School News

A Lifetime of Investigation

Matthew Simonson ’95 returned to the Lowell campus on Friday, January 5, 2018 to talk to Dave Levy’s 6th grade humanities classes about his recent research. Matthew, a PhD student in network science at Northeastern University, has focused on understanding social networks among tribes in Uganda, measuring the extent to which governments in various African countries use road networks to control their populations, and using social networks in rural India to expand access to family planning.

After brief introductions, 6th graders discovered that Dave and Matthew graduated from Lowell only one year apart. Upon this discovery, students excitedly started guessing who was older. “Let’s conduct a survey," Matthew said, seizing the opportunity, "and we’re going to do the survey scientifically. Close your eyes.” He then had students raise their hands if they thought Dave was older, and once again if they thought he was older.

Most surveyed thought Dave was older (he is), but that was beside the point. What mattered was what came next. Matthew asked, “Why did I ask you to close your eyes?” Without hesitation, students put their finger on it—peer pressure could influence the way they answered.

These are the kinds of dynamics that fascinate Matthew—why people behave the way they do. Specifically, his research is focused on understanding the role of networks in ethnic conflict and international development, but you can tell from the way he leads a class, he is always a social scientist, studying whoever is in front of him—even his students!

Class activities included analyzing social networks diagrams of family and friends. He asked the students: How many of your connections overlap with connections of other students in the class? How many connections are the same gender vs. different genders? (One student noted, “Mine are all male.”) Who is not in your network? Matthew used the exercise as a jumping off point to talk about his research on the way social networks affect communication between Ugandan tribes.

One class took part in a game called "prisoner's dilemma," a famous game developed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher that tests the degree to which participants cooperate or act in their own self-interest. The students did not choose to cooperate in this short exercise, and Matthew showed them just how cooperation could have benefitted both sides.

During discussions, 6th graders immediately grasped the differences (and overlap) between lab sciences and social sciences and were eager to share their views on the importance of research ethics and informed consent. Reflecting on his experience, Matthew described Lowell students to be just as he remembers: "curious, excited to learn, not afraid to politely critique or hedge my statements, and eager to offer up their theories and hypotheses about social influence and political violence."

Undoubtedly, Matthew's visit made an impact on these 6th graders who got a glimpse of how their current studies could lead to a lifetime of investigation.
Lowell School is a private PK-8th grade school located in NW Washington, DC. Our mission is to create an inclusive community of lifelong learners in which each individual is valued and respected.