Overview

After the first Field Visit at the Middle School where information was gathered about the environment and workings of the Middle Schoolers, the PDI group took their prototype, activity, and overall idea to the students of Fall 2017 Studio 5. Due to factors such as limit of time and materials, there was not 25 prototyping toolkits for each PDI student to demonstrate. However, there was a studio with a back room where the students are comfortable working that would be sufficient for the demo.

The demo consisted of two parts: a prototype activity and a short presentation of the field visit with discussion.

In order to simulate what the middle schoolers went through during their activity, the studio V group designed a short prototyping exercise for the PDIers to capitalize on the their expertise which included prototyping. The prompt for the activity was to go into the back room which is essentially a giant, walkable prototyping kit, and create something that you wish you had to help you get through the remainder of the semester. Everyone had ten minutes to prototype and then present back to us after. The following notes were taken about what groups participated and what different individuals made. This transitioned into talking about the Field Visit and understanding further information about the activity and prototyping tools the group provided.

Music group

Edwin: pieces together- corn syrup, teapot, cardboard “shelter”

Jenna & Ryan- Brain soaking hat

Matt- Caffeine

Ria- skates and a broom

This group wished they had supplies such as clay due to the ability to tactically create. Additionally, Matt commented that he likes box because all the resources are there. Using his expertise he outlined the thought process of what can he find to make based on what he has versus what he can make and then find the materials.

 

Sports group

Emil- brain with A on it

Jackie- Adderall

This group really struggled with the idea. Email noted that he prefers paper and pen so he can put his ideas from 2D to 3D. He really likes to plan and the group seemed like they needed more time to construct their ideas and plan. Also, they did not seem focused or interested which can account for the lack of prototyping. 

Random people group

Olivia- free pass for finals. Paper plate, pipe cleaners

Lydia- envelope full of As. Paper, scissors

David- Pot of gold, paper plates, pipe cleaners

This group needed the basics like a stapler and tape. Additionally, David sparked some good conversation by asking questions about our activity and providing his thoughts about having the prototyping be a replacement for a quiz or an assessment. He supports our hypothesis that this may be a better evaluation tool but not a replacement from strict content learning. Additionally, we discussed that we don’t know how the students responded exactly after the activity and if they retained the information at all. 

Conclusion

Overall the demo day provided time to get a large range of valuable feedback from our peers who have current expertise a prototypers and PDIers with additional past expertise in being a middle schooler. The notes from the demo day were incorporated into the design of the final prototype in addition to the next steps.