DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

A century after its publication, Democracy and Education remains relevant and influential far beyond its original context. This essay explores the breadth of its relevance through a study of the use of Deweyan methods and ideas at a community high school in a small, impoverished township 50 km outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. Through this example, we learn that the relevance of Dewey's ideas are not limited either to his time or to his place, but instead fit seamlessly in a context as different from Dewey's as we can imagine. In a modern world in which most children outside of the world's wealthiest countries receive an education woefully inadequate for both the professional and civic responsibilities they will face as adults, this successful example begs the question of how modern school systems around the world might become more successful by harkening back to the ideas expressed in Democracy and Education.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING THROUGH VARIABLE LIFT CONTROL FOR NEAR-SPACE APPLICATIONS

This paper describes a collaborative capstone project on variable lift control for near-space applications. The project was intended to enhance collaborative learning of undergraduate students, assisted by several other organizations, including the amateur radio community, high-school students and teachers.