Presentation for Stacy on Nov 7:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FN6yQSfI386_5AY521wvfsgMu-xYGgu9wFgyDU7_AwY/edit?usp=sharing

Reflections:

This week we presented our possible activities and schedules to Stacey to get some experiences and feedback from her. Since we have three activities, we asked which composition of activities would attract students more, and what kind of activities would be better for students at middle school ages.

Our three activities are: 

1. Illustration worksheet
2. Storytelling cards
3. Wearable cultural market

During the Q&A session, Stacey pointed out that the storytelling cards and the cultural market might be more interesting to middle schoolers than the illustration worksheets. From the storytelling elements and the purpose of illustration worksheets, they might work better among elementary schoolers but could be more difficult for the middle school students to take it seriously.

We also got many positive feedback on the culture market where students can share and exchange their products. This would give students a real-world related sense and inspire the students to think about how they can apply it to their real life. The storytelling cards which have a character image on each card would also be attractive for them to carry around. However, Stacey mentioned that it was always difficult to get the kids attention, especially in after-school programs. Professor Piantella suggested that we should keep the electronics part super simple and try to let students apply it to broader contexts.

From the feedback we received from Stacey, the instructors, and others in class, we decided to pick one activity to elaborate and expand more as a matter of time. Since we also found the cultural market idea interesting for the students to share their handmade item and also connect to the constructivism and socio-constructivism learning theories, we decided to go with the wearable cultural market idea. Our team then discussed the learning goal and activities that allow the students to explore the cultures that may connect to their own identity. One important question we received from the class is, “how to account for students/learners who may struggle to identify their identity/culture, e.g., the students who are first and second generations and are in that special place of being both “American” but also have their own roots in various culture?” We found this question really challenging to address, so we decided to keep the culture part more open for the students to explore any culture they are interested in or feel attached to, with some examples of various cultures around the world for their inspirations.

One other aspect we decided to try out was “demystifying technology” through the context of breaking down what our everyday electronic devices are made up of and translating that into the simple circuits we are teaching them to construct. We hope to breakdown what some of the basic features in the devices we use every day and represent them within a simple circuit students can choose to replicate.