Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
Im most proud of my activities. I felt they were the best in engaging the audience and they correlated well with my answer. My hook activity involved technology and it helped bring everyone in. My actual activity was a great way to support my best answer.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

P

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

P

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

About two months before the end, i really began organizing myself and getting back on track. The research towers were kind of important to show me that i really didnt have much information to work with. So i worked harder after that.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

My research at the beginning of the year was mostly useless. I wish i would have known we were researching answers for our project. Then i would have focused more on doing correct research that mattered.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

The senior project has helped me realize what i want to do in college. Through my mentorship with the iPoly broncos, i realized that i want to do work with my hands and with technology. Specifically when we built things in mentorship, it was a fun experience and i really wanted to continue doing it. 

Senior project has also gotten me a lot of connections to people in high places within the FIRST robotics organization. Through component 2, where i volunteered for the competitions, i was able to meet people such as Liz Niametz who is the coordinator for many of the programs in this area. 

Overall i learned a lot about my topic and it really seems that much more important to me now.

Blog 21: Mentorship

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place

Joey Uken

josephuken@gmail.com

(510)396-7674.

I-Poly Robotics Team (Formerly, Inland Empire Broncos Team 7258)

    Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

         The most important thing i gained IS the experience. To speak about the effectiveness of a FIRST robotic program in aiding students to become more adept in STEM fields means i have to understand how these programs work. I went through the programs so that i may know how they operate, what types of teaching they employ, and to understand the thought process of students who go through the programs. I now know that the programs work effectively because of the team structure and the use of projects to better further the STEM interest for these students. I myself found it fun to work with many different minds on creating things using our engineering skills and our hands on approach was very effective in making me want to participate in STEM fields. It is a completely different environment when you really look forward to meeting with your team and working on a new part of a robot or thinking of cool ideas to implement and i now know of the effectiveness of teams and working in them as well as being hands on in a project based format. 

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

          My mentorship has helped my answer three. Answer three involves the 4 C's, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and cooperation. These 4 C's are components of project and group based learning and working in a team and experiencing the team format with my own eyes is a very different experience from reading about it. I can now cite my own experience in these FIRST STEM programs as a useful primary source albeit my objectivity might now be completely solid. I was already interested in STEM fields before i joined the robotics team and it only helped me solidify what i want to do with the rest of my life which also helps reference answer 2.

Grading Criteria (May 13^th)

• 50 hours completed (50 from the academic year)

• LIA response (submitted to your blog)

• Essential question connection