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Action Project has been a very contemporary subject, in which we are challenged to develop key skills that are relevant to today's society. For me, a major takeaway from this course was collaborating and communicating with others which is something I struggled the most with out of the 5Cs. I met and worked with lots of new people and formed many new friendships and acquaintanceships. At the start of this course, I was only comfortable with one person in the whole class but now, I have more people I can reach out to and effectively collaborate with.

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13/06/2023 Reflection on creating advertisement materials for our stall

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13/06/2023 Reflection on creating advertisement materials for our stall

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We have been creating brochures, posters and signs for our stall to captivate the audiences' attention. We will be using flashy decorations such as fairylights and vines to enhance the appearance of our stall, making it more approachable. We plan on recreating the atmosphere we plan on having in our cafe, by offering cupcakes, playing soft music and displaying posters you might see in a cafe such as a menu and a 'we are open' sign. Laptops are small and they sometimes have a glare or reflection, making it hard to see what is on the screen unless you are very close to it. Therefore presenting accompanying slides for our pitch, on a laptop, would be inefficient. In using our critical thinking skills to problem solve, we have decided to print out some of our main slides as posters so that there is no glare/reflection and the text is relatively bigger. Our next steps are working on our actual pitch as we our currently struggling to fit in so much information in just a few words.

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05/05/2023 Reflection on Brainstorming ideas for our INNOV8

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05/05/2023 Reflection on Brainstorming ideas for our INNOV8

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Over the past few lessons, we have been brainstorming ideas for our INNOV8, whether it be the problem we want to solve or the solution we want to make. As a group, we tried to address problems that we personally face since these would be easiest for us to develop effective solutions. By collating all the general problems we face as students, we decided to create a personalised after-school space that would meet all the needs of GIHS students, particularly in their studies. To further develop our idea, we reflected on some of the prompt cards Ms H gave us which challenged us to approach our solution from new angles. We also started working on an empathy map for our solution, which allows us to generate better ideas as we deeply connect with our target audience.

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In creating our stall, I tried to reflect on some of the successful methods from our PE expo which was conducted earlier this term. However, the result wasn't as successful since the target audience has changed from year 8 students to parents. We should've tried to put ourselves in their perspective and think of what their specific age group would want, rather than generalising all audiences. Personally, I think our stall was very attractive, however our pitch or overall idea wasn't as strong. We struggled to keep within the timeframe and often stuttered because we were unfamiliar with the script. At one point, we just decided to freestyle, however this lead to us forgetting to address some of the key concepts of our solution. Personally, I think in comparison to our problem, it would be a lot of effort for our solution to come to life. There would be much more cost and time effective ways to combat this issue. Next time we should be a little innovative and try to target some specific points that really makes our cafe stand out from other cafes or perhaps try to think of a different idea altogether. Through this expo, I found it was very draining and exhausting for me to interact with so many people. This is something I need more practice and exposure in since in many future jobs, I will be required to communicate with many new people each day, so this expo was a good experience to develop my social and communication skills.

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02/06/2023 INNOV8 5 min Pitch reflection

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02/06/2023 INNOV8 5 min Pitch reflection

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In the development of our 5 min pitch, our group worked collaboratively, not only by assigning roles but by consulting eachother before making decisions and having group discussions. In the delivery of our pitch, we aimed to communicate our ideas in an engaging manner, practicing our public speaking skills of speaking clearly with authority. In attempts to enhance our pitch further, we practiced saying certain words together to draw attention. Personally, I found it very nerve-racking to speak infront of the large audience and struggled to respond to some of the questions we were asked. Next time, I could try using a strategy we were taught, where we just admit we don't know and say we'll look into it or say it's a good idea and we'll try to incorporate it. This gives us more authority than just rambling on about something we don't fully know and avoiding the direct question. Listening to the other groups' pitches was inspiring as I found it interesting how small simple problems such as gum under tables and cold hands could be fixed in such innovative ways.

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Whilst continuing to work on our INNOV8 pitch, we reflected on the feedback Ms Bunton gave us and decided that our pitch was too wordy and needed to be more succinct in order to grasp the audience's attention. The relief teacher commented that Franks would not be happy if we built a study cafe beside them. In response to this, we collaboratively brainstormed ideas then decided to form a partnership with them to ensure that they wouldn't be economically disadvantaged. Our next steps are working out the details on how this partnership might work.

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Our group worked collaboratively by splitting the workload between the three of us, so that each person would produce one solid design. Using critical and creative thinking, we explored all possibilities, trying to compact as many clothing items as possible into one design.

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As fast fashion consumers, we know that the main reason we prefer buying from fast fashion companies is that it's cheap and trendy. By using empathetic thinking to consider the perspectives of those who may be contributing to fast fashion, we have created clothing designs that are catered to both the needs of the clients (who are causing the problem) and solving the problem its self. We have worked collaboratively and finished filming the footage required for our infomercial whilst ensuring that everyone gets equal amounts of lines and turns filming. During filming we contributed ideas on how to enhance our infomercial by using ethos, pathos and logos. A suggestion was having someone drink water then pretend to die whilst another was talking about fast fashion contributing to wastewater pollution to include humour, linking into pathos. This was included in our final infomercial. All of our group members were actively participating and were supportive of each others ideas, often positively responding to them by building off of them or suggesting similar ideas. We were highly collaborative and efficiently communicated; this is reflected in our final product.

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Pathos: emotion (eg. make the audience feel pity/anger towards a certain character)
Logos: logic/reason (eg. facts and statistics)
Ethos: authority (eg. celebrity endorsement)

After learning and seeing examples of the key concepts of the persuader's toolkit: Pathos, Logos and Ethos, we applied our understanding by making a pitch about turtles ingesting plastic. We collaboratively worked in small groups to create a pitch then presented it to another group. Our group focused on Pathos by emphasizing the perspective of the turtles. We also used Logos by incorporating lots of statistics and scientific facts which goes hand in hand with Pathos as it emphasises the severity of the problem, hence making the audience feel more remorse towards the topic. Our group chose to focus on Pathos because it works very effectively on us, especially when animals are involved. Through this task we were able to apply and develop collaboration, communication and critical thinking as we worked together to define and address a problem, then pose possible solutions to it, then communicate our views to other people. I’ve been greatly developing my communication and collaboration in Action Project lately as nearly all tasks involve group work. With our newfound understanding, we can use these techniques in our spin off task to make our infomercial more engaging and better convince our audience of our solution.

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a possible solution to my partner's lunchtime problem 

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Our bike prototype for someone who can't ride a bike 

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I collaboratively worked with Alannah to design a bike for someone who couldn't ride one. Our focus was on people who cannot use their legs so we added hand pedals so that they can pedal with their arms. To help them gain extra speed we added a sail and some propellers. Although our design is very creative and uses a lot of divergent thinking, to make it more realistic, we should use convergent thinking to refine our ideas and ensure that all the needs of our client are met. In response to the prompt, we immediately thought of someone who can't use their legs, however it could've been interpreted in various ways as there are other abilities that people need in order to ride a regular bike. These could include good balance or being conscious of your surroundings. In future activities, we can work on having a more abstract approach to problems, so that we can create original solutions that are not pre-existing.

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Key Concepts of Design Thinking - Reflection

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Key Concepts of Design Thinking - Reflection

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Design Thinking is a thinking process in which new ideas and solutions to problems are created with the consumer's needs in mind. In the first two weeks of Action Project, we have practiced design thinking through a variety of different activities, including creating a bike for someone who cannot, turning 30 circles into objects and finding as many ways we can to shave a monkey. These activities challenged me to think of all possibilities, practicing my creative and critical thinking. I realised that I was less creative than I thought I was as I struggled to create new original ideas that were different from preexisting solutions. Such as in the 'how to shave a monkey' activity, I could only think of shaving it with a razor. I need to work on expanding my scope of thinking and to do this, I need more knowledge and understanding of the world around me.

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In this activity, we were each given either a blue, green or orange card that had the target audience, price range or category written on it. We then had to find 2 other people that had cards of different colours. Our group comprised of Wenxiu, Kiara and I. Our cards were Entertainment, $300 and 15-19 y.o meaning we had to create a product under these conditions. In this task, we effectively communicated our ideas during brainstorming by adding on to and suggesting new ideas through inspiration from eachother's ideas. This task required us to use critical thinking as we had to be creative yet stay within the range that was set for us. A positive outcome of this task was that I was able to practice improvising in my speech which I previously mentioned was something I need to work on. Our group spontaneously volunteered to present and had to create a speech in minutes. I was assigned to speak first however I was unfamiliar with the script and didn't feel that what was written down fully encompassed what our product was all about. So I started the speech by interacting with the audience through a question: 'What do you guys do when you're bored?' This was something that I thought of whilst we were going up to the front. A lot of other things that I said were also thought of on the spot however I was confident in what I said as I knew our topic very well since I was one of the people who contributed to making it.

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Our group chose 'fast fashion' as our overarching topic. This topic is something that is relevant to all of us as we are major fast fashion consumers who love dressing up and have varying styles. Since we ourselves are part of the problem, we will be able to create innovative solutions which will actually have a effect on our target audience. We still need to research more on the actual root of this issue and the severity of the damage it is having on our planet. I find the concept of trends in relation to perception of beauty very intriguing as the standard of what is considered pretty/cool changes throughout time. I'd like to explore more about what exactly influences these trends so that we could manipulate this to benefit our solution.

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First Impression and Wonderings about Action Project

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First Impression and Wonderings about Action Project

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Currently, Action Project is not completely what I was expecting as I thought it would be similar to a PLP where we choose a topic and research about it. It seems like a much more creative and innovative course which allows us to develop skills that will enable us to be successful in the future. We do a lot of creative activities which require us to use our critical and creative thinking to generate as many ideas as possible. I'm looking forward to the expo which Ms Haumesser briefly mentioned. I feel most comfortable when everything is the way its meant to be so taking risks and trying new things will be a big challenge for me in Action Project. So far, I have briefly explored my identity and practiced design thinking through various in-class activities. Since I have identified my strengths and weaknesses, I am able to make the most of my strengths whilst working on developing my weaknesses throughout problem solving tasks.

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Redesigning Partner's lunchbox activity - Reflection

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Redesigning Partner's lunchbox activity - Reflection

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In order to find an effective solution, you need to put yourself in the other person's shoes and consider how they may feel and react in certain scenarios. This enables you to search deeper and find the root of the problem you are solving. In this task we had to partner up with someone we didn't know well and work to improve their lunchtime. It involved a lot of collaboration as we had to work together to find eachother's most significant lunchtime problem. Many interviews were conducted to collect information on the other person's lunchtime. This information helped us to identify and approach the problem empathetically. To generate ideas for a solution, we had to try thinking beyond what is already available and existent, hence using creativity. After we had thought of many ideas, we had to refine them into a single concept that would be realistic and practical, hence using critical thinking. Something I struggled with in this activity was creating a solution that my partner had not already thought of and tried. In this activity, I found it difficult to communicate my perspective to my partner who was trying to improve my lunchtime. I often found that what I was trying to convey was being misinterpreted. In the future, I need to work on effectively communicating my views, opinions and what I am thinking/feeling. In this activity, the empathy map was really helpful in organising my ideas and making connections between various statements. I think collaboration plays a big part in innovation because having multiple people share their ideas on a specific topic means a wider range of possibilities.

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If I am well prepared, I project my voice well during presentations, I speak loudly and clearly. Even if I stutter I just repeat myself then carry on as if nothing happened. I try to look confident by standing straight and relaxing my shoulders. I occasionally look up and make eye contact with the audience. I want to develop my improvising skills because without a script I cannot present. Even if I do have a script but I'm not familiar with it, my voice falters. My mind goes blank and I struggle to form cohesive sentences. I have trouble making things up on the spot and I dislike Q and A sessions.

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I feel that my strengths line up with my values really well and also represent who I aim to be as a person. I also acknowledge that my lesser strengths are areas in which I need improvement in. My results have had a few changes since year 9 however this could be because back then I took the youth survey and this year I took the adult version. My top strength remains the same, as love, which I really value since I think it is one of the most unique and important human capabilities. My 2nd strength is spirituality which was previously my 6th strength. I've interpreted spirituality as something religion based and I have recognised that in the past year as a Christian, I have grown significantly closer to God and put my trust in Him. My beliefs have also had the most influence on my character which I see is reflected in the rest of my top traits. Previously, my 3rd and 5th traits: humility and honesty, used to be quite low in 11th and 23rd place. I think I actually responded to the survey a lot more honestly this time and this in itself required humility since I had to accept that I wasn't the person I want to be and that I lack in many areas. Appreciation of beauty and excellence is still in my top 5 traits because I like pretty things. I find beauty in the little things that most people find insignificant and I put a lot of sentimental value into things. I also love poetry and art, I enjoy trying to figure out the deeper meaning behind them. A lot of the time I find myself feeling emotions a lot more vividly than what would be considered normal. I'd say I'm a sensitive person which goes both ways such as in a positive manner with appreciation of beauty and excellence being one of my top traits but also negatively with bravery being my lowest trait. I would say myself that I am a bit of a coward. If I was given the choice of fight or flight, I'd choose flight every single time. I still can't watch horror or stuff with a lot of action and violence because the graphics stay in my head for too long. I accept fairness as one of my lesser strengths as I tend to be biased and I don't always treat everyone the same. I often let my emotions control my decisions making me really petty. I think Perseverance and Love of Learning are in my lesser strengths because I need to be really passionate about something in order to be motivated. I'm not really eager to go out of my way to learn or pursue something.  I do try to try my best in things that I have to do but especially towards the end I end up giving up and just settling for the next best thing. For my final lesser strength: leadership, I'm not a very social person and I struggle to talk when there are people I don't know. I rarely make the first move or initiate something with people I am not close to. Love and Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence can be an asset in Action Project as it will allow me to make empathetic choices and create abstract ideas. All five of my lesser strengths might significantly hinder my activity in Action Project as I assume it will involve a lot of taking risks, trying new things, solving problems, public speaking and working with lots of people which is often associated with my lesser strengths.

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This task required me to use and expand my communication skills by collaborating with unfamiliar people to generate solid ideas and a convincing speech. Our group's topic was 'teenagers should be able to study abroad in high school'. Within the short period of time we were given, we used critical thinking to create then refine our main points using the help of online resources. When it was my turn to speak, I used body language to assert my confidence and knowledge on the topic by uncrossing my arms and leaning on the lectern, making myself appear as a reliable source. Through this task I was able to expand my communication and public speaking skills in an environment where I was stretched but still felt safe.

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Hi, I'm Hana. I enjoy going to cute cafes, writing and decorating my diary, shopping and taking photos. I've always been an artsy crafty person and I like to create things. I love poetry and finding meaning in the little things. I also enjoy travelling. Currently I'm not immensely passionate about anything but in the past I was very passionate about Animal Rights. I even did my yr 7 PLP on it. I don't eat meat and mainly consume ethically sourced animal products. Three things that make my blood boil are injustice, narcissism and insensitivity. In terms of pet peeves, they are fingernails on chalkboards, the smell of butter on a frypan, loud noises and unpredictable situations (surprises).