Investigation Reflection

In the investigation proccess of this project I have worked very hard in investigating and looking for a solution to the problem of teaching a 6th grader how to use and understand the design cycle. I would rate myself a 5 on the design cycle rubric because I have explained the problem under the questions that we cut and copied onto our blog. I think I did a really good job investigating because I looked at two resources and I tested both of them and calculated which tool would be better to use by rating it on a one to five rubric that consists of measureing simplicity, passwords, and accessability.  Then I reflected on which would be the better tool, and I choose one based on my ratings in the two rubrics. The only reason why I have rated myself a five and not a six was because I was unable to gain accessability into my first resource because they gave me a password that was hard to type in and help me access the account I had to create in order to use that tool, and if I get to do this project in the future, I would try harder to gain accessability into the first tool. I am now currently working on brainstorming three different design specifications for the tool that I have choosen, and it is realy coming along so far.

Brainstorming Designs

ARCADE GAME DESIGNS  

DESIGN 1:
Arcade game on all sections of the design cycle rubric- investigate, plan, create, evaluate- including questions about and order of the design cycle rubric http://classtools.net/widgets/quiz_5/isoTw.htm
(design 1 screen shot)

DESIGN 2:
Arcade game on actual design cycle - including trivia on content and what should be expected from each step in the design cycle http://classtools.net/widgets/quiz_6/50Qyi.htm
                                                                              
                                                                 (design 2 screen shot)  

                                                

DESIGN 3:
Arcade game on on only content included in design cycle
http://www.classtools.net/widgwets/quiz_5/isoTw.htm



(design 3 screen shot)

Now that I have brainstormed three designs for an arcade game that I am going to create using the Class Tools game-creating program, looking at these designs, I think it would only be reasonable to go with design 2 because it included a lot of the topics I am hoping to cover while creating this game, while design 1 would be on the design cycle rubric- and I think that the sixth graders first need to look at and understand the design cycle before they are explained the rubric. Design 3 doesn't include a lot of the topics that I am hoping to cover while I create this arcade game. I think that I will be creating design 2 because  it relates more to the problem that I was assigned to search for a solution for- to teach a 6th grader what the design cycle is and how they can apply it. (Note-All games are set on default so that the 6th grader can choose what game they want to play, but with the same questions for each design) http://www.classtools.net/widgwets/quiz_5/isoTw.htm

PLAN:

14. Brainstorm ideas. Use the chart below 

My three ideas were a game on the design cycle rubric, a game on design cycle content, and a game on just explaining the design cycle and what its all about. 

IB Brainstorming Chart .pdf found in schoology under “materials”& then files

15. What idea did you choose to demonstrate the design cycle and why did you choose it?

I chose to demonstrate the design cycle in an arcade game because I think that 6th graders would be more attracted to an arcade game than to a poster bard or a slideshow presentation.

16. Does your idea meet all of the requirements?

Yes because I have met the objective of finding an effective way to teach 6th graders about the design cycle.

17. Use the story board paper below to plan your presentation.  Include how many levels you will have, what will be on each level, how will you include teaching skills to young students, and what will your questions be about.

story board.pdf found in schoology under “materials” & then files.

18. Explain how you will use your time to get your project finished in 12 days:

In another one of my posts I made a gant chart to help me estimate the amount of time it would take me to do everything, and to make sure that I will be making effective use of my time.

REFLECT on your learning

In this project I have been able to learn about how to effectively use hyperlinks in my blog and how to take screen shots which can be really helpful and benefit me not only in this project but in future projects as well.

Class Tools- Rubric

                              

      Class tools is very easy and simple to use and get into. I'm sure that anyone can figure out how to use it, easily.

            For my rating in simplicity, I gave class tools a 5 because it is really simple to use. As soon as you get there you start typing your trivia questions and answers so that you can then have them processed into a game of your choice.

             On passwords I rated class tools a 4 because you can make up your own password to save your game to, which makes it all the more simpler, but I'm not to sure how accurate or private this method will be.

             On accessibility I rated class tools a 5 because all you need to access class tools is the URL. And as soon as you get there the steps and instructions are pretty simple and straightforward. Class tools is very easy to access and I think that because of all of these categories, class tools got an overall high score.

Purpose Games- Rubric

         Purpose Games seems simple yet professional at first sight. When you first try to create a game though, you must create an account. After going through the process of creating a user name, you will then have to insert your e-mail adress to which you will be sent a password.
                 I gave the simplicity a 3 because it seemed like it be kinda easy to understand, but you'd need to make sure that you knew what you were doing.                                                                                       I gave the passwords a 1 because even though you were e-mailed your own individual password, you had to go back and forth between your e-mail account and your game account, and the password that was e-mailed to you was long and complicated and hard to understand and type in.                                   I also gave it a 1 on  accessibility because unfortunetly I was unable to access it myself and therefore purpose games got an overall low rating.

  

Day 2- Investigation Reflection

   Today I researched an arcade game. I found two different types of games- one at http://www.purposegames.com/create and one at http://www.classtools.net/education-games-php/quiz. The create a game tool at purpose games was one that I was not able to get into because the usage of that tool requires you to have an account and an e-mail address where it will e-mail a password to you. I saw that it was very difficult to simply get in because the password they sent me was long and complicated and the log-in wouldn't take it. The tool at class tools was much more simpler and easier to use because as soon as you get there you can begin creating without having to make an account, and if you want to save it or you don't want anyone else to edit it, then you can create your own password and save it, which helps using this tool much easier. I think in the end I will have to use class tools even though purpose games looks much more advanced because class tools is easier to use and also easier to access.

Area of Interaction: Community and Service , Approaches to Learning & Human Ingenuity

Significant Concept: Design Cycle can be used to solve problems

Unit Question: How can my learning help my community? How do I make Sound Choices?

INVESTIGATE: (Write in complete sentences) Identify the Problem

1. What is the problem you need to solve? Explain to a 6^th grader what the design cycle is all about by creating a presentation. (3d, PPT, movie, game, Poster)

2. How does the Design Cycle apply to the real world? In the real world, the design cycle is used on a daily basis. People need the design cycle to be able to create things such as buildings and projects.

3. How will this project serve my community? It will show 6th graders how to use the design cycle, which in turn will help them to create their own projects and to develop their own creative ideas.

4. How can my learning help my community? My goal, essentially, is to go to college, which helps my community because I will come back to my community and be able to give back as a successful adult.

5. How do we live in relation to each other? We are all able to contribute to the community- which makes it certain that we all need one another, helping us live in relation to one another.

6. How does this help others? Hopefully this project on the design cycle will contribute to the community by helping others (mostly 6th graders) to understand how to use the design cycle.

7. What are the requirements for this assignment? We are required to update our blogs on our progress and also record all the steps we take so that they can be reviewed on the evaluate stage in our blogs.

8. What is the Design Cycle? The design cycle is a process used to create things. It can be used to do a number of things, such as presentations, and even in real life- such as architecture.

REFLECT on your learning.

Day 2

9. Spend one day experimenting with DESIGN CYCLE your presentation. List five things your learned about the Design Cycle: Your first step HAS to be to investigate, because you can't just jump into things and start creating. Also, planning is the key step because it helps you and your teacher understand what you are doing and it helps make sure that there are no misunderstandings and that everything is falling into place correctly. Planning also involves coming up with different designs which is really helpful to both student and teacher.

Day 3

Design Brief

10. Write a short statement of what you are going to make, why you are going to make it, and for whom you are making it. I plan to make an arcade game because it is more interactive and I think learning is easier when they are using the tool and learning. I'm making it to help 6th graders unerstand hoe to use the design cycle.

Formulate a Design Specification

11. What are the requirements for this assignment? For this assignment I have to make the design easy to understand for a 6th grader, and my presentation should be at least 2 minutes long.

12. What are the limitations you have with this assignment? We have to find a way to describe and explain the design cycle in a short amount of time because we have a two minute limitatio.

13. How will you "test" your presentation? I will create a survey with questions such as how effective it was with helping them study the design cycle and wether or not they would use it again, and if they would recommend it to a friend, as well as queations on simplicity and accessability.

REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING