A number of people were confused by the setup, with some comments stating there were too many materials, some about general lack of direction, and concern about the organization of the space; some people were unsure how to use the wood pieces; a few people appreciated the signage.
I will take the feedback I received after my presentation into consideration. I will include in the signage portion of the curriculum the image from my PowerPoint. I tried to use the opportunity in class to explore a somewhat alternative setup, one that might reflect a design challenge with leeway. I thought that it would be fun to see what people could make around a particular theme with little to no definitive template or guidebook on how to get there.
Accessibility
People felt that the activity was accessible but that the learning goal was unclear.
Practices
People felt that the activity allowed for social and emotional engagement, critical thinking skills, initiative and intentionality, as well as creativity. The selected learning practices did vary from person-to-person.
Learning Goals
People derived very unique learning goals despite a general lack of direction, prompts, or instructions:
Ron
“Make a puzzle, solve a riddle, build a toothpick sculpture, color”
Sam S
“Setting one’s own goal, planning out process and changing ideas based on goals, connecting projects to personal interests/experiences”
Matthew
“Exploring and creativity in puzzles and riddles”
Kevin
“Maybe that puzzles need to be solvable. I imagine that kids might want to make impossibly hard puzzles, but those aren’t ! Also about working backwards.”
Danielle T
“Shapes for young guests, younger guests might learn what Tetris is!”
Sophia
“Riddle book - social and emotional engagement, working in teams, toothpicks, foam pieces - responding aesthetically to materials/creativity
KJ
“Riddle book - social engagement, engaging in argument, using math + computational thinking, great for adults! Critical thinking?”
Destiny
“Have guests create their own puzzles, explore using materials in a new way, practice engaging with riddles and puzzles, learn different types”
Danielle H
“Added after presentations: so much learning potential here now that I understand it’s about making puzzles - scale, measuring, etc”
Tarah
“I see problem solving as a very key learning outcome, and the presence of making tools makes me think that creative making/self-expression/exposure to a new process is intended - however, with this setup, I did not feel equipped to make something new.”
Comments
Some comments suggested I simplify the goals and intention. People also mentioned the multiple entry points are helpful but aren’t quite clear.
Reflection
Overall, I think I’ll simplify the activity.
I initially wanted to allow for making, tinkering, or playing—or all of the above! But I think I will change the curriculum so that it’s primarily making puzzles, in order to provide better direction. I'm still doubtful that I want to remove the tinkering or playing aspects.
I wanted people to be able to freely create, but I think someone else posed the concern (it was Ron) that it might end up as an arts and crafts project. And if I do decide to keep these aspects, maybe I'll provide better guidelines and examples on the whiteboard, so that people don’t get overwhelmed. However, I think the theme of the activity is quite low-risk and accessible so that people would be inclined to attempt something regardless.
In the curriculum, I’ll rework the signage and setup portions. A few people didn’t notice the cardboard, so I’ll rearrange the materials to be more clear. Also, I’ll try to find better pictures for signage that demonstrate potential puzzles that can be made (I ran out of time that morning and wasn’t able to print proper examples). I think I’ll try to mention a better riddle book too, because the one provided was a little more complex with some answers being disputable.
Maybe choosing specific puzzles that can be made is another aspect I’ll change in the curriculum, again I'm unsure about this. Or, as Tarah mentioned, I can prompt the creation process of those specific puzzles better.
I appreciate the preliminary run of the activities; it’s helpful for putting the final touches on the curriculum.
I agree that simple and direct signage would help with the directive. And maybe focus on prompting making 3 different kinds of puzzles: jigsaw puzzle, square tetris puzzle, and tangrams with a sample of each.
ReplyDeleteI think Ron brought up a good point during your presentation, which is that there were almost enough activities to fill the whole workshop! That's a good problem to have, but the challenge now is pairing down and focusing to provide clarity.
I think adding the pictures from the Powerpoint will be great. That could be how you pare down/focus the activity. The main challenge could be design a puzzle. That way they can still be creative in how they assemble the shapes, but it is simple enough to be achievable in a short amount of time. But I like that you want people to be able to tinker and explore the possibilities of different kinds of puzzles. I think it's important to provide tools for people to go further if they want to, but I can see how it almost turns into multiple activities. However, I like that people get to make connections between jigsaw puzzles and others. That's why I think emphasizing one aspect of the activity might be a way of having the best of both worlds - it can be a single activity/options to explore more
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