Fulbright Visiting Scholar Recaps Impactful Moments From Her Time At Florida State University

A Fulbright Visiting Scholar grant brought Dr. Ely Djulia Katmadihardja to Florida State University, but this wasn't her first time at FSU. This fellowship represents a full circle moment for Dr. Djulia, who began working with the Learning Systems Institute at FSU in 2006 during the Decentralized Basic Education Project in Indonesia led by Dr. Jeffrey Milligan, former director of LSI. Working at FSU and with LSI has perfectly fit Dr. Djulia's goals of integrating culturally responsive pedagogy into STEM education. Dr. Djulia is home in Indonesia but has shared some highlights of her time as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar.

I was invited by LSI’s FCR-STEM team to attend the Career Technical Education (CTE) workshop they hosted in December. I enjoyed attending session by session during the two-day workshop, observing how teachers analyze curriculum standards and how the CPALMS platform supports their case study-based lesson planning. I came away from the workshop learning how helpful CPALMS is for teachers in Florida.

In January, I attended the annual Association of Science Teacher Education (ASTE) Conference held by the ASTE Committee in Long Beach, California. Meeting and interacting with science educators from so many different states and even some educators from other countries was amazing. During this conference, we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific and Algalita Marine Research Laboratory; the visits really enhanced our insights as science educators. I found more new friends, experts and insights from current science education research. This was a remarkable networking opportunity for future collaborations.

The Fulbright Program encourages visiting scholar participants staying in the US for more than three months to find and visit another US university through the Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF) Program. I searched for and identified a US Visiting Scholar alumnus who had visited Indonesia. Dr. Patricia Patrick has visited Indonesia twice (2019 and 2022) for her visiting scholar research and we both have a similar interest in ethnoscience. I found her on the Columbus State University website. I begin contacting her by email. Surprisingly, she welcomed me for a five-day visit to campus in February.

I was honored to present my experiences as a visiting scholar collaboratively with Dr. Patrick. Dr. Eric K. Spears, Ph.D., the Center for Global Engagement director at Columbus State University, led the meeting. The presentation took place in the Simon Schwob Memorial Library and was attended by CSU faculty members. Dr. Patrick shared her research experiences with traditional healing in Indonesia. I shared my experiences and how they impacted my research about culturally responsive STEM at the Learning System Institute.

During this short visit to Columbus, GA, I also had the opportunity to visit an elementary STEM classroom managed by Dr. Saoussan Maarouf. I also visited the Dimon Elementary Magnet Academy, Oxbow Meadows Environment Learning Center and The Columbus Museum. This visit gave me a lot of experiences and insights for exchange and networking. 

"Ely, everything you shared about your experiences at FSU is relevant for us in Columbus,” said Dr. Patricia.

Dimon Elementary Magnet Academy