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Virtual Reality is a idea that is currently being explored deeper to bring immersion to video games and simulations. However how can this be applied to a learning environment?  For my Capstone I worked on a virtual simulation of our solar system that can be viewed with the Oculus Rift. This is part of Project Stargazer, my ILP for the past two years where the group has worked with making an representation of the solar system with VR for The Franklin Institute.

I started out working on the design of the simulation in the Unreal Engine creating the cockpit and menu displays of the spaceship that would serve as our HUD. However as the only one in the group with knowledge of Unreal, I ended up also working on the code. During the year I finished the design of the spaceship, tried to get the ship to move, made a planet map for each in the solar system complete with HUD’s showing information on the planet and made starry background. However I was never able to finish the coding and could not get the ship to move even after a month of troubleshooting and consulting with Unreal coders. However I taught several of the sophomores in the project how to use Unreal and will continue to help out throughout the summer.

During this project I learned about the benefits of VR for education with it’s added immersion allowing for greater focus and more effective visuals.

Link to Levels (must be placed in Unreal Engine to Work) https://drive.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/folderview?id=0B2hdSK9AO85-N3NNc1BjMERQRXc&usp=sharing

For More information about Project Stargazer: http://projectstargazer.weebly.com/

For images of the simulation and time at Educon are below

Biblography

Antonio Gonçalves Vilas Boas, Yuri. "Overview of Virtual Reality Technologies." (n.d.): n. pag. Final Paper. University of Southampton. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/537bd8c9e4b0c89881877356/t/5383bc16e4b0bc0d91a758a6/1401142294892/yavb1g12_25879847_finalpaper.pdf

This article is an overview of VR showing its history, goals, and evolution. It goes over the principals of VR in terms of immersion, perception, and telepresence.  It discusses the educational value of VR by showing the ScienceSpace application which allows a student to learn about physics, electrostatic forces, and visualize the structures of molecules.

Biglari, Ehren, and Yusheng Feng. "Interactive Virtual-Reality Driven Learning Framework for Engineering and Science Education." Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (2014): n. pag. American Society for Engineering Education. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

http://asee-gsw.tulane.edu/pdf/interactive-virtual-reality-driven-learning-framework-for-engineering-and-science-education.pdf

This Article discusses the usage of several VR devices and motion trackers and the usage of the technology in the modern day. The setup of their device is described as well as several of the strengths and weaknesses of the various VR devices. The Oculus is explained in terms of hardware, describing how the headset generates the an undistorted 3D environment.

Castillo, Anna. "Virtual Reality and Education." Stanford Teaching Commons. Stanford University, 22 May 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.

https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-talk/virtual-reality-and-education

An article looking at Stanford’s Virtual Reality lab and applications of the technology. The level of immersion that the lab provides is shown as an example of how to provide the students with realistic environments to better educate them about the subjects. However the biggest drawback is shown to be the development of such simulations which often take a year for each. The immersion of VR is being compared to watching a normal video of the same information to compare the difference and find just how effective it would be.

"Learning Through Exploring Virtual Worlds." Global Warming Intro. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/learning_center/pf/whyvr.htm

This site shows a project that attempted to use VR to explain and show a representation of Global Warming. The projects plan was to allow students to manipulate environmental variables to see how the atmosphere is affected. The site also explains the role VR could play in education explaining how the immersive experience can be used to present lessons.

Orlosky, J.; Weber, M.; Gu, Y.; Sonntag, D.; and Sosnovsky,S. A.  2015c.  An interactive pedestrian environment simulator for cognitive monitoring and evaluation, March 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason_Orlosky/publication/276848891_An_Interactive_Pedestrian_Environment_Simulator_for_Cognitive_Monitoring_and_Evaluation/links/55c0e2dc08aed621de1506a6.pdf

This article looks at using the Oculus Rift in a test for observing and monitoring pedestrians with cognitive impairments. The test uses VR to determine reactions and the pedestrians vision. The article also discusses problems with having the user physically interact with the world in a way that feels natural and use of the Leap Motion Control to track hand motion.

Piovesan, Sandra Dutra, Liliana Maria Passerino, and Adrian Soares Pereira. Proceedings of the International Association for Development of The Information Society (Iadis) International Conference on Cognition And Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (Celda) (Madrid, Spain, October 19-21, 2012). Virtual Reality as a Tool in The Education. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542830.pdf

This article discuss the idea of using VR in education, explaining how it allows a student to explore and build their knowledge. It focuses on how VR can be used to simulate environments which would be too difficult or expensive for the student to visit normally. The article describes how the subject of Formal Languages was implemented into a 3D environment to allow for a VR test of the subject.

Reiners, T., Teräs, H., Chang, V., Wood, L. C., Gregory, S., Gibson, D., Petter , N. & Teräs, M. (2014). Authentic, immersive, and emotional experience in virtual learning environments: The fear of dying as an important learning experience in a simulation. In Transformative, innovative and engaging. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 30-31 January 2014. Perth: The University of Western Australia. http://ctl.curtin.edu.au/professional_development/conferences/tlf/tlf2014/refereed/reiners.html

This article describes how the addition of the Oculus Rift can improve the experiences of VR to be used to educate students. The article shows the comparison between passive and active learning and how VR would work compared to typical teaching methods. The article also shows a test run through VR where a person navigates a dangerous factory to determine how much a person would value their avatar’s safety in VR.

"Solar System Exploration." Planets - Solar System Exploration. NASA, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/

NASA’s guide to the aspects of our Solar System with a list of the planets and other celestial bodies. Provides information about the statistics of the planet's size, distance, and orbit, as well as an overview of the planets and their history.

"Unreal Engine 4 Documentation." Epic Games, Inc, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/index.html

A guide to Unreal Engine 4 including tutorials to the basic aspects of Unreal and creating a video game. The site provides a great deal of information about the program to assist a beginner in the creation of a basic game.

"Virtual Reality Technologies for Treating Obesity." - NHLBI, NIH. N.p., Nov. 2010. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/research/reports/2010-vr

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute held a meeting to discuss the potential use of VR to monitoring and controlling weight gain. The article discusses how VR can be used to suggest healthier eating through the social networking and the motivational and teaching aspects of VR. It discusses the ways to control an experiment with VR and the applications of it in the future.

For my senior capstone I decided to do something that was relevant to who I am and what I love to do. I noticed that many of the cultural and traditional values in the Latino community tend to fade away in U.S. because they're not in their country of origin. My overall goal was to restate the importance of Latino values and why it’s so important to pay tribute to them.With this project I touched on the following topics; family, social justice, stereotypical views, the role Latinos play in the U.S, and Religion. These topics play a role in my personal life and also in the lives of many others, which I why I chose to do them. I wanted to bring attention to these topics to give the audience a sense of what many families with Latino/Hispanic descent have in their lives. My inspiration for this gallery was the artistic style of Frida Kahlo. Most of the work is inspired by her life and the way she lived it. This is specifically focused on the traditional ways of Latin American art. I learned more things about my culture and discovered new ways to view the world. This capstone process was a very long but has finally has come to an end. This project definitely reflects who I am as person, and defines my interests and the way that this country has changed me.

Bibliography:

"Language Positions." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 21 Apr. 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

This source is from the Central Intelligence Agency and it shows what positions they need filled that have to do with foreign languages. They need people who can speak and understand other languages, particularly the ones that they use while under security breaches. On this site they are explaining the different language programs they have to train their employees with or programs that their employees use to sharpen their language skills with. I can use this as a source because this source shows that there is a huge demand for jobs using other languages. This can be used as an incentive for the students now, because it means that if they are proficient in the language that they are learning, a job can almost be guaranteed.

Dounay, Jennifer. "High School Graduation Requirements: Foreign Language." 50-State Comparison. Education Commission of the States, 23 Mar. 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

This source is from the education commission of the states and it is a list of the states and their requirements of foreign language education for the students to graduate. The list includes how many credits each state requires the students to have. This source is helpful to me because it shows how many states have implemented foreign language education. This shows students that they are the not the only ones learning a new language. Also it’s sad because there aren’t that many states that require language credits to graduate and this provides proof that we need to have more states have requirements.

Duncan, Arne. "Education and Language Gap." Foreign Language Summit. University of Maryland, Washington D.C. 8 Dec. 2010. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

This is a speech that the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, made at the Foreign Language Summit that the CIA director called for in 2010. In the speech he talks about how the U.S. is falling behind other countries in the foreign language education. He wants to bridge the language gap that the U.S. is experiencing. This helps me because this is an important figure in the education world who is speaking out about how we have to fix the education system around foreign language. This shows that people actually care about having foreign language education in schools and that they want to fix the problem that no one is requiring language credits for graduating high school students.

Franzén, Carl G. F. “Foreign Language Teaching in the High Schools of Iowa”. The School Review 29.8 (1921): 610–616. Web...

This source is a book that was written about the foreign language teaching in the high schools of Iowa. They had a program that taught high schoolers Latin, Spanish, French, and Norse. This book is a report on how the schools taught the languages and what schools offered what languages. It also noted the successfulness of the language classes and how the class sizes didn’t differ from language to language. This source will help me because it shows that the practice of learning different languages happened early in this century. It proves that students in high school actually want to learn languages and that they would excel in language programs put in schools.

Hancock, Charles R. "Alternative Assessment and Second Language Study: What and Why?" Alternative Assessment and Second Language Study: What and Why? (1994): n. pag. Digests. Center for Applied Linguistics. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

This source is talking about a different way for the people who are studying a second language to take tests because our education system is not the greatest at the moment. When you add in a second language to the testing system, the students tend to do worse. This can create problems in the student’s minds and make them want to hate the language. This is problem that only seems to appear in the U.S. education system. This source helps me because it shows that students have an unhealthy relationship with the language and then it makes them not want to study the language anymore.

Kibler, Amanda, and Sandy Philipose. "What the Research Shows." American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

This source is a website that has lists of why teaching foreign languages in schools are good for the students. One of the reasons that foreign language education is helpful is because the student’s academic achievement improves in areas other than the foreign language education course. Also some researchers believe that learning another language also provides cognitive benefits. This source can help me because it is a list of the sources that I can use for proving a certain point about why learning a language is beneficial for students. If there is a certain point that people would argue against learning a second language, I can point them to this page. Or if students feel as if learning a second language is not important to them, I can show them all the research and benefits.

Panetta, Leon E. "Foreign Language Education: If 'Scandalous' in the 20th Century, What Will It Be in the 21st Century?" Foreign Language Summit. University of Maryland, Washington D.C. 8 Dec. 2010. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

This is another speech from the foreign language summit, this one made by the CIA director. In the speech he says that the U.S. has a weak foreign language policy and that there are plenty of other countries that are better than us. He wants to put programs in all grades in school, which should help the children with learning languages but also with learning about cultures. He talks about the history of foreign language education and about how it fell through with the World Wars. This source is very helpful to me because he touches on everything that I want people to know about foreign language education. This source explains some of the history and what went wrong and how we can fix it to make a better tomorrow for the students of today.

Payne, William Morton. “Modern Language Teaching in Secondary Schools”. The School Review 2.2 (1894): 74–82. Web...

This report was published in 1894 about the teaching of other languages in high schools. The author writes about certain ways that they can improve their programs because they aren’t very good. The report also talks about how learning a language in high school can be the best education a man can get because they are learning other men’s languages. This can still apply to today’s students because their peers may have a first language that is not English. This research helps me because it shows that people before today, have taken a second language and had it help their lives and careers.

Rhodes, Nancy C., and Ingrid Pufahl. Foreign Language Teaching in the U.S. Schools. Rep. N.p.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 2009. Print.

This source is an executive summary of a report that the Center for Applied Linguistics produces about a national survey that researches the programs and the enrollment of foreign language education in primary and secondary schools. The data that they include in the report is all about the how much instruction the children receive, the languages that are offered, immersion schools, and how much time is actually spent speaking the language. This report is very helpful for me because it shows what schools are doing to make sure that the children are getting the best foreign language education and it suggests what schools can do better. This shows that lots of schools are trying to implement foreign language education and that the students are receiving the instruction well.

Tucker, G. Richard. "A Global Perspective on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education." A Global Perspective on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education (1999): n. pag. Digests. Center for Applied Linguistics. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

For my Capstone project I designed a piece of software called Ribbon. Ribbon is a word processor designed specifically for screenplays since screenplays have a very specific format in which they are supposed to be written. The format includes unusual capitalization and indentation to convey character dialog, actions, new scenes, and other components of film.

The process of designing and making Ribbon consisted of a lot more planning than I had anticipated. During Capstone Week, I spent a lot of time doing research on different ways of organizing the code I was writing. This was very helpful because it made the code I was writing much easier to understand and follow but it also made it more difficult to write code because I was forced to follow a rigid structure.

I learned a lot about programming and my personal capabilities. First, I learned that there are so many resources available for free and on the Internet to allow you to do things with computers that I did not think I was able to do so easily. Second, I learned that a huge amount of software development is spent on thinking about the way the code should be structured rather than writing the actual code. This makes it much easier for other developers to come along later and contribute to your work.

The source code for the application as well as the application itself can be downloaded here.

Works Cited

Buschmann, Frank, Kevlin Henney, and Douglas C. Schmidt. On Patterns and Pattern Languages. Chichester: Wiley, 2007. Wikibooks. Web. 2 Feb. 2016. Rather than focusing on the components of a piece of software, On patterns and pattern languages emphasizes the relationship between different components. These are called patterns and thinking of my software in terms of the patterns I'm using rather than the components I'm creating has become very helpful in the writing of my code. The more thought I put in to the patterns I use, the easier it becomes for others to understand what the code does and to contribute to the project. Writing using patterns introduces other problems. It’s easy for me to write code that is messy but does the job effectively. To write code following strict patterns is difficult. This source has also made me realize that I need to plan out what code I’m going to write a lot more before I get to writing it.

Demaree, David. "The Art of the Commit." The Art of the Commit · An A List Apart Article. A List Apart & David Demaree, 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. This article is an excerpt from David Demaree's Git For Humans. My open-source project is being hosted online by a website called Github. Each time I save my project to Github, I must save it with a short message describing what I've changed. This article describes the best way to construct those message so others (and myself) can understand how my project has changed overtime. This is particularly important for making my project open-source. If I want other people to contribute to my project, they need to be able to understand what is going on. If people want to look at an older version of my project, it will be easy for them to find which version they are looking for because every time I save the project to Github, there will be a short message associated with it.

Fedosejev, Artemij. React. js Essentials. Packt Publishing Ltd, 2015. I am using a software framework called React.js. This book is a great book to reference if I do not know how to do something in React. Using React in my application will help me make Ribbon organized and will ensure that I use effective and easy-to-understand programming patterns. React introduces a lot of new conventions and concepts to my code-writing. Therefore, a reference book about React is necessary so I can refer to it at points in the code-writing process where I’m lost. React.js Essentials comes with great examples of how to use React effectively that are easy to understand. Given the important role that React plays in my project, having a React reference book is an absolute necessity.

Fogel, Karl. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2005. Producing Open Source Software. Karl Fogel, 2005. Web. 2 Feb. 2016. Karl Fogel writes about how to create an open-source project that gains attention and support. He does not deal with the technical, programmatic side of development as much as he deals with how to publicize your project effectively and make sure that once people are aware of your project they continue to pay attention to your project. While I’m developing my app I must be mindful of how what I’m doing may affect how other people see my project. If I’m not careful about the changes I make to my project and how I share those changes publicly on the project page (http://github.com/blockaj/ribbon) it could alienate people who may otherwise contribute to my project.

"Gulp API Docs." GitHub. Gulp, 17 Dec. 2015. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. Gulp is a task manager. While I am developing my application, it’s important that I can easily compile the code I’m writing. It is Gulp’s job to manage all of that. The Gulp API Docs are documentation about how to use Gulp. Without this, the workflow of my project would be very slow and inefficient. Using Gulp will relieve me of a lot of tedious work. Knowing how to use it is obviously essential in being able to use it. This documentation is a very good instruction on how to use Gulp so that my workload is a little less.  

Hahn, Jungpil, Jae Yun Moon, and Chen Zhang. "Emergence of new project teams from open source software developer networks: Impact of prior collaboration ties." Information Systems Research 19.3 (2008): 369-391. This source talks about why people join open-source projects. One of the most compelling reasons is that the contributors have strong ties to the initiator (in this case, me). This is important to keep in mind. The people who may contribute the most to my project may already be around me. In addition, this source is useful because I can use to market my open-source project to developers. At this point in my project, I’ve worked the least on trying to attract others to contribute to my project. If I want to start focusing on this more, I should learn more about why people contribute to open-source projects.

Kubrick, Stanley, and Anthony Burgess. A Clockwork Orange: A Screenplay. Hollywood Scripts, 1970. While having a description of the format of a screenplay is helpful, it’s also very helpful to see a full and polished screenplay. As I progress through the process of developing my application, I will compare the screenplays I write in Ribbon to this screenplay. If, by comparison, everything looks good, I know I’m okay to move on. I can also use the screenplay to see how character and story development works in a real screenplay. Similar to the McKee source, A Clockwork Orange: A Screenplay could give me good insights on some features that would be helpful for experienced and skilled screenwriters to have in a word processor.

McKee, Robert. Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. This book describes the process of writing a screenplay. It goes over how to develop a story and characters. The reason I find it helpful is that it gives me an idea of what things are important to a screenwriter. This could clue me in onto some good ideas for features I may include in my software. It also has some good information about how screenplays should be styled which are also very helpful. If I want my software to format screenplays effectively, there should be a reputable source behind the way I chose to format the screenplay.

Mockus, Audris, Roy T. Fielding, and James D. Herbsleb. "Two case studies of open source software development: Apache and Mozilla." ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM) 11.3 (2002): 309-346. This case study looks at two of the biggest existing open-source projects: Mozilla and Apache. One of the things this source addresses that other sources in this bibliography do not discuss is an open-source project’s ability to compete with commercial products. This source is useful to me because it describes what makes open-source software so successful. It explains what Mozilla and Apache do right as open-source projects and what they do wrong. There’s is a lot I can learn from this source about how to make my project a successful open-source project and not just a successful piece of software.

Rising, Linda, and Norman S. Janoff. "The Scrum software development process for small teams." IEEE software 17.4 (2000): 26. This is a simple explanation of the Scrum software development process. It incorporates using patterns to develop software with a workflow. I can use this source to learn how to work more efficiently on my project while still writing good code. This source also relates to the Buschmann source which is all about using patterns in programming. Scrum software development may also be useful if others want to contribute to my open-source project. If they decide to, using a development process could help make sure that not only my code is good and organized but theirs is as well. Trust me, this is a good source.

"About Dr. Cross." Cross Plastic Surgery. N.p., 17 July 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

Kevin J. Cross is the plastic surgeon who is the major interviewee for my capstone. He’s known for his highly skilled expertise of making someone who went under the knife look as though they hadn’t. He is board certified and his scores had ranked him in the top 3% nationwide. He has an extensive education background, attending Cornell University, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University. He is an AOA honors graduate from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His success is due to his method of making an individualized treatment plan for each patients based off of different variables.

Andersen, Erika. "Please Don't Do These 9 Things In An Interview." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 3 June 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

This article was written by someone who has conducted many interviews. These tips are for higher level jobs, more professional, like newsprint companies or business-attire jobs. Each tip stems from an interview that she has done with someone before. There is the tip to be your own person, not to agree with everything that employer is saying because they could be testing you to see if you’re being genuine. There’s also the point of policing your voice to make sure the interviewer has time to actually ask questions. She had one lady who wouldn’t allow her to really say anything because she just kept talking. It’s also good to know some background about the company and not to go in blind, as you can appear as though you’re not really interested.

"Aspiring Docs." Aspiring Docs. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

This website has multiple links that explains the process of preparing for medical school starting in high school. It mentions what high school classes you may want to take and any other extra programs you can do to start your path. There’s also a page where there are many stories that are from medical student explaining different topics such as the first time they meet a patient, what’s it’s like getting married while in medical school, and other things of that nature. This site is very resourceful for people want are considering going into the medical field.

"Interview DOs and DON'TS." Virginia Tech. N.p., 07 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

This website describes what and what not to do during an interview. The don’ts are important tips,as they can cost you a good job/connect/deal. While most people will give you a quick list of the typical dont’s such as not to chew gum or come late, this list goes a little deeper. Falsification of any information reflects bad on you, and if you’re hired, the company as well. It could land them in a legal problem.

"Interviewing Skills: What to Do During an Interview." GCFLearnFree.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

This site talked about business etiquette. It was all about how to present yourself when being interviewed. One of the skills they mentioned was to pace yourself so that the person who is interviewing you sees that you’re taking time to think about what you’re going to say. It also says to cut back on the uhms or any words of uncertainty and to have confidence in your voice.

"Requirements for Becoming a Physician." Requirements for Becoming a Physician. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

This source talks the stages of becoming a doctor. You have to start as an undergraduate and go through medical school, your residency, and then your fellowship. It outlines in particular what you have to do in each one of those steps. The lengthy part to becoming a doctor comes after your schooling is done. The residency program for family practices takes 3 years, while general surgery takes up to 5 years. The fellowship, however, is only needed if you want to do to be highly specialization in certain fields, such as gastroenterology. It goes a little into certifications and license to be able to legally practice. Though a doctor or physician maybe be certified, they have to do yearly coursework to assure they are current with the education.  

"Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

This website breaks down the general statistics of surgeons and physicians. Similar to the other websites, it talks about what they do and how to become one. What this website does have that the others don’t is the breakdown of pay wages and the projected growth of employment. According to the website, there is a project  14% increase in how many surgeons and physicians are going to be employed. That’s nearly 10,000 new doctors a year. Surgeons and physicians make the most out of all the occupations, around $187,000 more a year.

Carucci, John. "Ten Tips for DSLR Documentary Filmmaking." - For Dummies. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

These are just simple, basic tips for making a film with a DSLR. It’s about the angle and the interaction with your work. When conducting interviews, you have to decide which way you want them facing  and how the lighting is going to be. In my interviews the camera is looking forward wiht me off to the right so the interviewee is not looking straight at the camera, they’re looking off screen at me. The lighting is important as well. You don’t want too harsh lighting that it makes the subject look washed out, but you don’t want too soft lighting to make the subject undetectable on screen.

Spector, Col. "5 Simple Mistakes Documentary Filmmakers Make." Raindance. N.p., 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

This source outlines what the common mistakes people who make documentaries do. The author has won awards for his films made with BBC and Channel 4 in the UK. The one thing that can make a documentary come off bad is if there isn’t a “vision”, meaning there wasn’t much thought and prep going into the video, If you just film and piece videos together, it’s not that special, but if you know how you want it to play out, and you do it, you’re making a masterpiece. Also, cheesy music in the back can kill the mood and vibe of the documentary. It’s supposed to coincide with the film, complementing it in  the right spots. The obvious one is to have terrible footage. If you try to film something and it’s poorly done, you can better your audience is going to know.

Abazoski, Miranda. Personal Interview. 04 February 2016.

In the interview with Miranda, being apart of a sport, especially in a sport like ultimate frisbee, the connections she makes is one of the most important things to have. When there are no connections on or off the field, it may feel like there is no point in playing. One word that specifically comes to mind when she thinks about SLA sports is: States. I will use the State’s idea in particular to portray the frisbee aspect about SLA. Some people define SLA by ultimate frisbee, everybody in the school knows it is an important sport to Mr. Lehmann, and almost every watches the ultimate kids workout in the morning. So to envelop what SLA sports are about, to include drawings around ultimate, and states is important.

Bell, Tamira. Personal Interview. 04 February 2016.

In the personal interview with Tamira, she brought up a new idea which was working hard towards something that she loved. It was touched on earlier by other students, although for the sport that Tamira does, which is student’s run, she said it was all about endurance. This is endurance is difficult and challenging to build, but by doing this, the endurance allows her to have it in other parts in her life. I will include hard work and practice as inspiration in my sketches. This idea helps to conclude what the life of SLA is, and how SLA sports helps you prepare for multiple aspects in life.

Denny, Shaion. Personal Interview. 03 February 2016.

Shaion talked about connection, and with connection especially in high school there’s more opportunity to talk to those who aren’t in the same grade. Making friendships on the team is what makes [basketball] fun for him. Shaion also talked about success, and overcoming a hardship, like beating a higher ranked team is a satisfying feeling, and one of the best feelings in a sport. The part where Shaion talks about SLA sports are just about having fun will be incorporated into the mural. The mural is going to be filled with positivity, and having fun in a sport is definitely a key for the mural’s portrayal of SLA sports in general.

Dymek, Malwina. Personal Interview. 02 February 2016.

In the interview, Malwina Dymek talks about to importance of being a team, and everyone helping each other to improve their skills and reach their highest potential. She continues to connect SLA’s core value collaboration to school. On a team, teammates constantly work together to win, and that mentality helps achieve collaboration in school projects. Malwina also states that the best thing about a sport isn’t the physical activity of it, it’s the cheering that goes on. This interview will be used as inspiration for sketches that will go into making the mural. Especially the main concepts of this interview which is collaboration, and the words she chose of when she thinks of SLA sports: family, support, positivity.

Fecher-Davis, Naomi. Personal Interview. 04 February 2016.

In the interview with Naomi Fecher-Davis says the first word she thinks of when thinking about SLA sports is camaraderie. Just like many others, friendship and trust is important to her when she is on a team. Naomi touched on the fact that SLA doesn’t hype up competition like other high schools, what SLA really tries to focus on is the bonding that goes on during games, and even off the field. One note she said that will definitely be used is when she says these bonds can last forever. This particular idea will be used as a main idea for a sketch, because a common trend through these interviews is bonding, and making those connections, while all has to do with collaboration.

Gerveni, Jorin. Personal Interview. 04 February 2016.

In the interview with Jorin, he talked about brotherhood. This relates to family, and he mentioned a cheer: “1, 2, 3, rockets, 4, 5, 6, family,” which is a common cheer among a lot of sports, especially the 1, 2, 3, rockets. Jorin also mentioned that pushing himself to do harder, and when his teammates cheer him on and pick him back on when he’s down allows him to have confidence. My idea is to use words spewing out from the main painting that describes SLA sports. I will use the cheer as a part of those words spewing out. Cheering is definitely an important part of being the the SLA sports community.

Hares, Rafi. Personal Interview. 03 February 2016.

In the interview with Rafi Hares, he talked about his realization of the different aspects of what goes into a team. He stated that he liked being apart of something bigger where his actions affected the whole team. He also in a way idolized the fact that there was a physical and innate talent to play a sport, but also a certain type of intelligence. He continued to talk about how SLA sports helped him gain connections. The answers that Rafi provided will be used, especially his answer about being apart of something bigger. So far the idea is to use the word intelligence when he would describe SLA sports as a possible word coming out of the mural.  

Hershey, Dillon. Personal Interview. 04 February 2016

In the interview with Dillon Hershey, she talked about the team a lot. How the importance of being on a team helps her focus in school. Her way of learning is through physical activity by using her hands and/or body. So when she gets to take part in a sport, this gets her energy out and she’s able to focus in school. Dillon said that when you’re apart of a team the best thing is the support system they provide. I will use Dillon’s words, especially the part about the support system as an idea for a sketch. This is particularly to include in the mural, because many people are talking about how sports provide friendships and support. When there’s a mistake, they are there to lift you back up, not drag you down.

McArdle, Thayeena. "Mural Techniques for Painting Wall Murals: Preparing, Painting and Sealing." Art Is Fun. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.art-is-fun.com/mural-techniques/#prepare>

This site contains a lot of information about a lot of different types of art. With murals specifically it talks about techniques for painting including prep work, starting and finishing, and how to paint the wall. Some steps included cleaning the wall and then priming it, using an art projector or grid projector, and then different ideas on how to apply to paint. The information on this website are credible, but I do not know if all the information on the website(if I were to apply it) would provide accurate step by steps. Although I am going to use the information on this website to guide how I am going to paint the mural, as well as what specific materials I need to get.

Williams, Bernard. "Techniques of Community Murals." Community Public Art Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2016. <http://www.cpag.net/guide/2/2_pages/2_1.htm>

For my Capstone, I originally wanted to produce a documentary about my involvement in the Philadelphia Suns, which is a basketball team in the Philadelphia Chinatown community. In the documentary I talked about our monthly tournaments, summer league and practices. I did end up doing this documentary but as long as getting a ton of footage I also took many pictures. I wanted to be able to share them so I thought about making a website with a page for a photo gallery as well as my documentary.

The process was pretty easy in the beginning because I had everything planned out and I knew since Junior year I wanted to do a documentary so I already had recorded some footage throughout the summer. However, further into Senior I had a lot of technology problems with getting the program to edit and problems that occurred within my laptop. There were also a couple of instances where my camera was on the muted option and I would have to recorded interviews.

I am very happy with how my final product came out. I enjoyed making the documentary and putting the website together. It had a lot of fun doing it and it was not one of those projects where you dread doing.

Annotated Bibliography

Carr, Bella. "Ball Is Life." Personal interview. 26 Oct. 2015.

This interview source will help me a lot in getting a perspective from a young player. Bella plays with the New York Titans. She is the only girl player who plays for her team. I think that she will really be able to influence on how it feels to play on a team with all boys and being the only girl. Also, she is mixed. She could explain the rules of what the process of getting into this Asian league is like. She also talked a lot about her experience at her first nationals and not being able to play, because nationals did not allow coedd. I think that her interview could help me with getting a girl’s perspective in the league.

Chin, Rebecca. "Philadelphia Suns: Harry Leong's Suns Story." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sh-hDZD5jY>.

This source is very useful because someone who was once on the Philadelphia Suns, who has moved to New York made this short film about the Suns. I know her personally and her experience will greatly help me with conducting my documentary. She also interviewed Harry Leong who is my coach and the president of the non-profit organization The Philadelphia Suns. I think that everything here for my documentary and the organization itself will be very credible. The information is coming straight from the person who created this organization and someone who has been in the league for a very long time.

Eng, Stanley. "Basketball Impact." Personal interview. 26 Oct. 2015.

The source is very useful for my project. I am using this personal interview in my project. Stanley Eng is now a coach and sometimes he helps around if needed in the Philadelphia Suns organization. In his interview he shared his experiences, as a player and how he transitioned to become a coach and started helping out in the Sun's community. I think this source will help me talk about the Philadelphia Suns organization as a whole and how it has evolved and changed over the year until today.

Lee, Ken. "Basketball." Personal interview. 26 Oct. 2015.

I think overall out of all the interviews that I have conducted this interview will really impact and help my documentary the most. Ken Lee is a coach of the New York Rockits, which is a basketball team that the Philadelphia Suns play the most. He has started the league with my Coach Harry Leong. In the interview he mentioned a lot about how he was as a player and how he loved basketball so much that he started to coach, and most importantly he coaches his two sons. He mentions a lot about the Asian basketball league and how it is very different. I think I will be able to incorporate a lot of what he says into my documentary, as well as putting the interview footage into my film.

Lowe, Lauren. "Home." Philadelphia Suns. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://phillysuns.org/>.

This is source is the Philadelphia Sun’s official website. It has everything you need to know about the organization. I think that it is pretty updated and it mentions a lot of events and past events that have occurred. It has many videos and pictures. I know that the majority of the contributors on this website are members of the Philadelphia Suns and they are very credible because they have been members of the Philadelphia Suns for a very long time. This source will help me a lot I think with the introduction most importantly of my documentary because they mention a lot about their mission and what they do and how the organization had gotten started.

"NACBA - Official Site of the North American Chinese Basketball Association." NACBA - Official Site of the North American Chinese Basketball Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nacbait.com/myNACBA/login2?accesscheck=%2FmyNACBA%2Findex.php.>

This source is very useful because it tells you literally almost everything you need to know about the NACBA which is the North American Chinese Basketball Association. This is the league that my basketball team plays for as well as the other teams that we play throughout the year. This website will provide me with information that I need to conduct and ask questions to certain players and coaches that I interview. There are also pictures and short video clips that will help me really understand how the NACBA league is different from other basketball leagues in North America.

Seiter, Courtney. "6 Powerful Communication Tricks Of Great Interviewers."Buffer Social. Buffersocial, 07 Jan. 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.

<https://blog.bufferapp.com/6-powerful-communication-tricks-from-some-of-the-worlds-best-interviewers>.

This website is very useful because it tells me tips and tricks to use while interviewing people. For my documentary I already do have some interview questions and some interviews that have already been conducted. However, I do want to make the person that I am interviewing comfortable and to not be awkward. I still need to conduct some interviews still and I want to be the interviewees comfortable to speak because I think that I could improve on that. This is be very beneficial towards my documentary because I do not want people that are watching to think that I did not prepare before interviewing.

"The Unexpected Beauty of Traveling Solo." The Unexpected Beauty of Traveling Solo. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-film-showcase/the-unexpected-beauty-of-traveling-solo>.

This source is very useful because it is a very good example of a short documentary or a trailer. I think this will really help me when I have to present my trailer and short piece of the film. I think this will really help me with how much content and how much of my film I should reveal in my trailer. I think that also this will help me with what is good in a video or film. I will be able to see how  director or actor incorporate what was important for the film or what they should have taken out.

Paar, Morgan. "How to Make a Documentary: Part 1 Story Development."Videomaker.com. N.p., 1 May 2010. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <http://www.videomaker.com/article/f16/14803-how-to-make-a-documentary-part-1-story-development.>

This source is very useful because it shows you how to make a documentary. It gives you guidelines to which how to process your documentary from the beginning to the end. This source is very easy to understand because it shows pictures and diagrams which visually helps the person who is trying to understand this source. This source will help me because it will show me how to make my documentary organized and in order. It tells you what in a documentary really engages the audience whether it is interviews or music etc. Overall  I think this source will be very useful in making my documentary.

White, Terry. "How To Get Started with Adobe Premiere Pro CC - 10 Things Beginners Want to Know How To Do." YouTube. YouTube, 11 May 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK3JTh2jOf8>.