nicole Raskin
Rochelle Ratner
Fernando Rodriquez
Valerie Smith
Xibin Tang
Kelho Yang
Omonjon Yusupov
M06
Xavier Arevalo
Denisekyla Cabuenas
Alexander Chung
Syniah Crandon
Maeve Dupree
David Delgado
Aaliyah Demitro
Subarna Dutta
Victor Howard-Rodriquez
Simon Lei
Abdul Manan
Jonathan Marrero
Micah Martin
Nick Mosaisi
Long Nguyen
Gabriella Scibilia
Mram Shalabi
Mei Hong Shi
Jovanni Solano
Deryck Thomas
Anthony Udayakumar
M08
Sydney Balmir
Trevante Brown
Muhammad Butt
Jamaray Cave
Nadeen Hilou
Briana Honora
Ameer Khan
Lewis Kim
Julian Kleisler
Nicole Miranda
Shana Nelson
Rodrigo Romero
Muhammad Ali Riaz
Iraima Velasquez
Elijah Wallen
Michael Zdunek
Karina Zhuang
Savvy Citizens 