Samples of Development Work
Collaborative problem-solving game design
The Monster Mystery Challenge was a design project for EDIT 6190 at the University of Georgia. The online synchronous game is meant to enhance middle school students’ communication skills and feelings of social affinity by engaging in collaborative problem-solving. The idea is to introduce students to collaboration skills without introducing new content to prepare them for PBL in the classroom. However, I think the game design can be used in a domain specific context, connecting to the students’ future learning experiences. Creating this game design was a great experience. I learned to try simple approaches, like using paper and pencil, to have the flexibility to change design ideas quickly. I also appreciated learning how to develop and research continuously throughout the process. The purpose and potential uses for the game continue to develop as does the design.
CMCVT: Civic Media Center
Volunteer Training
The Civic Media Center Volunteer Training (CMCVT) was a project I completed for EME 6609 at the University of Florida. The Civic Media Center (CMC) is a non-profit organization in Gainesville, Florida. The CMC volunteers are vital to its sustainability and operations; however, training was very inconsistent and inefficient. To create this training program, I developed a needs assessment to identify learning objectives by surveying the board of directors, staff, and volunteers. I then performed a task analysis for each objective. I designed the instruction and created a PowerPoint presentation with instruction for the presenter and a workbook for participants. I implemented the training program twice for formative evaluation. The products linked here are my final product. Although I included a volunteer survey in my needs assessment, if I were to do this project again I would take the time to do follow-up interviews and try to elicit more responses. The current training program was focused mainly on what the CMC staff and board of directors wanted volunteers to know.
