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 16: Advisory Meeting #2

Content:

Just like you did for answer 1 and the objectives for Purther's textbook work for answer 2 post:

EQ: How best can an organization like FIRST keep students K-12 interested in STEM?

Answer 2: FIRST's progression of STEM programs spanning from K - 12th grade and beyond provide a constant outlet for kids to express their interest in STEM

1. Students usually lose interest in STEM topics in the 4th grade grade. FIRST provides a program known as Junior FIRST Lego League which provides kids with opportunities to engage in STEM activities between the ages of 6 through 9 and then the second in the progression of programs is the FIRST Lego League.

2. Two STEM programs from FIRST span from 7th - 12th grade and these critical programs help graduating high school students determine if they would like to acquire a degree in a STEM related area.

3. With 4 separate programs that build upon each other and use the skills that students learn in school to better help their understanding of engineering concepts as well as management; FIRST is able to maintain interest for their student population throughout their schooling years.

The research source (s) to support your details and answer

Paul, Richard. "Research Study of STEM Programs for Improved Retention, Progression, and Graduation (part 1)." WAMC. Northeast Public Radio, 1 Feb. 2008. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. <http://wamc.org/post/research-study-stem-programs-improved-retention-progression-and-graduation-part-1>.
What's FIRST? Perf. FIRST Robotics. Youtube.com. Official FIRST, 11 May 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7k5IxsixO4>.
Fairweather, James. Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Undergraduate Education. N.p.: Michigan State Univeristy, n.d. Print

Concluding Sentence
FIRST provides a progression of programs that allows students to gain an interest in STEM. Their progression of programs begins at the Kindergarten level where they have 2 programs, then at the 7th - 12th grade level they have 2 more programs that are guides in undergraduate study selection and finally, all 4 programs work together in succession to create a complete program spanning all years of a students learning career.

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

I thought my activities were well thought out and they had the entire class immersed. I also made sure to tie everything back to the EQ and my answer and i thought that worked out well.

2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I met all the P Requirements first of all. One of the things i think i did really well on was engaging the audience. My hook activity made everybody pull out their phones and send in messages that the whole class could see and it became a fun little game. For my activity, i also set everybody in groups and made them engage in the activity by creating a competition which enticed them to work together on creating balloon cars to race against one another. For the Audience Involvement criteria, i firmly believe that i was able to backup my EQ with my activity and the hook really caught their attention and held a bit of depth in their mind.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I had a nice and cohesive presentation that tied in well with my activities. My presentation looked good and i made time. My activity was also very interactive and it made for a good followup to my EQ answer.
4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I wasn't as rehearsed as i wish i had been and also the time for my activity was shorter than i anticipated. Some of the stuff i wanted to same didn't come out as eloquently as i had planned and thats mainly because i was just running through the whole presentation for the first time.

5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?  
Answer 2 is going to involve the multi-level STEM program progression, or basically how the multiple levels of STEM programs provides good interest in STEM.