Self - Designed Assessment #3: Picture Book

Although this SDA does not exactly match up with the most recently approved section of my thesis, I think this particular self-designed marked more progress in the 5 Cs rather than the research methods side of things. If you recall from a few journals back, the day before Thanksgiving break marked the preliminary approval of my experimental design section. The following weeks then found me working on something I've never tried before - writing a picture book.

The beginning of this picture book takes readers from an explanation of what scientists are and portrays them as superheroes to the introduction of C. elegans in all of their own supernatural glory. Towards the middle, I bring in Willie the worm and all of his friends to explain the different things worms can help biologists do. The book then culminates in the worms returning to the ground and the biologist returning to her lab - both sure that they will meet again, given C. elegans' wide biological versatility. To read the written narrative, click here.

Academic writing is a medium of assignment I think I'm relatively comfortable with but the SDAs I've done so far this year have proved to be characteristic of a special, and much different, struggle. The two things I've really been focusing on over the past time are probably communication and creativity. Communication, well, as you know, is a tough one for me and even though it presents itself as more of a problem in the spoken form, writing this picture book was still helpful and important but we'll get to that in a bit. Creativity then, poses the challenge of whether or not I can effectively think outside "the box." While this box could be the confinement of my own self-prescribed comfort zone or that of writing a thesis, a picture book seemed fitting to treat such a weakness.

Before analysis, I also want to clarify that this reflection journal will solely focus upon the written portion of my picture book. I am someone who struggles with drawing so the picture parts of the book will be taking a little time and I didn't want to hold off on taking a look at the narrative since that is definitely a substantial part of this piece.

Okay, you know the drill - time for the 5 Cs test

1) Collaboration - I know that collaboration is important and valuable but I think with this SDA, I was a little afraid of being a burden to others. I am aware that the way I work is much different than the way others operate so I also knew that when the first draft of this narrative came out being of poor quality, I honestly didn't really think anyone would be up for the revision process such a project would entail. Obviously, Mr. Bott, Mrs. Gergen, and Ben were all extremely helpful throughout that editing and revising process (I don't know if coordinator collaborations count), but I almost wish I had been more on top of things so that I could receive feedback from my peers. I mean, I did show the story to Mikayla and Silma but I think this is always something I struggle with when it comes to collaborating with peers - talking about what we're all doing for our SDAs is one thing, but actually collaborating - challenging each other to ask deeper questions or even just posing the inquiry of why someone did this or chose to include that - is a completely different thing that definitely needs to happen more. The good part about this C though is that the picture book isn't completely done yet. As I work on the illustrations, I will no doubt be running to Julia, Silma, Mikayla and anyone who wants to help out, for advice since I know that art is something they enjoy doing and most certainly have a talent for. Also, I'm not sure if this is a correct way to do things, but I've always been of the mentality that if I ever collaborate with someone else, I really want to make sure that I've put forth my absolute best effort at whatever that thing is. So one of the items that possibly discouraged me from collaborating right away may have been the fact that I didn't want to waste time by sharing something that I hadn't done everything in my own power/ability to perfect. Because I think there is a personal responsibility in any collaboration that we each put forth our best effort before asking for the help of others. I don't mean this in the sense that working on your own is more valuable than what a collaboration can produce, but more along the lines of maximizing the possibilities of a collaboration. I don't know if that makes sense but the way I like to think of it is if I put in one hundred percent of my effort and then for example, Mikayla critiques that 100% effort, my product will result in my best effort plus Mikayla's best critiquing effort - an excellent product overall. On the other hand, if I only put in 75% effort towards my work, I end up limiting the effect and margin of improvement Mikayla's critiques could possibly have on my project. Okay, that got a little formulaic but essentially, what I'm trying to say is that it wouldn't be fair if I relied on a collaboration with someone else to take my work from 50% to 100% and it also wouldn't be possible. But anyway, the point is, as I'm working on the illustrations for my narrative, I will try my best to work ahead and give those who want to collaborate enough time to critique whatever I come up.

2) Creativity - In the past, I think I've always struggled with creativity as its own entity but this year, even though I'm doing a little better in thinking creatively when it comes to SDA mediums, I find myself struggling with doing well in those creative pieces. So even though I've developed the ability to think of something original and something that adds a more approachable facet to my project, I don't think I'm exactly manifesting these ideas with the most proficiently. And obviously, this is an implication of other areas wherein I am struggling such as communication and collaboration but it also goes to show that every one of these Cs is two-fold. There is an initial idea or thought of implementation, but one must also sustain their efforts throughout the actual act of implementation. Without this second part, the product reflects nothing more than the fact that there could have been a valuable thought behind the product. My english teacher Mr. G has this poster hanging on the front of his desk. It says, "It is not enough to be compassionate, you must act." I really love this quote because every time I see it, I am reminded that every part of a human life consists of more than a simple intention or thought. Although Mr. G's poster certainly has implications that are far more instinctively human than working on creative SDAs, it has become a significant statute in my own thinking. In terms of creativity though, I understand the implication of this quote to mean that creative ideas are not enough. One must sustain the original thought enough to produce a creative product. I don't know if I have found the reason I struggle with creativity - an incomplete mastery of creativity's multifaceted nature - or if my current level of creativity is just a mark of a really low starting point but I think this C definitely showcases a certain complexity not necessarily found in the others.

Anyway, back to the SDA. As opposed to the SDA before this one (the subpar podcast) I think I did a little better job of coming up with a creative idea and then actually seeing that creative idea to fruition. I'm not gonna lie to you, the first draft was very rough, but with some revision and deeper thinking about what I wanted to say, it didn't turn out too badly. Although, the pictures are not done yet so I'll have more to say about creativity in a couple weeks' time.

3) Critical Thinking - Critical thinking still doesn't have a definition and while that does give me pause to a large degree, I've come to regard it in somewhat of an interdisciplinary sense. For example, when Alex was using biology to explain human morality (something more rooted in the humanities than in science), I considered it a prime example of critical thinking because he was bringing two seemingly unrelated things together and using one to elucidate the other. If we can agree upon this perception of critical thinking, I think I did alright with it because I had to bring together my understanding of the target audience with my understanding of the scientific content I wished to convey. Since I wouldn't say I am at all "in-touch" with the toddler and child population, Mr. Bott and Mrs. Gergen were helpful in explaining some of the things that are essential to a children's picture book. Thus, in taking their advice and working with the components I knew I wanted to include, I had to critically think about where to value one aspect over the other and also how to use one aspect to compliment the other. I think one of the places I can gain more practice with critical thinking is right here - in my journals. I used to do this a lot last year - maybe even so much that it sometimes was unwarranted - but I would take any small thing that happened throughout the day and relate it to my project. I have been doing that this year also but to a lesser degree mostly because I want to make sure it's purposeful and does not stretch far beyond the substance of my project since I have a much more focused trajectory this time around. But anyway, I would say that it's a little weird trying to measure your progress and proficiency at something when you're not really sure what it is. I took a look at my past SDA reflections before beginning to write this one and I've noticed a recurring lack of direction whenever I come to analyze critical thinking. I guess I'm not really sure what I'm looking for and that makes it difficult to assess my standing in such an ambiguous respect.

4) Curiosity - There it is - the spark that has ignited E=MC2 since its inception. Although I'm not sure this SDA demonstrated curiosity and improvement in questioning skills with respect specifically to C. elegans or glial cells, I think I began to ask questions about my project's implications outside of my own mind. I knew why I care about the worms and how I know they are important, but I had to ask myself why someone else should exhibit the same curiosity. That might not be directly implicit within the C of curiosity but I guess what I'm trying to say is that through this SDA, I was curious to know how other people think and how I could direct my product to fit that general way of thinking.

5) Communication - As I mentioned earlier, communication along with creativity were big focal points for this particular SDA. Although there was no speaking involved in writing this picture book narrative, I think it helped me to practice telling a story and communicating in a way that is more universally interesting than scientific writing. One of the things that I really worked on with this SDA is the packaging in which I displayed my content. I knew that I wanted to portray C. elegans as helpful and important to the larger scientific scheme. And in my first draft, I did that - but my story was frankly, very boring and just didn't make much sense. My next course of action then was to ask, how can I make these worms special in all of my readers' eyes? The best I could do with that was call them superheroes... It's actually kind of funny, I never actually thought of my worms as superheroes until I actually wrote this picture book narrative. But going through the process of finding ways to communicate with my audience helped me to realize that when I'm trying to communicate with others and get a certain point across, I have to think about who I'm talking with and adjust my manner accordingly. What I've learned is that the most effective communication happens when we understand the audience we are talking to and proceed to speak to them in their own language, with their own dialect. And, obviously, I mean this in a more metaphorical sense. This is going to seem really basic for those who can manage to speak in coherent sentences but this SDA taught me that effective communication lies in a joint understanding of one's own thoughts and the manner of thought present in the minds of those you wish to communicate with.

And so, I suppose we could call this section of my SDA complete. It's taught me quite a bit - trying to write a picture book. There will never be a point, ever, where I think I could rightly claim that I have achieved much of anything with respect to the 5 Cs or even my project because I know that there is always more room to grow and progress. It would be a most foolish misconception then, to avoid trying something new or taking up a new endeavor for the sole possibility of failure. So although it may seem as though my SDA game isn't always hitting the mark, I don't necessarily think that should be a bad thing. Where else besides the bottom does one begin learning a new skill? Many days, it's difficult to communicate and most of the time, it's difficult for me to be creative but that doesn't mean I should just accept that those aren't "my things" and move one. Progress is slow and not always apparent but through each journal and within each SDA, I hope to continually better myself.