This week we had the quarter walkarounds which was the focus of everyone on the team. We were looking to present our ideas to the faculty and get some interesting feedback. At this point, our main idea was the depiction of bullying and using it as a tool for inspiring. The following is some of the important feedback that we got during quarters:
- Bullying is unrelated to STEAM education: This was the most prominent feedback that we got, reiterated by multiple faculty members. Bullying does not really relate to STEAM education in a direct way and there are probably many missed opportunities as a result of focusing too much on bullying. The reason we wanted to focus on this idea was because our client Damola faced it when he was younger. However, a criticism we got was that kids who havent faced bullying are not going to relate to it at all and thus we may be alienating a lot of our target audience.
- Hard to inspire everyone with bullying: Similar to what I mentioned in the last point, focusing too much on bullying is bound to get people who have never faced it to feel left out. Its not a universal in the sense that there are many kids who never experience it. Therefore, it might not be the best idea for us to go forward with.
- Other systemic barriers to STEAM: Another crucial feedback that was mentioned by several faculty was that there are many systemic barriers to STEAM education for African American youngsters that have nothing to do with bullying. One example is the low number of role models and that the mainstream media does not portray them enough. Therefore another direction this project can head in is to focus on these other systemic barriers.