Sometimes parents need a little help, too.
Studio D Parent Quick Reference Guide
Frequently Used Terms
Design Challenge- Design challenges are our versions of traditional units of study. We use design challenges as a way to pose a question to our students that incorporates standards from their core classes into a research process that pushes them to come up with innovative solutions to their problem.
BINGO- an assignment that has to be redone because the quality of work is not up to the teacher’s standard or the student’s potential; an assignment that the student chooses to redo because they feel they could earn a higher grade by producing work of a higher quality
The Process- We use a five stage process to guide all of our design challenges. They all begin with the letter ‘G’.
Gather Stage- First stage of a project. Research begins here. Students may conduct interviews with experts, do online or print research, create surveys, mind maps, and many other means to collect information to drive their process.
Glean Stage- Second stage of a project. Students use the information they collected in Gather to determine what their focus will be. They sort, classify, and categorize the information they gathered to help them design a solution to their problem.
Generate Stage- Third stage of a project. Students develop their brainstorming, mind mapping, and collaborative skills while generating creative ideas. Their work in the Generate Stage results in a few refined ideas that will eventually be prototyped in the ensuing stages.
Gauge Stage- The fourth stage of a project. Students design, build, critique, refine, and test their low and high resolution prototypes. Revision plays a key role in this design stage, and a “fail often to succeed sooner” mindset is employed to gain insights as users interact with the prototypes.
Go Stage- The fifth and final stage of a project. Leading up to this stage, students have gathered research, gained a focus, brainstormed ideas, prototyped, and tested different designs best suited to solve their problem. Now, in this stage, the time comes to execute. Now, it is time to GO! Students design, build, and present their solution to the potential users.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are grades decided? Will group work impact my child's grade?
-Due to the nature of our program and our collaborative design challenges, Studio D students will receive both individual and group grades, as they would in any other traditional class that includes group projects. Please note that the majority of a student’s grade will reflect his or her individual work. A student will never fail a Studio D course due to their involvement in group activities or who they are partnered with.
I understand BINGO’s but how do we know when they are due? How many re-dos do they get?
-BINGOs exist to raise the quality of student work by allowing students to learn from their mistakes. BINGO’s are only eligible to be redone while we are in the same stage of the process. For example, if an assignment is from
the Gather Stage, redoing that assignment during the Glean Stage will no longer help improve the quality of Gather. BINGO’s will otherwise be given a due date by the teacher who assigned the work originally. Students may BINGO an assignment as many times as they like but the grade will not go up simply because of resubmission. The quality of the work must improve for the grade to improve.
We don’t have Internet available at home. How am I supposed to know what my student does each day?
- Every day students will write down a Priority List, in their agenda that they are responsible for keeping up with. It is crucial that Studio D students begin keeping a detailed agenda and calendar if they do not do so already. This will help them juggle multiple assignments, keep up with changing due dates, and manage their time.
Frequently Used Terms
Design Challenge- Design challenges are our versions of traditional units of study. We use design challenges as a way to pose a question to our students that incorporates standards from their core classes into a research process that pushes them to come up with innovative solutions to their problem.
BINGO- an assignment that has to be redone because the quality of work is not up to the teacher’s standard or the student’s potential; an assignment that the student chooses to redo because they feel they could earn a higher grade by producing work of a higher quality
The Process- We use a five stage process to guide all of our design challenges. They all begin with the letter ‘G’.
Gather Stage- First stage of a project. Research begins here. Students may conduct interviews with experts, do online or print research, create surveys, mind maps, and many other means to collect information to drive their process.
Glean Stage- Second stage of a project. Students use the information they collected in Gather to determine what their focus will be. They sort, classify, and categorize the information they gathered to help them design a solution to their problem.
Generate Stage- Third stage of a project. Students develop their brainstorming, mind mapping, and collaborative skills while generating creative ideas. Their work in the Generate Stage results in a few refined ideas that will eventually be prototyped in the ensuing stages.
Gauge Stage- The fourth stage of a project. Students design, build, critique, refine, and test their low and high resolution prototypes. Revision plays a key role in this design stage, and a “fail often to succeed sooner” mindset is employed to gain insights as users interact with the prototypes.
Go Stage- The fifth and final stage of a project. Leading up to this stage, students have gathered research, gained a focus, brainstormed ideas, prototyped, and tested different designs best suited to solve their problem. Now, in this stage, the time comes to execute. Now, it is time to GO! Students design, build, and present their solution to the potential users.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are grades decided? Will group work impact my child's grade?
-Due to the nature of our program and our collaborative design challenges, Studio D students will receive both individual and group grades, as they would in any other traditional class that includes group projects. Please note that the majority of a student’s grade will reflect his or her individual work. A student will never fail a Studio D course due to their involvement in group activities or who they are partnered with.
I understand BINGO’s but how do we know when they are due? How many re-dos do they get?
-BINGOs exist to raise the quality of student work by allowing students to learn from their mistakes. BINGO’s are only eligible to be redone while we are in the same stage of the process. For example, if an assignment is from
the Gather Stage, redoing that assignment during the Glean Stage will no longer help improve the quality of Gather. BINGO’s will otherwise be given a due date by the teacher who assigned the work originally. Students may BINGO an assignment as many times as they like but the grade will not go up simply because of resubmission. The quality of the work must improve for the grade to improve.
We don’t have Internet available at home. How am I supposed to know what my student does each day?
- Every day students will write down a Priority List, in their agenda that they are responsible for keeping up with. It is crucial that Studio D students begin keeping a detailed agenda and calendar if they do not do so already. This will help them juggle multiple assignments, keep up with changing due dates, and manage their time.