Weekly journals
Week 6 Ending 07/04/2015
This week has been a rollercoaster of activities for my three studies I am working feverously on one study and hardly moving on another. The study that landed somewhere in the middle this week is FunFitTech. Right now I am waiting on the IRB to be returned. Dr. Anthony is using a laptop for the project. I have to make sure that the software I installed on it is working properly and coordinate the use of the laptop with another intern. The other two projects are taking off in opposite directions. The IPES project is complex. Amanda and I are both working on that one. I had to pull her changes off a shared website and make changes to the program and push them back onto the website. I really have to know C# for this one. I'm getting better at reading it but coding in it is a little tricky. My final project is MTAGIC for the multi-touch tabletop surface. This project is moving really quickly. Julia and I have identified what the topic will be for the children’s collaboration research study. Now we have to modify the existing OpenExhibit display to host our changes and update the code from a previous study to work on the multi-touch tabletop surface. There are only four weeks left to go before my summer experience is over. Every week is like a new experience. I’m sure next week that rollercoaster will take a different turn.
Week 5 Ending 06/27/2015
This week was fast paced. For my IPES project, I had to figure out why it works on my computer but not on the tabletop and learn C#. There are a lot of things that still need to be done as far as project goals, but I'm moving at a good pace. For the MTAGIC project I read and evaluated several multitouch tabletop collaboration programs to see if we could use one of them for our study. I also came up with some ideas to work with the OpenExhibits.org programs that I loaded on the tabletop. The IRB for this project has been submitted last week and now we are just waiting to hear back from them but we are still projected to start the project next week. For FunFitTech, this project is really taking off. I had to prep most of the week for the presentation to the school we will be working at. Dr. Anthony and I went out the talked to the head of the after school program and he gave us a lot to think about in terms of planning the next week. In preparation for the study, I am still in the process of learning the Kinect system and want to make a few changes to the program prior to taking it to the school, but I'll see how far I get. This is the first research study that I will be dealing with human participants. It is a non-invasive study but, there is still a lot of work and rules that have to be followed. From talking to Dr. Anthony we are looking to finish the study in one week instead of a couple of days. We may not get the participation that we hoped but we will work with what we get.
Week 4 Ending 06/20/2015
DREU week 4 06/20/2015 This week really went by quickly. For the IPES project, I worked on making changes to the program and figuring out how to deploy it to the surface. I had a little trouble debugging the program , but Amanda helped me out. For the MTAGIC project, Julia and I finished the IRB and identified a couple of potential exhibits to load on the tabletop surface for group collaboration. Finally for the FunFitTech project I am currently waiting to hear back from the school officials where we are going to conduct the study and are projecting to start using human participants at the beginning of July.
Week 3 Ending 06/13/2015
This week has been really busy. It started out with a little file maintenance from last week. However the three projects I'm working on are really starting to get underway. As far as the MTAGIC goes, Julia and I met with Dr. Anthony. She gave a brief synopsis of the journal articles she read and we discussed how we were going to proceed. My assignment is to get caught up to what Julia has already read and met with her and have some ideas of ways to contribute to the project. The next project is IPES. For that project I'm working with the other DREU student in our lab, Amanda. This project uses the tabletop touchscreen. My assignment for this one is to work with Amanda come up with a prototype for the displays shown on the tabletop.
The final project I'm working on this summer is the one I am the most excited about, FunFitTech. On this project I'm the lead. Dr. Anthony clearly defined what was expected. I helped write the questionnaires so I know what questions to ask. We will both lead the discussion, but I have to make sure the demo works and I can explain the project. Dr. Anthony has already contacted officials at the school. If she doesn't get a reply by next week then we will have to wait until she returns from her conference. There are still some glitches with the program that still has to be fixed but I’m working on it. At the end of the week I got the opportunity to explain my project to prospective visiting grad students from North Carolina. I asked Amanda to video tape me and I may put it up on my website.
I feel really good about the projects this summer. They are all going to require a lot of work but I am learning a lot too. I see what it takes to come-up with a starting point for a study to actually preparing to involve human subjects. There are only seven more weeks left in this summer but its moving pretty fast.
Week 2 Ending 06/06/2015
This week was quite productive. Last week I got access to all the systems I will be needing while I am here. At the start of this week I received the three projects I will be concentrating on this summer: FunFitTech - The goal is to explore the design space of developing physical exercise video games that can motivate children and teens to get active, be active and stay active. MTAGIC - goal is explore implications of interaction differences and error recovery strategies on children's level of motivation, engagement, and success of learning-oriented interactions when using mobile devices. and IPES- Investigating Public Engagement with Science. These projects are each in various stages of development. I will get to see the very beginning of the project dealing with IPES.
There is a lot of prep work that has to be done before studies start. This week I also get certified in conducting experiments with human participants from the NIH. It was eye opening to study events in human history led to the development of the safeguards for human participants. For the IPES project, since there is little information available about it I am reviewing videos and working with another DREU student to try and get the tabletop device to work. For this study I doubt we will have the IRB ready by the end of the summer. The FunFitTech project received the majority of my time this week. I had to get together the questionnaires and compile a detail list of exactly what we will be doing when we start using test participants. I am still in the process of finishing that up. For the MTAGIC project this week I haven't done anything with that one. I'm actually waiting on the person who will be primarily leading the project to receive instruction on the next phase. Then her and I will get together and outline a course of action. Personally this week I lost my id card which means I now have to pay for transportation to and from campus. But I am going to get a replacement next week. My living situation has got me a little stressed out but I will figure that out by the end of next week.
There is a lot of prep work that has to be done before studies start. This week I also get certified in conducting experiments with human participants from the NIH. It was eye opening to study events in human history led to the development of the safeguards for human participants. For the IPES project, since there is little information available about it I am reviewing videos and working with another DREU student to try and get the tabletop device to work. For this study I doubt we will have the IRB ready by the end of the summer. The FunFitTech project received the majority of my time this week. I had to get together the questionnaires and compile a detail list of exactly what we will be doing when we start using test participants. I am still in the process of finishing that up. For the MTAGIC project this week I haven't done anything with that one. I'm actually waiting on the person who will be primarily leading the project to receive instruction on the next phase. Then her and I will get together and outline a course of action. Personally this week I lost my id card which means I now have to pay for transportation to and from campus. But I am going to get a replacement next week. My living situation has got me a little stressed out but I will figure that out by the end of next week.
Week 1 Ending 05/30/2015
Week one started off really well. The lab is busy and there are five projects that we could choose from. For the most part I'm getting use to the layout of the campus and getting around town using the transit system. The week started with creating accounts at the university, completing paperwork, and creating a website. I have decided to create my website from using HTML. It will take me a little longer but I will be a better programmer because of it. I also spent time reading through the research papers that have already been published on the five projects and reflected on them. My co-researcher, Amanda, and I have been meeting with our mentor and other researchers who are presently working on these projects to get a feel of where they are in the creative process and how we could fit in. At the end of the week we are suppose to chose three projects that really interest us and present them to Dr. Anthony. Right now, I am getting into the rhythm of the lab and life here at the University of Florida, as well as possible development opportunities with the technology we have access. There is also other opportunities that we could explore around the lab if time permits. But a lot of these projects are in various stages of development and its exciting to be part process.