Academic Momentum

So I have been busy since my last update. I scheduled a meeting with Dr. Korach and shared the latest update.

She shared with me an exciting dissertation by Danielle Sulick. Her research led her to study the development of Academic Momentum in nontraditional undergraduate female students. Her definition utilized the formula for momentum in physics.

This meeting got me thinking about how my interest in personal mastery was connected. I decided to decrease the emphasis on personal mastery for several reasons. First- I think the response I got from Senge's camp was not helpful. The empirical work around his writing has not been established well- for example... there were no instruments developed to measure personal mastery. I found a few surveys- but they were not standardized. In addition, the term did not fit well with my interest. So I moved towards the term of Academic Hope based on Segiovanni and Andrade-Duncan's work.

Academic Hope- is a construct that has some research history to it. The components of Agency, Goal Orientation, and Pathways Thinking are measurable. Here is why I believe the concepts of Academic Hope development will contribute to the development of the theory of Academic Momentum.

In physics, there are forces that increase velocity. My argument is that the components of Agency, Pathways thinking, and Goal Orientation will increase Academic Momentum.

My physics teacher at Stonington High School was Pierre Luciere. He was tough. He had all of us scared- sarcastic, mean, and he allowed no sloppy work in his class. I remember having to label everything in there. My first quarter grades were low. But by the 4th quarter I had it down! His high expectations led me to a better place. I say all that to say that over 20 years of life have swept away my concepts of velocity and momentum. So I spent time this morning reading up on vector mathematics and velocity.

So Momentum is Mass times Velocity.

Velocity is a vector variable meaning it has magnitude and direction.

Mass has to do with what we are made of- and the resistance an object has to changes in velocity or motion. If an object has greater mass it will have greater resistance to motion and therefore need greater force to make positive work happen (all physics terms I learned from the Virtual Nerd website ).

Velocity is distance measured over time. Using the Cartesian Coordinates we have x and y axis measures. You then can use all that trigonometry we learned in high school (I need to brush up there too). Unless of course you go three dimensional and add the z coordinate.

All this to say- there is room in this mathematical formula for variables like agency, pathways thinking, and goal orientation. As students from African-American families hit schools they face barriers that I might not have- these barriers in physics would be called friction. So developing enough momentum to overcome this friction is key to success.

This excites me today- as the mathematics in physics are guiding my direction. Something in this old math/science coach feels comfort in these laws of physics. Wish me luck as I dig in some more...