OUGD601 // Evaluation

COP3 Self Evaluation

In the initial stages of choosing a topic to write about I was torn in my interests between illustration and creativity in primary education.  I decided however that my interest in illustration was not so much something I wanted to carry out a large research project in, but more something I enjoy doing.  With the Primary Education topic I felt that researching into this could really benefit me in the future, as I would like to work with children, not necessarily in schools but moreso extracurricular art classes.  This is something that I could really benefit from doing the Primary Research for as it has helped me gain experience working with children. 

To begin with I was worried about writing such a large research project, but after breaking it down into the chapters it was much easier to cope with.  I never imagined that I would be pushing the top end of the word count and was happily surprised that I had quite a lot to talk about and would have liked to have gone into more depth in parts.  I am however worried about my academic writing skills and hope that this does not bring down the overall module.  I feel like I have worked hard towards this project, especially compared to previous years where I have not taken it so seriously.  I hope this is reflected in my results.

I feel that the whole project comes together nicely, the research that I carried out helped inform the practical outcome and carrying out and thinking about the practical outcome helped inform my writing.  The primary research visit to Amisfield Primary School in Scotland helped greatly in my general understanding, especially regarding what level children were at, at what age, and what they are capable of - this helped inform my practical outcome as I know the children I worked with would probably enjoy the Brain Puzzle which I created and they would also learn from it too.  I am considering giving the Puzzle to the class when I get it back because they will benefit from it more than me.

I have benefited from the project greatly and feel much more confident and knowledgable about a field that I would perhaps like to work in in the future.  Designing for children also meant that there were things to consider, as I have not designed for children before I found it an interesting and exciting challenge.  It would have been good if I had carried out more primary research in regards to the practical element however in the time scale which I gave myself to complete the practical it would have been hard to fit in doing more.

If I could improve the overall project in any way, I would have liked to produce more final outcomes for the practical side and would have started writing the dissertation earlier than the beginning of december as I feel this meant that I lacked receiving much feedback as I finished writing the first draft over the Christmas break.   

Final Photo's from Shoot

Brain Puzzle // Design Boards

Final Shots of Completed Brain Puzzle for Primary School Age Children

 Here are the final images of what the 'Brain Puzzle' should look like after its been completed by the players.  

The original idea was to attach the symbols to the puzzle with velcro dots.  After trying this out, I decided that it was unnecessary and didn't really work with the layout of the puzzle.  Without the velcro, the children will be able to put the parts on either side of the brain with ease and not depending on where the velcro dots are.

Brain Puzzle Instructions

Brain Puzzle Instructions

Instruction Manual for Teachers/ Parents

The instruction manual must be simple - not too text heavy.  The user should be able to pick up the instructions and be able to lead a small team of children through the puzzle.  The manual has enough information on it to understand the aim of the game. 

Below are images of the progression/ development of the design. 

The 3 brains could resemble the idea of "brains working together" reflecting teamwork.

Painting the Brain

Not the best quality photographs but you can see here the process of painting the brain.  I used spray paint as it dries quickly and also works perfect for stencilling.  I really enjoyed creating and using the stencil and feel like I could do some form of stenciling in my work in the future.