Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

For my block presentation, the fact that it went better than I could have possibly imagined (to be fair, I could only think of the worst of scenarios) is something that I'm not only proud of, but it's something I will cherish. Last night, I had virtually no sleep, running only on naps and Vietnamese coffee (intense stuff), because I was so anxious about the presentation that I wrote a script. I felt I would not be able to pull off a natural, non-choppy presentation if I tried to "wing" it as they say, but I was having so much trouble rehearsing and time was running out. So I did the script, and I had laid it down in the center desk of Holt's classroom when I was setting everything up.

When the time came and the proverbial spotlight was on me, I totally blanked out -- on the script, that is. I had totally forgotten that I left it there, and by some miraculous force that is sleep deprivation and half a Xanax, I was able to speak more confidently, and I just went into the flow. I was not flawless, obviously, but I'm proud that I didn't have to look at the script and for the most part, I was able to just express myself without thinking about it. I'm also proud that I made time, but I didn't rush. I paced myself and tried not to roadrunner my speech.

Senior Project? Everything. I'm so proud of how I developed my independent component, and how much I improved in terms of presentation from the first one to this final one. I feel most proud of this presentation out of all of them.


(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE. I feel that, of the senior presentation/lessons we have had throughout this year, my final presentation was my best one. It's not just that I did it proficiently this time, but I'll admit that it was also a vast improvement from my previous two lessons. When I did receive feedback on what I could have done better, I really took them to heart and tried to avoid this this around.

That's just a personal take though. Objectively, I think I executed the presentation really well. Before, I had the issue of being 1) not engaging the audience enough and 2) having a very static posture. I actively avoided this today. First of all, I already planned out having a couple of slides where I would ask the audience a question (e.g. giving them a chance to guess what the Answers to my EQ were) and just addressing them in general. I also made sure to be very liberal with my hand gestures and tried pacing a little as well (not as much as I would have liked, but it was adequate). Speaking fast was another issue that I tried to amend by simply being more conscious about my words. The fact that I was running on 3 hours of sleep might have been another factor as to why I was just generally slower.

Content-wise, I definitely supplied my answers with a lot of research and mentorship experience. As a method of consistently keeping the audience's attention, I made sure to bring up examples that the audience could relate to. Post-presentation, there were several who approached me about how much they liked my presentation, and I have never felt so honored.

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE. I had a blast with Senior Project. I absolutely loved working on both my independent components, and I'm proud as to how much I improved my presentation/lessons. 

I will start of by admitting that my first two lessons were not the best. In fact, taking account of the grades, one of them wasn't even considered proficient. At the time I received the feedback, however, I was surprised even at myself as to how well I was taking it. I took much of Mr. Holt's advice in his evaluation to heart, and tried my best to integrate methods and cues to avoid repeating my mistakes in my next lesson. It did pay off in this most recent presentation, and I feel that in itself is the best thing. 

I've been doing a lot of back-patting to myself in this blog, but I really, really just want to just embrace what I'm proud of without fear of being judged for it, especially since it's the end of the school year. Though they are not complete per se, I am very proud of the progress I have made in my independent components. Not only did I put a lot of heart into both of them, but the kind of medium they take on (a video game) lends a lot of opportunity to demonstrate the effort I put into them. Just to refresh: my IC #1 was designing an educational game that tackled mental illness, and my IC #2 was basically putting that design into motion by developing the game. 


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

Everything? There were struggles, I'll admit, especially in the presentation/lesson department. But I tried to push myself to do better, and I think that's what counts the most. The fact that I was able to improve is a victory in itself; even if I ultimately bomb the presentation, I'll be content as long as I know that I did BETTER. I'm proud of the effort I put into my independent components. Although I've dedicated more than 30 hours on it, the project I have listed as my 2nd IC is actually not completed, and I hope to finish it soon for my House to play.


(4) (What didn't work) 

If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

Arguably the worst parts of my senior project was every fumble I had in the presentations, for both my first and second lessons. In my first lesson, I had blanked out, and made it OBVIOUS. I didn't even try to hide it and it just made everything awkward. My 2nd lesson, on the other hand, didn't go that way, but I was speaking so fast that I feel like I seemed to be droning to the audience. Simply put, I would just spend more time practicing on my presentations and executing them. Moreover, even though I did fine in the presentation, I would have liked to make it aesthetically more pleasing. My EQs were displayed on pieces of paper that simply lay on the tables, instead of something more professional like placards or a giant poster.


(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.
This project helped me explore a topic I considered but never really felt obligated to dive into. Game design has always been a wishful thinking type of goal for me. It encompassed many of the things I love to do (writing, art, programming) and I thought that it was amazing that there was a career like this that existed. As a result of this project, however, I was pushed to step out of my comfort zone, trying to connect with highly-esteemed strangers who would eventually help me in the best ways one can imagine. Specifically, I would like to bring up my mentors: Tracy Fullerton, Sean Bouchard, and Elizabeth Swensen. They are all part of USC, which boasts the highest-ranked game design program in the country, which in itself makes being accepted in the program hard to get into. 

But, thanks to mentorship, Clerisse and I were not just faceless applicants when the time came to try for the program. Our mentors had not only seen what were capable of making (which, admittedly, weren't that great), but how passionate we were in doing it. To be honest, I think the fact that they were able to personally witness our passion that most applicants would normally be unable to demonstrate. Consequently, we made it into the program, and it's where we will be going this fall. 

Blog 18: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?
How can we maximize player learning experience in educational video games with minimal expense to the entertainment? 

2.  What is your first answer? 
One of the most crucial methods to ensure an educational game has an enjoyable learning environment is by designing it to have intergenerational gameplay wherein multiple age groups can interact with one another in a positive manner.

3.  What is your second answer?
For the player to gain the most out of their playing experience, a game designer should program their games with an adaptative system so that that the player be able to change  variables and learn by observing the consequences of their manipulations.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

-  Oregon Trail would hardly be compelling if it didn’t matter whether you had more doctors than farmers on board, or began with 50 or 30 pounds of food. Part of what makes the game entertaining is that players get to observe what happens if they tinker with the variables. Not only is this fun (because you get to make decisions), but it also encourages systemic thinking, which is at the heart of productive cognitive work.

- In my most recent interview with my mentor, I had gotten this answer: In terms of the actual gameplay of a game for learning, an educational game is better when there is no obvious right and wrong answer as there might be on something in a quiz. Rather, the game gives a range of variables the player can mess with and, through the consequences and changes that they experience, understand the system through that.

- In Feed the Fox, a game prototype developed by Muzzy Lane and Knewton, students construct food webs in various biomes to learn about species classification, the environmental pressures different biomes present, and how organisms are related in an ecosystem. Each student action in the game gives Knewton a hint about one, or perhaps several, of her conceptual understandings (or misunderstandings).

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/24/making-educational-games-is-tough-especially-if-you-want-to-make-money/

6.  What other source supports your answer?

http://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/08SA.pdf 
http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/pdf/media/video_games_metaphor_dubbels.pdf
https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/ed-tech/educational-game-1/

http://edepositireland.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/39164/Adaptive%20Educational%20Games%20-%20Providing%20Non-invasive%20Personalised%20Learning%20Experiences.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/adaptive-learning/adaptive-learning-and-game-content-bridging-gaps-to-engage-students-2/

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

We learn best not by getting things correct, but by making mistakes. Video games allow free range of possibilities that would be harder to achieve in real life. We can learn more with video games by taking advantage of the idea that video games can act as a "sandbox" and we can learn the consequences without experiencing the consequences of things.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I am actually quite proud of both my hook and activity, both of which were Twine games that I made myself. Not only did I take an extremely long time in coding them, but from what I can tell, both were very funny and very enjoyable to the audience. Moreover, there was actually quite of number of unforeseen pickles during the beginning of the presentation, but I feel I reacted appropriately by moving past them instead of fretting over it during the presentation (namely, that I couldn't properly put my PowerPoint on full screen). I have tested it over and over again in my own computer, and it worked totally fine, and I don't believe I should be held accountable for the PowerPoint malfunctioning on that point .

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

     b.  Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I don't think I had any trouble with volume and enunciation, as well as body language and eye contact. I made sure to face the audience at all times. Unfortunately, because of the technical difficulties, which required me to stay on the editing mode of the PowerPoint, I tended to be close to the computer because I would have to constantly click on the correct slide since I couldn't simply go to the next one with tap on the SmartBoard. I 

I did not necessarily have props, nor did I really need any in my presentation. My Senior Project activity was actually a game that I made (http://www.philome.la/flitchera/do-your-activity/play) and I think it was creative and I spent a lot of time on it. The game allowed each player to have alternate routes in the story to play, and I debriefed the idea of teaching a lesson/moral and how that applies to educational games. 

Most of my research is adequate, and I feel like I gave enough support to validate my EQ answer.

I believe my powerpoint was aesthetically pleasing, but it was very very unfortunate that I could not "full screen" it. However, at the very least, I feel like I was able to capture the attention of the class at the beginning, which required a lot of interaction with them.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I am sure that I was able to teach the audience something new about my topic, introducing the relatively new genre in educational video games such as intergenerational game play. In addition, both my hook and activity games produced the humorous reaction I had hoped from the audience, and I'm glad because they honestly took quite a long time to make.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

Ohhh my GOD, I would change absolutely so many things, but honestly, I don't know how I could avoid them even if I did go back in time. I had run into technical difficulties with my PowerPoint at the beginning, which wouldn't go "full screen" and I had to resort to playing my presentation in the editing mode. The only thing I would commend about this moment is that I made sure not to dwell on it much when I realized what was happening. I was afraid of wasting more time, so I just kept going. I would also manage my time better; I spoke for nearly 11-12 minutes, which cut down my time in the activity.

I had briefly forgotten to set up my EQ at the beginning of the presentation but remembered to place it when I reached the slide that announced what it was. Nevertheless it was mortifying and unprofessional.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

During my presentation, I had shown the audience an educational game example that I once played, and I mentioned that it was a wonderful game because when I played it as a child, I didn't even realize it was an educational game. I was immersed in the game, and this gives me the idea for another answer, which is that educational games should be designed to not look like educational games.

Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why? 

If I had to decide, I was quite proud of the beginning of my presentation - the hook as well as the starting portion of the foundation lecture content. I thought my hook - which was to have a volunteer come from the audience and name the colors of color-coded words without actually reading them - was a bit creative in that it the connection between it and my video game design topic wasn't obvious.  The activity was meaningful to me, too; I didn't think of it until I was re-listening to the 2nd interview with my mentor Tracy Fullerton and recalled her advice on game designers needing dual-thinking (intuitive and technical) to succeed. I didn't actually make the chart, but it was something I remembered pertaining to left-right-brain clashing and realized that it suited Tracy's words. 

Personally, despite my extreme nervousness, I felt I was able to start off strong by being able to segue between the hook and my initial idea about rapidly shifting brain processes. I used the same examples my mentor had used to help me understand the idea, which was to have someone ask themselves, "How is this supposed to feel?" and "How can I implement this?" because that was the 


2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

P. While I would love to say that I deserved an AE, I would be lying if I did. Besides a rather unusual hook and a few strong points and references to my mentors, I didn't really do anything extraordinary. My only defense of this is that, having a topic that relies a lot on virtual media, there's was not much I could convey with visuals, and so I was limited to what I could only remember. Of course, there were other ways I could have more cleverly weaved some visuals in (see 3.) 

Based on the component contract, I feel I did manage to fulfill most spaces in the P range, including volume/enunciation, body language/eye contact, at least 2 published source citations, mentorship and/or interview referenced, and everything that falls in the category of "P Consideration".  The rest, I'll admit, are questionable, but I still don't believe I did anything straight-up terrible.

(I'm scraping gum here, but I would also like to add that I was one of the first people to present).


3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

OH BOY. For one, I would definitely make sure not to admit my faltering moments by apologizing in the middle of my presentations, and I would do more to hide my nervousness when I couldn't grasp what my next point would be. I had practiced my presentation with something akin to a script because I was terrified of not making time; if we were under less time constraints, I would have been much more open with just explaining things as I went. 

I also wish I had more visuals, even if they were just screenshots of photos of me in my mentorship with my three mentors and a photo of the board game activity I had mentioned. It would have added depth into it without violating any of the rubric requirements.

We were told that it's better to not make time but to have not relied on guides than if we made time but depended on them a little too much. While I was able to make time without the use of guides, I feel that next time I'll make sure to have my lesson plan on the side for EXTREME EMERGENCIES. I'll definitely try to not rely on it in my next presentation at all as I had done with this one, but after experience that dreaded "brain fart" moment that I had today, I want to avoid that even if it means just glancing back at a piece of paper. It's not so much that I had little material that I couldn't fill it in in the segment of time where I was silent, but because I had lost track of where I had been in the sort of "script" I had been practicing on. In fact, in most of my practice sessions I had before, I would too often go over the time limit and so I cut down my material dramatically. I'll admit here also that the reason I had frozen up was due to me looking at the stopwatch on the I-Pad. I wasn't sure if that 8 minutes that it seemed to be one was for the entire lecture that I had commenced or if it was just for my foundation lecture content (and it was at this thought I panicked). 

Transitions also troubled me in the presentation. In my rehearsals, which would involve me occasionally side-eyeing my Lesson Plan, I knew exactly how I needed to transition between my ideas. But in the actual presentation, I began to zigzag with my mental script and couldn't remember what my transitions had been, especially because I had nothing to guide me. Again, the time constraint was what obligated me to the script approach with this presentation which I now regret, and I feel I would have been able to have natural transitions if I had done this any other way.