BFA Thesis: Think Education System
A BFA thesis project is a year long exploration of a topic of your choice which culminates in weeklong exhibition of your final findings and solution. My thesis focused on education; specifically my objective was to teach students (ages 10-14) the importance of education for future opportunities. After researching many problems associated with the current education system (such as teacher quality, the education system itself, family involvement, etc) I proposed the creation of comprehensive system utilizing multiple forms of communication, media, and educational experiences in order to have the most impact on students.
Think System BFA Show Installation
The purpose of my BFA installation was to create
excitement and provide explanation for my proposed supplemental system of education. I used a combination of hanging and mounted boards to introduce my idea, explain my thesis, and represent the feeling of the actual system. The boards with the orange header provided information on my research and explained my project brief, the problem, and solution. The science and math boards exemplified the subject/topic graphics that would be used in the physical space of the classroom.
Think System Solution: School Installation Space / Educational Experience
Think Education system is a supplemental interactive system that emphasizes the importance of education, and answers students’ questions of “Why do I need to know this?” The idea is similar to a rotating museum exhibition. Each installation is temporary and easily constructed. This allows content to remain current, relevant to students’ curriculum, and maintain the student’s interest. The physical space holds a computer for interactive online learning, physical activities for small group learning before and after class, teacher designated group assignments, and activities for slower or faster learners.
Think System Findings Document
The project findings document represents one year of research, consideration, and completion of a project. In order to arrive at the solution of a comprehensive educational system, I first researched the problems with the current education system, other methods of learning, resources offered to students, the target audience (students ages 10-14), interests of students in this age group, and lastly students’ experiences and remembrances from school.
Think System Solution: Website
Web presence adds another level of engagement and point of interaction for the audience to understand the message of the site, space, and experience. Web presence also allows the program to reach a wider audience. The site’s purpose is to connect information learned in school with its use in everyday life and future careers. Narratives and visuals are used to address just how school and life connect together and why school is important.
The website is clean and contains a simple, thorough, and thoughtful navigation system. The primary navigation consists of three buttons: subjects, career network, and school network. The school network is a customizable section that allows a school’s teachers, counselors, and administrator's to interact with students. Subjects consist of math, science, language arts, etc. Each subject is broken down into tutorials, games, real world, and teacher/faculty pages which are button and scroll bar controlled. The career network is a fun, clean, career database that is searchable by career and subject. Navigation is intiuitive. Information, links to other resources, and images appear after careers and subjects are rolled over.
The website is clean and contains a simple, thorough, and thoughtful navigation system. The primary navigation consists of three buttons: subjects, career network, and school network. The school network is a customizable section that allows a school’s teachers, counselors, and administrator's to interact with students. Subjects consist of math, science, language arts, etc. Each subject is broken down into tutorials, games, real world, and teacher/faculty pages which are button and scroll bar controlled. The career network is a fun, clean, career database that is searchable by career and subject. Navigation is intiuitive. Information, links to other resources, and images appear after careers and subjects are rolled over.
