Embedded Files
Self Aware Individual:
Emotional regulation: While constructing our prototypes and final product, my group and I ran into many obstacles. First of which was the fact that we had to figure out the exact type of devices we needed to purchase and how to find the right way to utilize these devices. We also had many errors appear in our coding that eventually led us to scrap our first device that we had spent many months working on. We also had trouble when it can to the circuit board as I had to learn a whole new software and use it to create a custom circuit board. All of this and much more are opportunities where my group and I had to overcome challenges and obstacles. It was important for the well-being of the group, and for myself that we maintained good emotional regulation whenever a challenge arose in order for us to stay productive and not let them disrupt our success.
Confidence: Confidence was a major key player in the project and capstone class in general due to the fact that throughout our project we have had to step out of our comfort zone by presenting, communicating with strangers, and becoming confident in our abilities. We have had opportunities to present in the form of the mid-year presentation, as well as in class to our peers. My group and I have been in contact with Mr. Damon Rosental, president of the Central Connecticut RC Club. He has been a tremendous ally in this process as he has helped us by offering advice and providing a plane so we can fly our device. This took confidence because we had to initiate contact and maintain it throughout the process. We had to step out of our comfort zone in order to do this. Finally, we have had to become confident in our abilities, whether that was soldering, coding, building, wiring, and many more. This is another aspect of confidence which we have become proficient in due to the constant practice that we have had with these skills throughout our project.
Gratitude: Additionally, my group and I have been extremely gracious to Mr. Rosenthal who as stated earlier, is and has been a massive mentor to my group and I in this project. We have showed gratitude to him by being in constant contact and responding in a timely manner. We respect his time just like he respects our time which has led to us fostering a strong relationship with him. We have always thanked him for his continued support and advice, as he has always been there to assist us when we were stuck or needed assistance.
Pictured to the left is Colin practicing his soldering before moving on to our actual pieces. We both completed a practice kit for soldering in order to insure we remembered how to do it. Although we still made mistakes, it was our practice "unsoldering" that really helped us.
Empowered Learner:
Resilience: Throughout this capstone project I have had to show resilience in the face of challenges and obstacles. As mentioned above, there arose many challenges ranging from errors in our code all the way to creating a circuit board. It is very easy to back down in the face of a challenge, but throughout this project my group and I worked together to overcome these challenges. We used online resources such as webpages, forums, and instruction manuals to help us fix the errors in our code. We also reached out to Mr. Rosenthal, teachers, and friends in order to help us through this process. When it came to the circuit board, I had to utilize YouTube videos, and online forums to find guidance on how to use the software.
Resourcefulness: Throughout this project, my group and I utilized many outside resources to help assist us in this project. We contacted professionals in the field such as Damon Rosenthal for one-on-one support, and we visited online forums and help pages for support online. When it came to building our weather measuring device, we had to be resourceful in what materials we used to limit the cost of the project. We made use of existing components in our classroom and took the time to find cheap high-quality pieces online.
Initiative: This project was at its core all about teaching us how to hold ourselves accountable and to take initiative in getting things done by ourselves. My group and I practiced taking initiative in setting our own goals, making community connections, and researching. This experience was very important as initiative is one of the most useful skills that we will take to our post-grad lives.
The green square piece is the arduino that we used, and next the green glowing light is a very small black button- the one we had to press in order to get our system to work. It was super tiny and a very easy detail to miss- thankfully we found it, in order to make our system run successfully!
Disciplined Thinker:
Focus: Focus was extremely important throughout this project, due to the fact that it was a self-lead and directed project. My group and I stayed focused by following our calendar and checking in with our teacher and mentors to make sure we were staying on track. In class we tried to minimize distractions and used most of our class time to work together to create our final project
Attention to accuracy: Due to the nature of our project, attention to accuracy was extremely important in ensuring that our final product worked and was the best version of itself. It was important to be extremely accurate when wiring as well as building the pcb board because even one millimeter of an error could cause the system to malfunction.
Persistence: Throughout this project my group struggled on a few major issues such as the code errors and the circuit board. Being persistent through these challenges was extremely important in staying on track with our project. We made sure that we wouldn't let challenges slow us down. This wasn't always easy as many difficult challenges arose, however we persevered and always found ways to work around our problems.
To the left is an example of some of the coding errors we were receiving in the initial stage of our building and coding process. For this particular piece of code we tried to reach out to an online help forum for arduino code, but since it was a little dated, no one responded.
Engaged Collaborator:
Personal accountability: Personal accountability was a large part of this project due to the fact that it was a self-led project where we had little to no help with staying on pace with our project. We had to make sure that we stayed on task and didn't fall behind as this was a large project. We all held each other accountable in the form of setting small goals and setting deadlines of when we needed things done by. In the beginning of the year, we also created an initial calendar of when we needed to complete certain parts of our project. This proved to be helpful because planning our steps ahead of time made it easier to stay on track with our project.
Communication: Communication was a very large part of our project due to the constant back and forth we had with Mr. Rosenthal. We had to ensure that we communicated effectively with him in a professional manner to make sure that we respected his time. We always made sure to respond to him in a timely manner and made sure to keep him updated on our progress. In order to fly our device, we had to communicate with him to coordinate a time to meet. Additionally, we had to stay in contact with each other as this was a group project. We always had open lines of communication which allowed us to communicate effectively. We also developed friendship through this collaboration as we were all respectful and invested.
Adaptability: As challenges arose throughout our project, my group and I had to adapt our designs and change plans in order to combat these changes. First, we had our components on a jumbled bread board with wires coming out of everywhere which was inefficient. Then I made a circuit board which was a partial success. However, some of the pins weren't large enough so we had to adapt again by soldering some of the components to the board and leaving some off. Then we were unable to figure out the difficult code for all the components. Therefore, we had to adapt again, and we dropped off some of the components.
Here is an example of one of the reflections I wrote in order to set goals for the future and evaluate how I had done up to that point.
Civic-Minded Contributor:
Compassion: Compassion was especially important for our project due to the fact that it was a group project. Being compassionate in group settings is extremely important due to the fact that a group's success is often influenced by the chemistry of the group. If the group can't get along or is non-functional it will be hard to get anything done. My group was an example of a group that had good chemistry because we always got along and when there were differences, we always made sure to address them with compassion. We were already friends at the beginning of this project but at the end it is clear that we have grown closer. This made the project more enjoyable and worthwhile.
Responsibility: As a self-lead project, responsibility was extremely important in order to stay on track with our project. We had to make sure that we were completing all the necessary tasks and in a timely manner while making sure what we were doing was good quality. All of this while only meeting two to three times a week meant we had to be responsible with our time and make sure that we didn't get distracted.
This is the document we used in order to break up some of the work we had to do on our portfolios. Although most of the work is completed, some assigned tasks had not yet been finished.
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