But on a Tuesday afternoon in April, Parker’s lab students used their own bodies–and voices–to bring their anatomy lesson to life.

“Those are your judges. Everyone, ready? Who is going to go first?” Parker asks.

“This is so awkward,” says Nicole Margiotta, FCRH ‘21 biology and theology major, as she stands at the front of the room.

Then the beat drops. Her classmates, many of them biology majors, start bobbing their heads to Margiotta’s original lines from her number Bones on my Brain.

Yo, Let me rattle your incus, your malleus, and your stapes

As we learn all the bones God gave to you and to me.

I’ll spit this knowledge straight from my cranium into yours,

So hang tight like a hyoid for this anatomy tour…

The live music competition put on by the students was part of an assignment Parker gave to engage them deeper in the material.

“I incorporate music in the classroom because, while I was learning, I felt something was missing. There is a disconnect in the way students receive information in academic settings,” said Parker.

Many of his students had never done anything like this in a classroom before.

“Never before have I had a music component for a college course, let alone a science class, so it was unique and refreshing.”said Nataliya Makhdumi, FCRH ’19, psychology major.

In the one hour of performances, the students found new horizons for themselves. Senior Noelle Chaney, rapped about her metatarsal to “Epic Trap Beat Dope Hard Hip Hop Rap Instrumental,” while sophomore neuroscience major Tess Durham, went for a full-on dance performance to a Kodak Black instrumental.

Junior Emily Haraden, a biology major, said that the competition was nerve wracking but worthwhile. “Making a song that made sense made us actually focus on something and figure out what systems and parts connect.”

Parker has been working with Christopher Emdin, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology at Teachers College on ways to make STEM courses more interactive and student centered. The focus for these courses has been on middle to high schoolers, but Parker felt college students could also benefit from a more interactive approach.

His students agree.

“It’s cool because it’s not structured like a normal lab would be,” said Aiden O’Keefe, a junior at Fordham College at Rose Hill. “You have a lot more freedom with what you’re doing so you can go at your own pace.”

Music helps students learn to express themselves to others, Parker said. Because of technology, students have access to a lot of content, but lose key social skills that are essential for networking.  

And, he said, the competition component is key. It requires the student to direct their words towards someone else. This help with composure and confidence.

“It also helps them direct their love, joy, or pain to someone else in an effort to be heard and understood,” said Parker. “Sometimes people don’t have anyone to listen to them, and my goal is to let them know we hear you, and so do your classmates.” 

Parker said he hopes these activities encourage students to think, as opposed to just regurgitating information. “My students are brilliant. I want them to have opportunities to be both creative and challenged in an academic setting.”                     

Virginia Roach, Ed.D., dean of GSE, and a vocal proponent of classroom technology, has been working on assembling the digital classroom since she began at Fordham two years ago. It opened last week at the Lincoln Center campus with the help of Fordham IT.

“The lab will allow us to provide real-time instruction without disrupting the ecology of the classroom,” said Roach. “It’s also brings us the opportunity to conduct research.”

The lab contains 360-degree cameras that can scan the entire classroom space. There are six tables with flat-screen monitors, cameras, and several unobtrusive microphones. Known as a collaborative learning lab, the setup allows six groups to work on projects together at the same time.

Meanwhile, in a back room nearby, a flat screen provides the professor with the ability to observe the six groups, either separately or at the same time.

The opportunities are manifold, said Roach. There could be six teachers, each managing a group discussion, or one teacher taking care of all six groups. In each case the teacher(s) could have an earpiece from which the professor could offer instructions without disrupting the ongoing class.

“We talk about teachable moments all the time, but we don’t have those moments with teachers unless we interrupt their classrooms,” said Roach. “This technology turns the prevailing practice on its head. It’s changing the paradigm as to how we’ll be able to coach new teachers.”

When asked whether watching multiple group lessons conducted simultaneously might get confusing, Roach compared the lab to a broadcast newsroom.

“We know is that the human brain is capable of taking in instantaneous feeds and acting on [such activity]at the same time,” she said. “We see this kind of technology deployed in broadcast news every day.”

The classroom itself is multi-functional; tables in the classroom are collapsible and can be replaced with tables more suitable for small children. One such class has already been scheduled.

A former teacher herself, Roach recalled the times when supervisors would physically sit in her class and offer feedback on her performance in a meeting after the class.

“But having faculty in the classroom changed the classroom dynamic,” she said. “The fact that I’m getting a correction after-the-fact compromises the support: all I can do is say, ‘Okay, I’ll try to remember that next time.’”

With new technology, however, Roach said the supervisor can be off-site, in front of the 360-degree cameras, and can offer corrective suggestions in real time. The student teacher can better understand the difference and make an alteration on the spot.

“We should not ignore the potential of this kind of technology,” said Roach. “That’s the importance of a research institution–we should always be exploring the edges of potential.”