Questions

One of precepts that Buzz and I hold dear is the idea that, if you can just get students to look at something, they will begin to ask questions. And once students start to ask questions, they can begin to learn.

I did a study one time where I counted student verbalizations during class. My goal was to describe the environment created by using clickers. In that environment students made many, many statements and also asked a fair number of substantive questions. I didn't do enough observations of a traditional lecture to be representative, but the difference was striking. Students made no statements and, although they asked many questions, none were substantive. The only questions they ask related to flow control: "Could you say that again?" or "Could you repeat that?"

Coming to St. Croix, Buzz and I get to look at lots of new phenomena and ask lots of questions. Was the juvenile female we caught in trap 25 related to the juvenile male we caught there in the afternoon? When we saw Red-naped Pigeons mating, was the male the one who got on top first or second? Where do those giant millipedes, that are all over the place after the rain, hide when it's dry? Where is that blasted Cottages 5 basestation so we can restart the sucker after it craps out?

Students are always transformed by the experience of coming here. New students, of course, sometimes ask different questions like "How much beer can I drink before I puke?" and "How much rum can I drink before I pass out?" All of the students with us this time, however, are veterans -- and older. Two have been here three times. It's been interesting -- and a genuine pleasure -- to watch them grow.

The veteran students can see the growth in Daniel. The first time they came, he was a little boy. Now he's taller than I am and has a deep voice. And he's matured a lot, emotionally and intellectually. But I can see similar changes in them as well, as they've graduated college and moved into the real world. It's funny how the little bubble of Cottages can help you see that.

Cottages is an amazingly warm and welcoming community. I've never stayed someplace that had the quite the same feel. It may partly be the fact that doing the mongoose work makes us stand out and gives people a reason to talk to us, but that's not the whole explanation. People come here once and then find a way to come back again and again, year after year. How could you set about creating a community like Cottages? It's a real question.