Test

How are you testing your prototypes? 

On April 4^th my students presented their final (draft!) project to space education experts from across the world at the Space Foundation Teacher Liaison Workshop for the 37^th annual Space Symposium and in the audience there were also a Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Space Force, the Department of Defense STEM Director, a STEM Coordinator for the Strategic Systems Programs department of the U.S. Navy, the Director of Career and Technical Education for Colorado Springs School District 11, and an employee of the game design engine company, Unity, that we use to make our experiences among other interesting and important guests. After a short introduction by their instructor, the students ran 4 stations where they walked guests and staff through what they created, discussed why they chose to make what they did, and explained how the entire process worked from the partnership with the Space Foundation to the models they selected from industry partners to their plans for next steps in the projects. Following this, the kids sat for a panel and answered questions. On April 7^th they ran the same stations, but they presented at the Space Symposium, and they shared their work with the media, commanders from across the United States, German, and Brazilian space agencies, university professors from at least three higher education institutions, a variety of exhibitors and attendees from various aerospace companies, school district leaders, and astronauts among other guests. My prototype wasn’t their project though, my prototype was the development of their project and their opportunity to present in these spaces.

Who did you get feedback from on your prototype and what was the feedback? 

The Director of the Department of Defense STEM said, “Thanks for connecting. What you do with your students is inspiring!” Space Force leaders invited students to stay in contact and offered to work with and write them letters of recommendation or make phone calls on their behalf. One of my students was offered a job on the spot by a company working on mixed reality training, and when that person found out the student he was talking to was only 17 made the offer to stay in contact so that when the student graduates they can discuss onboarding. The individual from the game engine company said, “I wanted to take a minute to say thank you for the amazing event this week. Seeing the work that Sean's students did, and the incredible way in which they handled questions, technical issues, strange interactions and other things was incredible. I said this to Sean, but I wanted to reiterate, I've seen worse tech demos at conferences built by funded companies. What they built is absolutely incredible.” The Public Outreach Coordinator for Johns Hopkins University asked to stay in contact, and the Smead Program Director for Aerospace Engineering and Sciences will be following up to discuss building a bridge between my program and their modeling and simulation program. Astronauts wanted to follow us back to our booth to see what the kids built, and the CEO of the Space Foundation asked to have an architect they are working with come see the experience because he thought it was so good. Ultimately though, the feedback that really matters is that because all of the students heard those comments, had those experiences, and had an opportunity to be present in the space at least six students out of the twelve that were on the team have stated that they plan to continue doing this work in the future, an additional three have changed their projected college majors or life plans, and three who have social anxiety for speaking see themselves as being more capable now of navigating complex spaces and presentations.