Penn family spends night at Van Pelt

Pediatrics Professor Flaura Winston and her husband Ira, director of Computing and Educational Technical Services, met when they were undergraduates at the University nearly 20 years ago. And now the couple is having dZj^ vu. The Winstons -- along with their two children -- are spending a few nights in Van Pelt College House this week as part of the Distinguished Penn Citizens in Residence Program. Tuesday night, the Winstons participated in the house's "Dinner with Andre," chatting informally with faculty and student residents in the Anvil Club of the 1920 Commons. "This is great," Ira Winston said, adding that the stay in Van Pelt brought back memories of living in the W.E.B. DuBois College House as an undergraduate. Between the two Winstons, they have received a total of six degrees at the University. As a pediatrician and an engineer, Flaura Winston holds joint appointments in the Medical and Engineering schools. An expert in pediatric medicine and biomechanical engineering, she has created the interdisciplinary field of Biomechanical Epidemiology. She spoke at length on the value of the interdisciplinary education at the University and how it helped her receive an $8.7 million research grant from State Farm Insurance to study injuries to children. Ira Winston -- who holds advanced degrees in Computer Science and Systems Engineering from the University -- has been a major contributor to information technology at the University. He noted that implementation of technology in the learning environment has brought about great change in the University. Both students and faculty at the dinner jested about their "e-mail addictions." "Sometimes it freaks people out when they write you a message at 3:00 and you respond at 3:05," Ira Winston joked. The conversation became a heated discussion about new teaching methods -- such as "distance learning" -- when Ira Winston noted that technology is transforming education. English Professor John Richetti, a Van Pelt resident, said he thinks such methods -- which include videoconferencing -- undermine the value of classroom lectures. "Lecture is a mind, body and person in action," he said. "There is no substitute for a human presence." And Engineering and College junior Sameer Merchant noted that "human interaction is a necessary part of the learning process. At times interaction with the students is even more important than that with the professor." Flaura Winston mediated the debate -- which occurred over chicken and pasta -- explaining that education should not be merely "a transfer of a body of knowledge. "Education is about the approach," she said. "The lecture is to find out how things are taught. You come to Penn to learn about the greatness of the person."