GroundUP Meera Ravi, Michiyo Oda, Oscar Bernal, and Tahmeena Veerjee
Statement of Need •With the harsh reality of natural disasters and all sorts of problems striking crowded cities, there is always a need for careful city planning that includes as many considerations as possible. •U.S. Department of Commerce (2011) shows that there is a need to improve how STEAM skills for students in an engaging environment can connect to solve real world problem. •“In 2010, there were 7.6 million STEM workers in the United States, representing about 1 in 18 workers. STEM occupations are projected to grow by 17.0 percent from 2008 to 2018, compared to 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations”. Retrieved from http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents/stemfinalyjuly14_1.pdf •To rear human capitals as part of a global, information-oriented society, there are needs to grow skills such as communication, corroboration, and problem solving skills that is related to a real world. Given these facts, there is no doubt of the benefits school students would receive great gains from a program allowing them to improve their STEM skills and at the same time learn about city planning.
Social Impact Goals ● Creating a mass media online game (MMOG) to transfer in-game experience to real world pro-social action. ● Encourage community engagement and teamwork by sharing landscape prototypes. ● Provide opportunities for feedback that ask others opinions and ideas.
Educational Goals and Impact ● Introduce STEM concepts related to city planning and natural disasters. ● Create awareness of the impact of city planning on everyday’s life. ● Develop understandings of the role of terrain features on natural disasters and urban problems.
Learning Goals ● Naturing STEAM & interdisciplinary skills. ● Connecting math, science, history, and language arts. ● Spatial intelligence. ● Understanding natural disaster that affects urban planning.
Learning theories ● Constructionism, as students will be constructing their virtual reality cities. ● Constructivism, by making sense of the relevant features of cities and city planning. ● Social development theory, based on the interaction between students and the guide provided by the teacher.
Target Audience 13 to 15 year old students are encouraged to use GroundUP to rebuild self sustaining metropolis in an academic setting
Customer Persona John Stone ● ● ● ● ● ● ● “ Students need ● science and science needs them.” - John 1 ● ● ● ●
Primary Persona Emily Prince ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● “My favorite part about school is lunch, I get to see my friends.” -Emily 2 ● ● ● ● ●
Secondary Persona Karan ● Singh ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Sometimes school is not challenging enough. -Karan 3
Concept Overview ● Pitch. ● User Experience. ● Technology Use. ● Flowcharts
Pitch Imagine a platform where the user, a 13 year old girl who attends a public school in a small town, is able to take control of the planning of a city. She will use her upper body movement and hand gestures to place buildings, trace the path of the subway, designate places for parks and recreational spaces, and all kinds of decisions needed to have the city running. She could even go deep in the details and change the design of the buildings if she wants! And then, as this is a city like the real ones, unexpected problems and disasters may happen, keeping this girl engaged, thinking and learning, all at the same time!
User Experience In GroundUp, students will be able to explore the idea of constructing existing or untouched landmass with body movement. The simulation will provide opportunities for the users to interact with concepts such as urban planning, natural disasters (e.g. floodings, earthquakes), man-made disasters (e.g. nuclear explosions), risks for cities (e.g. public transportation collapse, trash disposal services on strike) while having fun and feeling in control with natural commands of movement.
Technology Use In this software, students can simulate urban planning including construction, prevention, and reconstruction to manipulate 3D modeling by using their own hands. This simulation software will be served in museums or exhibitions.
Scenario This is a semester long activity, so we state students activity each week. Week １ 1. It’s 8 am, Monday at school and Emily doesn’t want to be at school. Her first class is science and her teacher Mr. Perez wants to teach about hurricanes and their consequences to inhabited settlements; he uses Hurricane Katrina as an example to show the hard situation the survivors found themselves in after the disaster. Hurricane Katrina happened in the Atlantic and brought huge damage to the East Coast in the year 2005. It was the deadliest and costliest cyclone in the United States history. The purpose of the class is to give a chance to simulate the consequences of a hurricane like Katrina, and for students to understand the interaction between large cities and natural disasters affecting urban settlements. They discuss in class about all the elements that go into urban planning. 2. Mr. Perez introduces a new tool called ‘GroundUP.’ In ‘GroundUP’ the user is provided an opportunity to plan cities. The user can play under two modes– The Inventive Mode and The Resurrection Mode described in more detail as follows: The Inventive Mode The inventive mode allows the construction and planning of a city using pre-existent terrain templates or to create a new one from scratch. The Restoration Mode The resurrection mode allows modding of specific scenarios of future danger for a city and the decisions the user can put to work to avoid the worst consequences of those situations, again with the opportunity to deal with pre-existent terrains developing into cities or to build completely new cities. 3. Mr. Perez explains the purpose of this semester long activity and what the expectations of the class are for the day’s activity. He starts by telling the class to construct and design a city that is close to the water maybe in the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He tells them to think about the infrastructure needed to sustain a city that has humid like conditions.
Flow Chart (General)
Flow Chart (Inventive Mode)
Flow Chart (Restauration Mode)
Wireframes Choosing a conditions for After log in Choosing a default city the building Creating a city Choosing mode Choosing a building
User testing plan We conduct interview for a teacher and survey for students. 1. Teacher interview •He is a middle school teacher (Private school) •He teaches technology at 5th grade (previous science teacher) •Purpose of the interview is to research the needs of the Ground UP 2. Student survey •They are middle school students •Purpose of the survey is to check students' awareness of disaster.
User testing plan Some suggestions from the interview • Overall reaction is good. • We need to check the difficulty of Ground UP that fits middle school students. •We might change the duration that students can complete Ground UP more shorter.
User Testing Report Waiting on results.
References Pictures 1. John Stone-http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2014/04/05/murio-jose- wilker-el-actor-de-roque-santeiro/#.U2qWIa1dXCM 2. Emily Prince- http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/398869/eeefb334c1/ARCHIVE 3. Karan- http://willemrooze.aminus3.com/image/2011-11-07.html
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