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Design Process
"The Life of a Project", from Austin McKleon's Show Your Work.
From "What do I want to show them?" to "What do they want to know?" Click on the image above to see my initial prototype.
The audience I kept in mind as I began my design process was my colleagues. Assuming that my work could influence or change their practice feels presumptuous- I'm relatively new to this still- but I liked the idea that sharing what I've learned may shed some light on the struggle my colleagues and I share in making PBL "work" for Common Core.
What do my colleagues need? Time. Simplicity. Clarity. No small task, considering the requirements of a master's capstone and the reality that if things are too wordy, users will usually skip to the next image. My initial idea for creating a resource was to develop something that begins with the implications of my research, and then branches off from there (as illustrated in my diagram below). For example, two implications from my action research were to keep close reads in the PBL routine, as well as scaffold reading, writing, and time for students who lack self-regulation skills. Teachers could begin with the implications, and if they're interested, "stick around" for supporting research and resources.  Click on the link above to read more about my design analysis
The texts I read for EDUC 791 shaped the way I wanted to design my capstone. For example, the design principles set out in Bobbe Baggio's book could help to streamline the most important information (implications) first in a poster or other visual created for my colleagues. Additionally, Ruth Clark's work encouraged me to be more picky in my choice and design of graphic organizers (a scaffold) and project-on-a-page; models might be a good resource to provide for colleagues. Also, in regards to Clark, an example and non-example of scaffolds or PBL development could be useful. Lastly, Linda Dervin's study on sensemaking made me want to frame my capstone from the context of, "What do people want to know?" rather than, "What do I want to show them?"
A word about pictures: Logo design process
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Research
Support and Next Steps
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My colleagues were instrumental in the logo design process. Analysis of well known logos echoed what I learned from Bobbe Baggio and Ruth Clark: less is more. White Space Is Not Your Enemy also had useful insight on font stylings. My final logo came as a happy accident. I was toying with different versions of two clasped hands after my peers let me know that my first sets of hands looked like gang signs. (No joke!) Using Creative Commons, I stumbled upon the image of two old-fashioned hands pointing at one another. I spent some time experimenting with the image and a few words, and asked the group for feedback. The response was unanimous: use the old fashioned hands! What really resonated with me is that many colleagues commented that "It just looks like you," and "It's got your personality." I know that sounds like we were shopping for a puppy, but the very personal feedback I received got me motivated to modify the two hands into my final logo.
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