WMP Learning Journal From Kha Truong

WEEK ONE REFLECTION

Goal One: By going through the design process and placing a focus on human centered design for our community project, I am excited to see where STEM and creativity intersect and look at other career paths that fit this model. Also, I am delighted to attend the speaker events and learn more about the women in the field.

Goal Two: Practical experience (implementation) of 3D printing and VR/AR are specific skills I hope to gain.

Goal Three: I am excited to gain new knowledge from my fellow teammates and see our different ways of thinking. Approaching the community project through unique lens will be helpful in creating more creative and inclusive solutions/services.

Things I did this week

This week, I learned about the Design Thinking Process and the steps it takes in order to create the design. I also learned about Human Centered Design and how it can be used on the Design Thinking Process in order to evaluate how effective the product or service is for the intended group or individuals. It was quite interesting to learn about these two ways of implementation and how by working together, they can boost the impact of the products/services to improve people's lives.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

Things I learned this week included creative confidence, which is the process of believing in your creative judgement even if you are not completely supported by others. Another thing I learned was the usage of notion as a website. I never had a notion so it was good fun to look around, survey the website, and know where to find my assignments and general information.

Challenges This Week

Some challenges I had this week were mainly circling around notion. My computer, for some reason, doesn't work with it on, so with a little trial and error, I ended up having to delete all the history of notion on my computer. Fortunately, that worked and now I can get onto doing my assignments.

Questions I have

Are there certain ideas that should be deemed 'impossible'?

By any chance, are there bigger 3D printing machines in our near vicinity?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

I believe in giving yourself a well intended break, whether it be reading a book, playing some games, hanging out with friends, etc. It's so easy to overwork yourself and burn out, so I suggest scheduling small periods of time to let yourself relax. If you need a game suggestion, currently I am playing Spiritfarer, which is this cozy management game where you help release your customers' souls into the world. 10/10 recommend.

What do you plan to work on next week?

Next week, I intend on exploring more of the makerspace technology and learning more about my group members.

WEEK TWO REFLECTION

Things I did this week

This week, I met up with my group members via zoom and discussed our plans and ideas on the main community project. Since we were the sustainability group, we decided to pick our target consumers/audience to be the more elderly folks who typically do not prioritize sustainability as much as the youth.

I also looked more into the MakerSpace technology through the lab challenges this week. I'll try to get started on the 3D printing challenge and perhaps look into the other lab challenges.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

Three things I learned this week included the ways to design a product with an empathetic mindset, researching through interviews, personal documentation, etc. to find the most effective tools to start the design process, and to utilize the help from my group members and Fang and Izzy.

Challenges This Week

I recently found out about a health problem I had, which unfortunately, has greatly effected my work ethic, school life, and home life as well. Although I have procrastinated on letting others know about my circumstance due to embarrassment and shame, I hope to gather my courage and let my professors know so they can be more understanding of my situation.

Question(s) I have

How will the process of interviewing or getting to know our targeted group will work during this era of COVID?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Get good sleep! Unfortunately, many students, including myself, tend to not do well in this aspect which can effect quite the number of things in their lives. I am working on turning off all my devices at 12am so I cannot stay up and 'work' longer.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on learning methods of using VR/AR as a way to improve or help people and seeing whether it could connect with my own values and ideas.

WEEK THree REFLECTION

Things I did this week

This week, my team and I researched the clothing timeline, asked student council about tips on how to run the clothing drive, looked into partnering with the office of sustainability at UVA, and asked thrift shops how they ran their business. Personally speaking, I focused a lot more on researching the clothing timeline and asked my student council friend on what her advice was on going about doing the clothing drive.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. It's better to change sometimes. Originally, our team was going to go for the elderly population, but we soon realized how hard it was going to be with COVID and how we were inconveniencing them rather than helping them. With this focus towards UVA students rather than the Charlottesville population, we are able to logistically help more individuals and also be able to not inconvenience as many people.
2. A fixed mindset will hinder your progress. I am quite vulnerable to this, as I dislike too much change and can be really stubborn at times. However, being open to change, wanting to grow in your ways of thinking and learning, is important to achieving your goals in a more healthy and happy way, which I know to be true based on the little changes I have made to have a more growth mindset.
3. Communication is key to a healthy team dynamic. Although it is not really a problem for me to let others know how I'm doing (I like to talk), communicating openly with my team this week about my situation and how I had conflicts here and there made it easy to plan our meetings and not be a nuisance.

Challenges This Week

A challenge I had this week was dealing with my health issue and doing school/work at the same thing. Fortunately for me, my professors and peers have been quite understanding, and I have tried to make it so that I do not bother anyone too much.

Question(s) I have

How effective are 'interview' or poll questions if not made in person, especially in the era of COVID?

Can one take inspiration from an already established idea and make it work better in their particular community? Would this be considered plagiarism, in our case, especially when clothing drives are already done before?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Staying organized is crucial to maintaining a good schedule with your work. I always do weekly clean ups to declutter my desk and on Sundays, plan out my whole week in order to not get any surprises.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on finishing up on one of my virtual lab challenges (currently working on the 3D printing one) and gain momentum in our community project through the start of the app prototyping lab challenge. Hopefully by week 4, we can start asking ourselves about more of the logistics of the clothing drive and how the app will be established.

WEEK Four REFLECTION

Things I did this week

For this particular week, my team and I interviewed Lela Garner, who is a student outreach and engagement specialist at the UVA Office for Sustainability. We learned a lot about clothing drives, her previous experience running a clothing swap, and an event we could participate in by running a swap. Also, we as a group started thinking about surveys and how to distribute them. Individually speaking, I have been working on one of my virtual lab projects (app prototyping).

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Apps are much more complex than expected. The lab wasn't particularly hard or anything, just I found myself researching more things I can do, and it would involve tons of coding, something I find myself not particularly interested in.
2. Interviews are not just about questions. Although the questions are an important aspect of getting to see what your subject feels about the intended topic and their expert knowledge about it, I found that it was our collective enthusiasm, research, and genuine intentions that allowed for us to connect and professionally discuss our project plans with Lela.
3. Don't believe that you are a burden. Since I've been seriously sick, I have found that I've been extremely hard on myself for not being able to work as efficiently or attend classes as I use to be. This, in turn, creates this extremely negative environment where I don't have growth mindset, and stay pessimistic all the time. However, with my own realization that I'm still doing the work and that I am communicating with my peers about my conflicts, I am not being a 'burden'. I need to cut myself some slack, especially since I'm not healthy right now.

Challenges This Week

Like I've said before, my sickness has been the root cause of all my struggles as of late. I am unable to stay awake for long periods of time without going through bad physical symptoms and going outside (for class or work) is very exhausting. Unfortunately, I am still going through treatment, which means nothing truly can be done except being kinder to myself and understanding that this will all go away soonish.

Question(s) I have

I do not have questions as of this moment. :)

Good resources/tips/wisdom

What do you plan to work on next week?

I hope to get well soon and truly finish my 3D printing project. If there is anything I haven't done, I would like to catch up on the work.

Week FIve ReFLecTION

Things I did this week

This week was the week where we revised our survey questions and sent them out in order to get data on the severity of clothing waste at UVA. For Alessandra and I, we scheduled a meeting with Izzy to ask for her inputs into the project and how we could increase its longevity instead of the swap being just a one time thing. Also, not related to the program, but I believe I will be getting better a lot sooner! In a few weeks, I should be off my medications for the illness, which will alleviate my symptoms and hopefully get me back to working productively again.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Don't be discouraged from failure. I kept being down in the dumps this week as I felt frustrated with my work pace as well as inability to come up with questions. However, by taking it slowly, calming myself, and thinking a bit outside of the box, I was able to come up with questions in order to ask Izzy.
2. You always have help. My team was great this week. Being sick and all, I had a hard time going to meetings, which was switched up to zoom in order to accommodate me. I also asked for some help with the questions, which turned out wonderfully as I got a lot of feedback.
3. How to create/get information from a google survey. Adding questions to the survey was a bit of a learning curve, and relaying information from the survey as well.

Challenges This Week

This week, other than my sickness which is mentioned like twenty times already, I had some trouble coming up with questions to ask Izzy. I found some of mine were veering too much on the professional/expert side when we wanted input that was both expert yet has relation to the student body. I didn't want the questions to be too casual yet too hard to answer either.

Question(s) I have

How does one update the learning journal? I keep forgetting the steps and then forgetting to do it altogether. :(

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Below are some of my favorite background music/sounds to put on while I'm studying! There are no lyrics or singing of any sorts so it should be pretty nice and calming.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on starting the transition for me to become the documenter of the group. I also will continue working on my individual projects, which are taking longer than expected.

Week six Reflection

Things I did this week

For this week, the team and I narrowed down three main ideas we would like to implement for our project, and created a concept map to visually display what we need to focus on and how to go about doing the project. Alessandra and I met up with Izzy this week and we had quite the amount of things to discuss. Currently, we may run with the idea of asking for a sustainability course in the highly recommended/required categories of things to do for UVA.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. The documenter's job is not just about writing down information. Throughout this week, I have been working as my team's documenter, keeping track of information we brainstorm, receive, and use for our project. Although a large chunk of it is to note down things we need and fill out documents, the documenter must also stay on top of their team's communication and relay the team's overall thoughts and information in a summarized way.

2. Prototypes are not suppose to be complex but rather simple. Being a person who loves to overcomplicate things, I found it interesting to learn that simple prototypes, especially those that convey the service/info they need in more basic terms, is often more successful than some over the top, unnecessarily complex item.

3. Writing Meeting Notes. It wasn't too hard per se, but it did take a little trial and error to summarize the information throughout the meeting.

Challenges This Week

This week especially was the worst week for me since work has been piling up due to my extensions for my sickness. Without much communication from my professors, and my bad health, I was not doing so good mentally and was struggling to catch up in order to make it to Spring Break.

Question(s) I have

What specific maker space technologies are we introducing to the middle school girls?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Keep persevering through this last week! Spring Break is around the corner and we should finish this week strong!

What do you plan to work on next week?

I will continue working on my duties as the documenter, writing notes and filling out documents for my team, while also finishing up all the virtual labs (hopefully before Spring Break ends).

Week seven Reflection

Things I did this week

This week, I really tried to take a lot of breaks and heal from my illness. I also kept up with my duties as the documenter, updating our meeting notes, organizing our team files, etc. For our team work, we decided to run a prototype clothing collection drive at the Gooch/Dillard dorms to see if it was logistically feasible. Dedra and I sent an email to Izzy who handed it to the HROs to see if they would allow us to run a test drive. In addition to the main team work, I met up with Jade and discussed how we were going to run our workshop for the middle school camp. We brainstormed some fun ideas and are excited for the camp.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. How to remain vigilant when the world seems bleak. As sappy as that sounds, I truly felt like my world as been little gray as of late with the constant visits to the doctor. I've also been struggling with keeping up, which adds to my pessimistic view of my reality. However, being taught growth mindset and always wanting to strive for it, I convinced myself that even if things are going downhill right now, I can still change things, work on improvement, and push forward, which kept my spirits up while working or studying or even while dying (hyperbole of course).
2. Not to stereotype, even if they are younger kids. I tend to fall into this, as I have practically raised my two younger siblings. Feeling as a parent sometimes, I kind of have this vision of younger kids based on my experience, which can be flawed as individuals are all varied in personality. So, for this camp, I cannot base my ideas on what fun/exciting means to the girls in terms of stereotypes, but rather, I should research the current trends and interests and be able to adapt the workshop to keep them engaged.
3. The difficulty in running a mini-pilot. In our planning stage, I assumed that running a clothing swap meant collecting clothes and then having a table to swap them. It is a lot more work that that. A lot of emails, context of high trafficked areas, and much more information must be thought about and planned for in order for us to run a mini-pilot.

Challenges This Week

Unfortunately, the biggest hurdle to any work being done this week was my constant symptoms flaring up and pushing me in some sort of healthcare setting. I lost a day to an overnight ER stay and a few other days trying to rest. Other than that, my challenges really were based on the amount of work I had to catch up on versus the amount of time I had to finish them. Yes, I had a break, but it felt more like a re

Question(s) I have

If we, as a team, need the funds to get our materials to run the drive/swap, where do we get them?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

What do you plan to work on next week?

Like aforementioned, I am trying to catch up with a lot of work, which includes some of the virtual labs still. I hope to finish them soon. I also am planning on working more on the project with Jade, adding details to our workshop like the item we plan on printing, what steps we allow the kids to help us with, etc.

Week Eight

Currently, this is my jam when I like to feel happier.

Things I did this week

For this particular week, I met up with my team to discuss the logistics of the clothing swap/collection. Dedra and I got the greenlight to begin distributing boxes and flyers into the Gooch and Dillard areas for our clothing collection prototype, so we got started on working on that. I also communicated with Jade over how we were going to run our showcase and worked out the overall plan.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Time is of the essence. We had very little time to gather our materials and run the trial clothing collection in the Gooch-Dillard Suites as it took a bit of time for the SRs of the dorms to respond to our emails. It was surprising how quickly we had to set up shop, especially since we had first predicted that it was going to be a fast and simple operation.
2. Creativity can happen even when you are limited. Since we couldn't order boxes quickly enough for the prototype, we had to search for some around campus. First we tried the ROSE store and then, Dedra found boxes not being used and we taped them together to create a larger donation box.
3. I should be more vocal with my thoughts. Sometimes, I feel as if my opinions aren't as valuable, in this week's case, while working on the logistics with the clothing swap event. By being brave, I got us to look into alternative dates and times as well as suggestions on how to market.

Challenges This Week

The time crunch on the prototype was not fun. We had to get stuff out as soon as possible and it was rough.

Question(s) I have

No questions currently.

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Sleep is good to have! As college students, we often sacrifice it to finish work or to get better grades, but it is extremely important. It makes it easier to obtain higher test grades AND it feels great.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on contacting the RAs in the Gooch-Suite dorms to advertise our prototype clothing collection. I also plan on implementing the feedback we received on our makerspace camp on improving it.

Week Nine

Things I did this week

While meeting with our team, we decided to move back the date for the clothing swap event as we were unable to work with the Office For Sustainability for the April fair. We also gave out tasks for the mini-pilot such as flyer distribution, asking for help marketing with our contacts (insta and Office For Sustainability) and budgeting. I was delegated with budgeting, which I did and sent it to get feedback. I also continued working on the MakerSpace Camp with Jade, communicating when each of us were going to print out the souvenirs.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Be prepared for low participation. As I went to check out our boxes, I was met with a bit of disappointment as they were empty. This doesn't mean our work didn't matter, but just a way for us to see what we could improve on in order to draw in more students to donate.
2. Marketing is not just about selling the product/service. Of course, we got to draw students to donate, but in order to have more participate, we should've strategized what made this important enough for those to attend. Yeah, it's great for the environment and convenient for the students but what else?
3. Open ended questions are better for building onto things. While we contemplated certain logistical things about planning our event, we had to ask ourself it would truly make an impact for the future. It was through questions that allowed us to build upon our initial thoughts that we were able to improve our ideas.

Challenges this week

While budgeting, it was a bit difficult getting all the materials we would like to be at a certain cost and also predict the amount of things we would logically need.

Question(s) I have

Is our final showcase with only our partner from the MakerSpace Camp or with our whole group? It's a bit confusing.

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Get comfortable with EXCEL! It was a lifesaver for budgeting the cost of our event but also, budgeting in my personal life as well.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on finishing the souvenir prints and conclude which particular prints we would allow the middle school girls to pick during our camp.

Week Ten

I entered 10 puns into a pun contest hoping one would win, but no pun in ten did. -unknown author

Things I did this week

Meeting up with my team, we finalized the important information about our mini-pilot swap event and created a flyer for our event. I reached out to the Office For Sustainability to help advertise our event. Jade and I pretty much finished up everything necessary (such as the things we are going to do and the prints we'll allow the girls to pick) for the MakerSpace Camp.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. The 2D art page on Thingiverse. It was super cool to see since I've only seen 3D prints. This was great as we got a few print ideas from this page.
2. Planning is of utmost importance if you want things to go well. This was especially true for our mini-pilot event, as there were many factors that had to go into making this work. If we didn't have these things sorted out, the event would not go smoothly for sure.
3. Feedback is great for improving. In order to make our swap a successful one, I had to look back into our feedback on the Gooch-Dillard clothing collection. Most people were unaware that this happened, so for marketing, we got to crank it up in order for more students to participate.

Challenges this week

We still had a bit of difficulty lining our schedules and the logistics of our mini-pilot up. Elyana and I both have bio tests on the day, so we got to take that into consideration.

Question(s) I have

Good resources/tips/wisdom

Divide and conquer! By splitting our work up, our team got a lot done in terms of gathering logistics and marketing ideas.

What do you plan to work on next week?

I am excited for the middle school camp where Jade and I can share our knowledge about 3D printing! Also, running our clothing swap!

Week Eleven

Things I did this week

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Teaching is not as scary as expected. During the camp, I was pleasantly surprised that teaching the girls was fun, especially as some of them were interested in the subject and contributed to the conversation.
2. The unexpected is inevitable. As stated, we decided to move our mini-pilot date, which was a move that was not anticipated. However, this would be the best for our group so no problems there.
3. Middle school girls are not just 'little' kids. First, they were either my height or taller. Second, many of them have had prior experience with MakerSpace Technology, which is super cool as I did not at their age. Hopefully they enjoyed the camp.

Challenges this week

Sometimes, we would have to talk our way through the silence while the girls waited for their 3D prints to finish. Also, the technicalities that resulted in our changed mini-pilot date.

Question(s) I have

How did the girls feel about the camp? I am curious :)

Good resources/tips/wisdom

What do you plan to work on next week?

I plan on implementing the feedback we received into the mini-pilot Clothing Swap and preparing for the final showcase.

Week Twelve

Things I did this week

I printed more keychains for the final showcase and began working on the design doc for the final showcase.

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Not to be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes while working on the design doc or planning an email to ask for marketing help, I asked my teammates to look over my work which was extremely beneficial.
2. Figuring out the problem is super satisfying. While Jade and I had to print our souvenirs, we had an issue with the 3D printers not printing them out nicely. By tweaking it by a little, we got it to work.
3. Advertising is much much harder than expected. As much marketing as we tried to do for our event, many students, including my friends, did not know about the event until we told them.

Challenges this week

With so much going on, I found myself feeling overwhelmed and panicking, resulting in me just freezing.

What do you plan to work on next week?

Potentially finishing my virtual labs and design doc. Setting up the mini-pilot event.

Week Thirteen

Things I did this week

Alessandra and I ran the first half of the swap, setting up our table and beginning to get people to check out our event. More people showed up than expected. I also finished up all my virtual labs, which was great!

Three most beneficial things I learned this week

1. Don't be too pessimistic. I originally thought the worst of the event, thinking that nobody would show up. Low and behold, more people showed up than expected, which was great!
2. Our location truly benefited us. Since we were at the o'hill benches, between the dining hall and the dormitories, we had access to many people, cementing the importance of picking location.
3. Be vocal. In order to get people to notice what we were doing, I had to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people or raise my voice to advertise the swap as people were walking by. This method allowed for us to draw in more people.

Challenges this week

I have found myself in a bit of distress with finishing my work on time and communicating.

Question(s) I have

How are we going to distribute the UVA printed keychains on the day of the showcase?

Good resources/tips/wisdom

We've made it to the home stretch! Almost done! Congrats to all of us girls!