Parachutes

Context

This semester-long project was created for my Design Studio course during my Spring semester. For this project, I collaborated with a colleague from my program, and with the Museum of Science in Boston. My colleague had a strong science background, and prior experience with creating virtual worlds. I had prior experience designing for informal STEM learning environments.

We were given the task of creating a new Engineering Design Challenge for the Museum of Science. Engineering Design Challenges are 20 minute activities where museum guests can build, test, and improve on their design. For this project, I created an activity where guests will engineer a parachute.

We chose to create a fun, hands-on learning experience to help young learners get excited about STEM. We chose a topic that all learners have some background knowledge about. We made sure to choose a topic that is gender neutral, so that it would be interesting for learners of all genders. We hope that this activity will be exciting for learners who may not typically identify with STEM. By successfully completing an engineering challenge, we hope these learners will start to see themselves as engineers and as scientists. This connects to my personal interests as I am interested in helping a broader range of learners identify with STEM.

This project was originally going to be implemented as an in-person activity, but was adapted into a virtual activity, due to COVID-19.

Iteration 1: In-Person Activity

Our first iteration was creating an in-person activity, where museum guests could engineer, test, and improve a parachute design. Our main learning objective was for guests to gain an understanding of the build, test, and improve steps of the design cycle. We wanted to help guide guests into iterating on their parachute designs in a systematic way.

For this iteration, we were inspired by Problem-Based Learning (Kolodner et al, 1996). In Problem-Based Learning, authentic problems are presented to facilitate learning as opposed to direct presentation of material. Thus, we wanted to facilitate learning by situating this learning in an authentic activity. Learners will engage more deeply when they are working towards solving a problem. In addition, we turned to Papert’s work on constructionism (Papert & Harel, 1991). Constructionism states that learning is most effectively done when learners create tangible objects in the real world. Thus, we wanted to create an activity where learners will make something and learn through this process of making.

In our activity, guests would be encouraged to only change one variable of their design at a time. For example, we would provide guests with three different fabric options for the canopy. For each fabric option, learners were provided with a small (5"x5"), medium (10"x10") and large (15"x15") size. This way, guests could directly compare the results of a parachute with a small muslin canopy to the results of a parachute with a small mesh canopy. We also provided learners with three different lengths of suspension lines. In addition, we provided learners with an example parachute to help them see how the materials could fit together.

After designing our first iteration, we conducted testing by using the other students in our cohort as subjects. We discovered that most learners created a parachute that was very similar to the example parachute provided. Because of this, we decided that we should include multiple different examples in the next iteration. These examples can be seen in the "Case Library" section below.

Iteration 2: Online Activity

Halfway through this project, COVID-19 forced Boston College and the Museum of Science to go completely virtual. We reassessed our project, and decided that it would be best to move forward with an activity that could be accessed virtually. We knew that many parents were at home with their children, and were looking for fun and educational activities to do as a family. We created a PDF that families can follow to complete this activity—you can view and download the full PDF below.

When moving virtual, we needed to reassess many parts of our design. For example, learners would no longer be provided with pre-cut materials, and would not have access to a testing station. So, we designed our second iteration so that it could be done with materials found around the house, such as plastic bags or hand towels. In addition, we needed to provide learners with guidelines about how to conduct a fair test at home—for example, by dropping the parachute from the same height every time.

Case Library

When we tested the first iteration of our design, we only provided testers with one example parachute. We noticed that testers tended to engineer a parachute that looked very similar to the example provided. To help learners have more imagination about different possible ways to engineer a parachute, we decided to provide learners with multiple examples. To help build a real-world connection, we provided learners with real-world examples, in the form of a case library. We invited guests to try out these different designs, and compare the results. You can view some of the examples from the case library below.

The case library also facilitates the idea of providing learners with multiple possible goals. Learners can choose what goal they would like to pursue: they can build a parachute that can carry a heavy load, a parachute that takes as long as possible to reach the ground, or a parachute that glides straight down without moving from side to side. We wanted to provide learners with multiple different ways to approach the activity, so they could have agency over their choices. In addition, we did not want there to be one right answer to the activity—instead, we wanted there to be many different "best" parachute designs.

Virtual Museum Environment

To supplement the hands-on activity in our second iteration, we also created a virtual museum environment for learners to explore parachute concepts and compare different materials. In the virtual environment, learners are able to change one variable of a parachute at a time, and compare the results. For example, the learners can change the canopy material to be canvas, wood, or iron, and see how long it takes for the parachute to reach the ground. This helps learners practice being systematic, and gets them thinking about comparing different materials.

You can explore the virtual museum environment here.

What I Learned

• From this project, I learned about flexibility! We did not anticipate this project becoming virtual, but we quickly adapted when this was the case. I learned that unexpected things will happen if you are working at a museum, and that you need to quickly adapt to changing circumstances. While working on this project, we had similar goals to the Museum of Science, such as how to create virtual activities, and how to design for families who are at home together.

• From this project, I learned about how to include "invitations" for a variety of learners. The second iteration is inviting to a diverse set of learners—from families with young children, to older students learning about physics, to learners who enjoy video games. In the second iteration, we made sure there is minimal prep to do before starting the activity. This makes the activity more inviting to busy parents, who do not want to spend a significant amount of time cutting out materials before engaging in an activity with their children.

What I Did Well

• This design supports variation among learners. Learners are able to pick their own goal from a variety of options. Since learners are able to decide on their own goals, they can pick a goal that is as easy or as challenging as they please. This activity has "low floors" and "high ceilings," meaning that it is easy to get started with a parachute design, but learners can also create very complicated parachutes. Learners of varying ages and abilities are able to engage with the activity.

• This design supports "invitations" for a variety of learners. Parents are looking for fun and educational activities with minimal setup. This activity checks all of those boxes. The PDF for the activity is fun and inviting, and the virtual environment is exciting for learners who enjoy gaming. In addition, the virtual environment is inviting to learners, as it is fun to explore. Learners who enjoy video games will be especially excited by the virtual environment.

• This activity helps to sustain learner motivation, as it leads them through how to build, test, and improve upon a design. After a learner creates their first iteration, they are invited to test out the design and improve upon it. Testing new designs is inherently motivating to learners, as it is fun to drop a parachute and let it fall!

Next Steps

• In the future, I would like to work on usability and accessibility of the virtual museum environment. It would be great to adapt the environment so that learners have the choice of either using keystrokes or mouse clicks to interact and move around. Ideally, we would also adapt the virtual museum environment to be accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. We would do this by including audio feedback and audio instructions. By adding in these accessibility features, we would improve the experience for all learners.

• In the future, I would also like to add in a Productive Struggle element to this design. One idea is to provide learners with a pre-made parachute, and challenge them with designing a parachute that takes the same amount of time to reach the ground. Learners could choose an easier challenge, where they could achieve this goal by matching all of the materials from the pre-made parachute. Or, they could choose a harder challenge, where not all of these same materials are available. In the harder challenge, they would need to figure out how to design a parachute from different materials, that still has a similar fall time.