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The key skills I have developed are my collaboration and presenting skills. This was developed through multiple tasks that required a higher level of presentation and communication such as the INNOV8 expo. My understanding of problem solving and design thinking has changed as I have a more open and creative perspective on issues now which allows me to think of better solutions and consider every single variable involved. This was showcased when I was given feedback for my first INNOV8 presentation and had to quickly take on this feedback and problem solve to attain a greater grade. This involved changing key features such as the start up money generation method and aesthetic aspects of the slide show.

Action project has had a large impact on my 4Cs as I now have a clearer understanding of them and know different things that can improve the Cs individually. My communication has developed as I have had to work with people I do not usually work with. This process has put me outside my comfort zone and made me have to communicate with new people but still succeed in the task. The communication was combined with my collaboration which also greatly improved due to this course. This was improved through the various activities that required a large quantity of work done in a small time period practically making them impossible without collaboration. The best example of this was with the INNOV8 expo where we managed to create a streamlined collaboration process with every member having allocated roles in the build up and presentation. My creativity was developed and shone through with our expo stand design which was visually interesting and attracted a larger audience. The decision to use green throughout our design was also creative as the colour green signifies nature and taking action.

The knowledge and skills developed within this course will be easily transferred to other subjects as well as improving my SACE capabilities. The collaboration and communication used will be essential in further group activities within school and out of school. This could include jobs and career training. The knowledge on marketing and pitching will further progress and open up opportunities that require these skills. It also allows for future school tasks and presentations to be easier due to this valuable knowledge.

The main challenge faced throughout the course is incorporating feedback and changing key parts of my work to fit the adjustments. This was mainly showcased in the INNOV8 presentation. During this incorporation feedback, my group used critical thinking when attempting to include feedback and creativity when making it fit our current presentation. This solved all the issues and created a better presentation that was more suitable for the expo. This experience also improved my skills of taking feedback and using this feedback to improve work as I believe the second presentation was far better than the first one.

The main skills I can take from action project are the presentation and problem solving skills used throughout the whole course. These problem solving skills developed my critical thinking which is essential in other tasks and future career paths. Presentation skills also become more vital in later schooling years as many more tasks rely on presenting live and this course has prepared me for those assessments.

Overall, this course has helped me develop my critical thinking skills as all of the tasks completed required critical thinking to be able to succeed. I have also become more confident when presenting which mostly came from the INNOV8 task and the continuous need to adapt when pitching. This made me have to freestyle my pitch which greatly improved this aspect of my presentation skills. The volume of pitches presented further improved my abilities to account for different audiences and be able to connect with them on a deeper level that is engaging and persuasive.

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So far in week 7 we have been focusing mainly on the physical preperation for our expo stall. Daris has printed out quite a few business cards, and has been cutting out card and sticking them on. Thomas and I have been looking at posters and what to print out. Taking many of our posters from our slides as we thought they visually represented our product well and would go along with the look of our stall.

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This week, after finding out that our pitch grade was a C+, we decided to take on the feedback we were given, and using our creative and critical thinking, taking it to our advantage to fix our service in order for our expo night to go well and successfully.  We brainstormed collaboratively some ways that we could improve our service overall.  We worked specifically on looking at council funding and startup, changing our company to not-for-profit as it fits the category of community much better.

The next step as well was to think about how we could set up our stall on the expo night which takes place next Thursday evening. We mainly thought about posters for behind us to be put up on a pinboard but also looking at ways to represent our idea. For this, we decided to make a small garden that would represent our product and we would also have a kit alongside it. This kit would show our seeds off and some gardening tools. To top it all off, we collaboratively thought of some green confectionary and some fake grass to fully complete the environmental look.

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Pitches - What worked well, what didn't - 3.6.22

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Pitches - What worked well, what didn't - 3.6.22

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After watching the majority of our classes pitches in week 5, I wanted to reflect on what worked well with them, and also what didn't.  I did something similar with the infomercials for Spin-Off in term 1.

Something I noticed that worked well for presentations was when people talked very confidently about their product.  it helped very well conveying the product as it gave the impression that the group and creators of the product/service had no doubt that their product worked well.

I thought that individual cue cards worked a lot better than full  pages as well.  With full pages it gave the impression that the group was unprepared or didn't put in enough effort to make their presentation as good as it could have been.

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This week was mainly refining our INNOV8 pitch as we present it to the classes and teachers next Tuesday. We looked a lot at the last few categories including, funding model, stakeholders, resources and objective. When it came to talking about stakeholders, we brainstormed different businesses that we could partner with in order to make a successful business and funding model. We looked at bunnings specifically, to provide us with the materials to build our gardens. Using the other "more beautiful" activity, we made 25% of our product's profits go towards a clean earth category.

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This week we've been looking at explaining our solution and also creating effective visual slides to go alongside our presentation.  I myself was mainly delegated a role for finding a good visual aid for our pitch.  I first started researching some basic colour theory and psychology and found green and yellows were often coordinated with nature.  This was perfect for our service as it was all about the environment.  So I got to work on finding a template, and found one on slidesgo.com that was relatively simple, but also gave off the perfect environmental look to convey and pitch our service successfully.

Author, W. (2018) Using Colors to Influence Your Brand | Digital Insights | Workspace Digital, Workspace Digital. Available at: https://workspace.digital/color-characteristics-using-colors-to-influence-your-environment/ (Accessed: 20 June 2022).

Environmental Education Google Slides & PowerPoint template (2022). Available at: https://slidesgo.com/theme/environmental-education-center#search-environment&position-9&results-123 (Accessed: 20 June 2022).

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This week we've been quite busy making our script for the pitch. So far we've been looking at the problem of neighbourhood disconnection and keeping our target audience as Elderly people and Teenagers. We chose these groups as they tend to spend a lot of time inside, without the company of other people. For teenagers, this affects their social competence when they grow older, and their sense of community. The elderly need to also keep healthy relationships in their old age, as they begin to get more lonely.

Australian Institute of family studies. 2022. Neighbour Day: It’s time to reconnect with those around us | Child Family Community Australia. [online] Available at: <https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2019/07/02/neighbour-day-its-time-reconnect-those-around-us> [Accessed 5 May 2022].

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-Presentation (discuss what you did well and what needed improvements)
Overall our group, myself included, was extremely happy with how we presented at the INNOV8 Expo.  Using different ways to lure people in like green confectionary, an actual garden, a starter kit, and lots of bright colours, our audience was constantly captivated and each person we pitched to commented on our presentation abilities.  I think we also did really well to use everything we had available to us. We were constantly quoting and pointing to posters we had up, explaining our "kit" and even talking about the slides that we had available for anyone to flick through.

Something I believed we potentially could have improved on in terms of presentation, was our elevator pitch, as it sometimes left some questions.

-ideas (did your solutions effectively and creatively address the problems? what evidence do you have of this)
I absolutely believe our solution strongly and effectively addressed and solved the problem of neighbourhood disconnection. Evidence of this was shown on the Expo night after getting many compliments on how creative our solution was.  Some even mentioned that it worked very well as it gave them added benefits, like not having to pay for their lawn being mowed.

-what are new insights you have on your solutions?
Something I have learnt as a result of the expo is that our presentation and solution could have shown more about how we would get our target audience engaged. This was one big question that came up when talking to a judge and unfortunately, was one we didn't have an answer for.

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This is a brainstorm and a simple list of things our group either needs to improve on or prepare so that we can be fully ready for the expo coming up. We made sure to address the feedback given after our pitch. We also thought about the task sheet for the expo and how we can make our stall work well and stand out.

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What were your strengths in

-presentation (discuss what you did well and what needed improvements)

Our slides provided relevant and necessary information without distracting the audience or getting away from the point.  We could have improved on our confidence when speaking as it made our pitch come across as a bit underprepared.

-ideas (did your solutions effectively and creatively address the problems? what evidence do you have of this)

Our ideas were successful in solving the problem at hand in a creative manner as we had received feedback from our first task and presentation about the solution being innovative and effective.

-do you need to make any changes or adjustments to your general ideas? (pivot)

The main change we might have to make is converting our business into a minimal profit company and utilising government funding to start/maintain our business.

- have you provided a real solid 360 degrees view of your solution? What aspects still need development and exploration? (dot point ok)

We believe we have provided an adequate and thorough 260 degree view of our solution and its benefits. Our greatest areas that require development is a different, clearer funding model and a more clear explanation of our partnerships for the gardening and creation of gardens aspect.

-overall- what are your next steps?

Next we need to refine our service and think about how we can use government or council funding to fix up prices and make it easier to help the community.

-what are new insights you have on your solutions?

We have realised that making our product/service for profit doesn’t really work as it is trying to appeal to people who may not want to fix their problem, and thus, most likely won’t be willing to pay for a solution.  INstead of for profit, we propose to get funding from the council and survey streets if they want the product.  We will work on this further when revising our pitch.

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Making our service more Effective, Efficient, Ethical and Beautiful

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Making our service more Effective, Efficient, Ethical and Beautiful

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This is a brainstorm activity about how to make our product better in all these small categories.  In terms of the 4cs it mainly involved creativity to come up with ideas, but also a bit of communication and collaboration, working together with the ideas. I think it mainly helped us to come up with a way to come up with a more social aspect for the product in the form of charity or donations.  Like donating a proportion of profits to a charity.

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So far, I think we're doing really well refining our service to prepare it for our INNOV8 pitch. Our service and situation are quite different to many of the others in our classes, as my group has continued their project over from Spin-Off. I wasn't a part of this same group for Spin-Off, but I watched their infomercial and was instantly drawn to the product myself and could definitely see its potential.  This week we have mainly been using our communicative and collaborative skills to work to start out our pitch.

Attached is the document we have been working on together (using collaboration and communication) for our INNOV8 pitch

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How do we know that our problem is a problem, and who is it a problem for?

Our problem can be proven as a problem, through data collected from the Australian government.  https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2019/07/02/neighbour-day-its-time-reconnect-those-around-us

This data shows that this problem affects people living in suburban areas

How can we best prove/communicate our problem?

Statistics and real-life scenarios where people have this problem will be an effective way to communicate it as many people would have experienced it.  This way we will be able to use one of the strongest persuasive techniques, pathos, as people will have experienced it before, and will connect on an emotional level.

How can we find out more about our problem?

We can find out more about our problem by conducting a survey (already done) to find the severity of our problem within the smaller Glenunga community.

What else exists in this space?

Community Hubs

What will be our first step in term 2?

One of our first steps will be to start developing our solution more as we already have a basic idea but want to better understand how it will work.

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So far we have been looking at combining neighbourly problems with each person's carbon footprint. My group members Daris and Thomas already have a solution for this which they used in spin-off called "Gorilla Gardens"

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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One Persuasive technique that we really tried to focus on was the use of personal pronouns in our infomercial. The reason for this was that we knew our product and problem would already connect with students as it would affect them all. However, going that extra step and including them in the infomercial makes it feel even more personal like the ad is targeted specifically at them. I believe we used it quite effectively as we combined it with other things that would connect with the audience, like a student in the video.  Something that I thought worked quite well in other videos was the use of humour and I would have liked to try using it if given the opportunity.

Group Collaboration
In the end, I believe that Arthur and I collaborated quite well and overcame quite a few interruptions and challenges along the way. Just as we started spin-off, I learnt that I had to isolate for 1 week and would miss three action project lessons. Through this, however, Arthur and I continued working on the brainstorming and research part of spin-off, despite being far away from each other. Once we got back, it was time to work on solutions and the final video. Editing the video was something that I did myself, however, I was constantly sending drafts to Arthur asking about his opinions on different elements which showcased our communication well. Creativity is one of the 5cs which I can say has grown the most in Spin-off. Before starting I knew I wasn't a very creative person and this showed in my character strengths as it was one of my lowest. However, in the final spin-off grade, we got an A for our creativity aspect. I think my growth is mainly due to doing many brainstorms about problems, solutions and questions.

Feedback from others
In terms of critical feedback, something that was said was that to just have that little bit extra, we could have included more of a visual for the product. While we did have a small preview, I also think it would be beneficial to show a more in-depth demo of how it works.

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Hi Rhys

Fantastic reflections, I am seeing a very clear story of your development through AP, particularly like that you have also included the research you did on how to make an effective video. The only suggestion I would make is to show more links to research articles and describe how you arrived at particular ideas eg brainstorming (the throwing around of ideas to hopefully find inspiration)

Grade: A-

Regards

Mr O

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Something I noticed that worked well in different spin-off videos was the use of different statistics whether they be from a survey conducted or even just from online.  I thought that this was something that could've potentially made our video just that little bit better.  I also noticed there was a lot of use of text.  These weren't like full subtitles, but just small sentecnes relevant to what was being said by a voiceover, or also on screen.

One thing I saw that didn't really work was the fast pacing of different voice-overs.  I know that an infomercial is often fast paced so that the viewer doesn't think too hard about what they are buying.  However, too fast pacing doesn't allow for the user to understand what they are seeing at all, and there is a lot to process at once.

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Our video was essentially broken up into 3 sections, introduction, solution and conclusion.  Because the introduction was mainly introducing the problem and how it effects many students, we wanted to use sad music to convey how the student's were feeling.  We also used red for the text which is a colour often associated with something bad or wrong.  (see link) We also made it bold to signify that it is a big issue.

Moving onto the solution and conclusion, we changed the music to a more calm and happy sort of vibe, as we wanted to make the viewer think our product would truly help them and get them out of their struggle.  The video's of ourselves that we used, were mainly students and teachers both working very productively while using our product, WonderWork.  The tone of the voiceover was quite calm as well, trying to ensure the viewer that we can be trusted.

Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color — Smashing Magazine (2010). Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color (Accessed: 22 March 2022).

(2022) The Power of Music in Film. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSkJFs7myn0 (Accessed: 30 March 2022).

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Today was mainly a day for filming the parts we hadn't done yet for our final infomercial video for spin-off.  We were quite creative in using different camera angles and shots to show different moods and purposes.  We filmed quite a few shots and then cut it down to what we thought worked best to convey what we wanted to. With this use of creativity we thought we communicated our product's purpose quite well.  We had different shots like a student receiving homework and almost crying in comparison to a student working away while using our product.

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Top 5:
1. Humor
2. Teamwork
3. Love
4. Perseverance
5. Zest

Lower 5:
20. Creativity
21. Forgiveness
22. Appreciation of Beauty
23. Honesty
24. Spirituality

I think that out of my top 5 strengths, teamwork, perseverance will be the most useful. I believe teamwork will be as I know that much of action project is groupwork and I have already experienced this with Spin off. I also believe perseverance will help because it will help me get a project or even just a small section of one, completed to a high standard.

From my lower 5, I think creativity will be something that will limit me in action project, as we always need to be using creativity to come up with products or pitches. However, I have stated in previous padlet posts that my creativity is something that I hope action project will help me improve on and stretch. I have already seen results of this through Spin-off and definitely think I will see more in future.

In terms of Critical-Thinking, I believe this has also improved as during spin-off, we really delved into our problem deeply, trying to know all the ins and outs so that we could come up with a solution to solve all the minor issues that came with the big one.

Communication wise, I think I am already quite prepared. I enjoy public speaking, I'm not quite sure why but I think it is partly because of my ability to improvise on the spot, which is what you sometimes have to do when reading just from dot points and not an entire script. This, in turn, goes with creating effective slides that have a good balance between visuals and text, also making sure the person speaking isn't reading fully off the slide.

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In this lesson, we decided to work more on our final product/solution and to work on the script of the infomercial.

First, we wanted our product to be more than just an online messaging and chat platform so we brainstormed up some more features and created a short pitch.  Some of the features we took inspiration from the survey, like spreading out work, which we turned into a feature to manage how much work you do. These features included things like a timetable, to keep students organised.  There is also a focus mode, to minimise distractions so that the student will get their work done well and quickly.

Next, it was time to work on the script and plan for the infomercial which we divided into three sections: introduction to the problem (30s), solution (1m) and a conclusion (30s).

*Attached: Product outline and basic pitch*

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In this lesson we had a look at the results from our survey and wow, 588 responses.  We definitely weren't expecting that many people to be interested but it seems as if the homework subject attracted more than we thought it would.

Using the data we acquired from the survey we got to work on coming up with solutions.  We used both solutions from the survey which students sent in themselves and ones that we came up with using Divergent Thinking.  We ended up picking the solution of:

An online platform to get homework help from people your age (something like Discord)

We thought that this could really connect with the younger generation well as they already know how to navigate these types of softwares.

Attached: link to survey and final survey results

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Today we looked at the best ways of researching and gathering data. Through a brainstorm of ideas, we ended up coming to the conclusion of an optional schoolwide survey.  We thought this would be perfect since our problem is to do with homework so students instantly have something to do with the survey, prompting them to complete it. It also gave us a sense of not only overall students' opinions on homework but also how it affects Glenunga students specifically. This helps us get to know our problem on a much more community-based level.

We came up with the different questions of:

Do you like doing homework (1-5)

Do you find it stressful (yes,no, sometimes)

If your answer was yes to the last question, how stressed can it get you (1-10)

What subjects give the most stressful homework (list of subjects - multiple choice)

What subjects do you think homework is needed (list of subjects and none - multiple choice)

What subjects do you find homework useful (list of subjects and none - multiple choice)

What do you think should be done about extra homework?

What do you normally do if you don’t understand the homework (list of people)

We collated them into a google forms survey and sent the link to our teacher Mr O so he could then send it out to the school and they will answer over the weekend.

University, S. (2014) Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework, Stanford News. Available at: https://news.stanford.edu/2014/03/10/too-much-homework-031014(Accessed: 8 April 2022).

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Week 4 Reflection - Beginning of Spin-Off

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Week 4 Reflection - Beginning of Spin-Off

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So far I'm quite liking the spin-off project as it is a chance to use some of the skills I have already developed in the "Redesign Your partner's covid summer". We chose to investigate the problem of too much confusing homework.  We are still gathering data from the survey we sent out to Glenunga students about how stressful homework can be and what subjects give the most stressful homework.

Something I found intriguing about the topic we chose is that it relates to me so I feel like I'll be able to input more than with another problem. At the moment, I'm most concerned about coming up with a successful solution to the problem. However, I think after getting more information on the problem, this should come easier.

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I found the 50 in 5 activity really useful (even if I didn't get a full 50 ideas) as the pressure of time closing up really got my ideas flowing and helped to finalise my solution to my partner's problem.

Out of the 5c's, I think I improved 3 of them from this activity. Those being creative and critical thinking, collaboration and communication. I improved my collaboration when answering questions in detail about my problem to my partner. My communication was grown when I was on the other end of the interview and asked my partner questions about their problem.  After the interview was when my creative and critical thinking was developed as I had to come up with a way to fix my partner's problem of making friends quickly in a new school.  I then had to pitch my idea of the "incrediball" to my partner.  The Incrediball was simply a ball that could turn into any other ball which was sure to bring some people in.

Something I found very difficult during the activity was coming up with ideas for solutions.  Creativity is something I need to improve on as I have already previously stated.  However, I think activities like 50 in 5 that really get my thinking going, will help to develop and explore my more creative side

*Attached* My pitch for my "Incrediball" product

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Something I have learnt so far in Action Project is that working well with other people is essential.  These lessons have already helped me to develop my collaboration and critical thinking skills and have changed the way I aproach problems.  Now I look more in depth at the problem itself with input from other people, before thinking of a solution.

I think one of the biggest challenges I will face in action project will be coming up with ideas as my creativity is something I really need to work on, however, I think this class can help with that

I'm most excited about pitching my (or our) products and ideas to the community as I think it will be a chance to help my public speaking.

I am often very energetic, making me eager to finish a project which I think will help in AP