Tag Archives: capstone

Capstone Project Proposal – Student Loan Debt

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For my capstone project I would like to focus on the issue of student loan debt in America. Student debt is a massive number that keeps rising in America and the shift in the price of college tuition has grown tremendously in the last 30 years. This topic is relevant to me and many people in school or who want to go to school. Also this personally affects many people I know.

For my first piece of media I want to create an infographic that nicely presents the facts about student debt. Facts like the total student debt in America, the average debt per student, the cost of tuition, things that contribute to student debt, etc.

For my second media I would like to create an animation. Since in my infographic I’m already presenting the facts about student debt, I want to use my animation to talk about ways to minimize student debt with scholarships, FAFSA, and other programs. Along with talking about the programs, I would include how to apply to the programs and emphasize the importance of signing up before the deadlines. These projects relate together because they are on the same line of subject matter. They both address that student debt is a problem. The infographic presents facts in an easy nice to read way. Instead of using the animation to present the same facts again, I would use it to present different facts which would be instead to help student debt, instead of only telling you about student debt.

Capstone Project Proposal – Conflict Minerals

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The topic of my capstone project is going to be about conflict minerals. Conflict minerals include tin and tungsten which are used in technology production. These minerals are mined using coerced and child labor, and the profits often fund militias. Workers are given very little pay and are put in very dangerous environments. To educate people on what conflict minerals are and what products use these minerals, I will make a website that has links to my two media objects, and a link to another website that explains possible ways to end the cycle. I want my website to have bold and contrasting colors so I will be using black, white, grey, and red as my color pallet.

The first media object embedded in my website will be an infographic file that educates readers on what conflict minerals are, and what products contain these minerals. I will make the infographic as a flow chart that depicts the process of how the minerals make it from the earth into our technology. I will use the colors brown, green, red, and grey, and include simple imagery along with each point in the process. The images will be minimalistic and white, much like the apple icons we discussed in class.

The second media object that I will be embedding is going to be a video mashup. This video mashup will be using videos that depict people using technology, footage of African militias, the unsafe mines, and the manufacturing of technology. I will create a story with these videos that shows how so many people are unaware of the violence and human rights violations that go into making the products people use every day. My goal in making this video is to educate people and propose the question of how we can stop the mining of conflict minerals. The end of the video will include a link to Intel’s website here that includes their summary of conflict minerals and how they are one company that has taken measures to stop the cycle. I will embed this link to Intel’s website inside my webpage to give viewers a chance to gain additional information.

Inside my website I will include a couple paragraphs of text that summarize what the infographic and video remixes are conveying. These paragraphs will explain what conflict minerals are, why they are a bad thing, and what products these minerals are in. My goal in creating this project is to inform people about conflict minerals, and to raise the question about what ways we can stop the cycle. I will include a summary of Intel’s solution to the problem, and I will cite them at the bottom of my webpage along with all other material used in my projects.

Capstone Intro

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The topic I plan to address for my capstone project is the orphan crisis in China. Hand in hand with that, I will address the need for adoption. I am interested in this topic because I’ve been on a few missionary trips and developed a heart for connecting these kids to families and giving them hope through advocacy. I really got to know more about how adoption works and heard countless stories of these Chinese orphans since starting my internship at Bring Me Hope, which I also plan on using for this project as a major resource.

I want my website to take the direction of an informative piece that talks about hard things like abandoned children waiting for families. Even more so as a call to action. The call to action that I hope will get people involved will be to spread awareness though their social media, invite them to volunteer at orphan summer camps, to host a child at their own home, to financially support a child to go to camp, and finally to actually adopt. I plan on approaching this cause from two sides. One is from the reader/viewer and what they could do and the other is from the orphan’s perspective.

The two medias I will use are a video I will make are an infographic video as well as pictures of the orphans. These medias relate to each other because in the video I will address the issues, and state facts. With pictures I will show the kids that are effected by them.

Lauren Stimson’s Capstone Project Plan

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For my capstone project, I am going to focus on the subject of common-core math, also known as “new-new math.” Common-core math has become a subject of great contention. On one side, there are those who believe that common-core math is easier for non-math enabled children and thus is a step in the direction of student success. Meanwhile, others believe that common core introduces tougher concepts at a lower level, in turn advancing students faster and allowing them to become smarter and more successful. However, not everyone is in favor of common-core math. A section of people believe that common-core overcomplicates math, making simple concepts incredibly difficult and causes issues with learning. These people also claim that common-core math takes illogical and longer routes to solving simple problems. For my project, I intend to show both sides of the argument. However, my research has shown favor towards the people against common-core math.

For my two media pieces, I will be using an original infographic and a video mash. In the infographic, I intend to present both sides of the issue, their facts, observations, and opinions. I think this will work well because it will be straightforward and I can use a voiceover to help explain things. For the video, I will find news stories and clip them into a video showing what the media is portraying the issue and different sides like. I feel these media types are best because they include visuals (math is visual) and audio (to explain the visuals).

Capstone Project Plan

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For my Capstone Project, I want to focus on the issue of concussions and brain trauma to NFL players, and how cases of such trauma have proven to lead to degenerative brain diseases such as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).  This problem is much more common than one would imagine, with roughly one-in-three NFL players affected by concussions or brain trauma.  For my forms of media, I would like to make an infographic poster, with various facts and statistics that show how big of a problem brain trauma is in the NFL and amongst football players as a whole.  I will make this in Adobe Illustrator, and I’d like to include a decent amount of data to emphasize some of the interesting facts about the subject.  I think I’ll also make an audio/video mashup (depending on what content is available, and what will work to create a satisfactory product) of interviews, videos (and/or audio clips) of football players getting hit, and possibly a voice-over created by myself to explain/voice facts about the subject.  These two forms of media will likely both incorporate some of the same information, while being presented differently.  I want to incorporate a call to action in my website, perhaps on its own page of the site.  This will hopefully inspire people to educate themselves on how football should/should not be played, and maybe even contact information for the NFL, in order to urge the NFL to implement measures to keep their players safe.

Cole Benak Capstone Project – Support The Craft

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The craft beer industry is one Pacific Northwesterners know extremely well, however it is not contained to just our region.  Craft breweries can be found across the United States, and throughout the world.  Since the 1980’s this distinct and unique industry began with home brewers experimenting on their own, sharing recipes and creating not only a new industry, but a new community.  With grassroots firmly planted, it was time to grow, but not without its own hurdles to overcome.

As in every other industry, in order to grow and develop not only to expand your product but to also make a profit, there needs to be a form of capital and investment.  This is typically done by owner bringing money in, but this can only go so far before you must wait for the slow return of profit.  With outside investors brewers not only lose a portion of ownership, but also some control – this control and oversight of the craft allows errors, mishaps and sometimes a decline in product quality.  Microbreweries are no longer becoming micro – the product is such that in order to continue growing, there must be expansion.

In addition to investment issues, there are also environmental issues.  Although this doesn’t have a direct way to fix it, it is something that typically goes unconsidered by the general public.  A harsh season can leave many breweries that rely on specific crops without important pieces of their recipe.  This then forces them to use alternate products, effecting no only their brew, but ultimately the product they then bring to market.

 

https://twitter.com/ColeBenak/status/662139513314017285

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https://twitter.com/ColeBenak/status/662143162492715008

 

 

Capstone Project – #Gamergate controversy

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The #Gamergate movement, in August of 2014, started off as a movement by gamers demanding more transparency within video game journalism. The movement however, soon turned into a full blown cyber war with anonymous members of the movement resorting to using harassment methods such as doxing, threats of rape and death threats against members of the video game community who spoke out against the movement.  The gamergate movement has become a manifestation of a culture war over gaming culture diversification, artistic recognition, social criticism of video grams, and the gamer social identity.  Observers of the movement have described it as a movement that was started with a valid discussion regarding ethics in journalism that was hijacked and turned into a far right-wing, anti-feminist harassment group, who targeted mostly female figures in the gaming industry and of people who are socially critical of video games.Traditionally the video gaming community has been known to be a heavily male dominated community. Gamergate is reflective of concerns regarding sexism and progressivism in the video game culture.

The first approach to this project is to create an infographic image that will be used a timeline of sorts that will help visitors of the site understand how the movement started and what were some of the major events that resulted from the movements. The next part is to create an animated infographic video that will talk about what exactly is the gamergate movement and what are some of the major implications that resulted from the movement.’

https://twitter.com/TheSynDicate63/status/662092898163232768

https://twitter.com/TheSynDicate63/status/662092279973150720

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https://twitter.com/TheSynDicate63/status/662089259092832256

 

Ryan Schafte Capstone Blog Post

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To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers. That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept. But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic.

— Roger Ebert

 

When defining “art,” it is usually accepted that it has to be creatively made, and has some aesthetic beauty or emotional power behind it. Some, however, consider something “art” solely because it’s on a canvas, or on display. As such, sentiments like the one above are sadly prevalent. That is why for my project I will once more touch upon the topic of video-games as an art form, and challenge the bias which drives the notion that they are not.

This will be challenging, as I’ll have to find an approach different from what I’ve done previously. The plan thus far is to first create an infographic which lists various games and their contributions to the industry, or to storytelling as a whole. After coming up with the infographic, I will create a “mashup” using video capture software to obtain highlights from the games listed that have made an emotional impact on players, or were praised for their beauty and the level of skill required to develop them, so as to properly illustrate the concept of video-games as “art.”

https://twitter.com/RyanSchafte/status/662014282444357632

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