Last April, the iTeachELLs Teacher Quality Partnership Project, an initiative of ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, sponsored a visit from Joel Westheimer. The author and commentator facilitated three events focusing on the topic, "Teacher as Citizen," and based on his book, "What Kind of Citizen? Educating our children for the common good."

How a doctoral student is solving wicked problems in an urban environment

Imagine being part of a process that allows you the freedom to solve a challenge with no predetermined “right” answer. If there were answers to choose from, they still would not be correct because you would be missing a key component — empathy — and your thinking would be severely limited.

High school math teacher Andrew Strom felt thrilled when he was recruited for an eight-week stretch working with Arizona State University engineering researchers this past summer.

Another feeling emerged once he began getting immersed in the researchers’ projects.

“It was very humbling because I realized I don’t really know anything,” Strom said with obvious humor.

But the thrill wasn’t gone. It was amplified.

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