在过去的四年里, Cynthia Briggs’ 中学 French classes partnered with Kimberly Gerardi in the St. 路加福音’s designLab to create a hands-on project that uses the
工程设计流程. 今年, the seventh- and eighth-graders envisioned and constructed an over-the-top, interactive jukebox that plays over 60 French songs.
原型
The project began last year when students created the prototype for the jukebox. 他们使用泡沫板, 激光切割桦木, 聚酯薄膜, and other fabrication materials and installed an open-source touch board for prototyping circuitry to select songs. Students quickly learned that the jukebox was not durable enough to keep up with the demand of users, 就在发射两小时后, it needed to be reinforced to maintain integrity. They also determined that the internal components limited the number of songs the jukebox could hold, 还有触摸屏, 虽然功能, didn’t feel like they were playing music on a jukebox.
改进设计
第二年, students took what they learned from the prototype and set off to improve its design and functionality. “The project was all about students being comfortable with starting over; utilizing what they learned to improve their work,金伯利·杰拉迪分享道, 中学设计实验室主任. “We started the second iteration by asking students questions such as, What can we take from the first draft and apply it to the next and final? 我们喜欢什么?? 什么不起作用? What did you learn that you wanted to keep, and what did you learn that you need more information on?”
从那里, students researched different styles of jukeboxes, 他们长什么样, 音乐是如何储存的, 以及用户如何与它们互动. Students decided to design the jukebox to look like the classic musical icon from the 1950s. 他们想要霓虹灯, working 按钮 to press for song selection, 还有关于这首歌的信息, 艺术家, and country of origin to display on the screen. They also wanted to ensure the jukebox was durable and could sustain high user traffic.
制作自动点唱机
Students got to choose what part of the design they wanted to be involved in: aesthetics, 按钮, 或者屏幕使用. In four classes, they worked with the designLab team to bring their vision to life.
CJ Agro, St. 路加福音’s designLab Technician, was instrumental in helping students get the jukebox to work. He found a 1936 Philco radio at a garage sale, gutted it for the students to use as the frame of the jukebox, and suggested using a Rasberry Pi system to store and play unlimited songs.
The students were hands-on with constructing the jukebox, 砂光, 连接按钮, 使用激光切割机, 附加照明, 构建电路, and even carrying over the miniature albums from the prototype to include in this improved version. Other students worked on the interface, deciding what the screen should look like, and selecting the information to display. A third group of students practiced their coding skills to fill the Raspberry Pi with more than 60 songs — one from each student in Mademoiselle Briggs’ classes.
选择歌曲
Each student researched Francophone 艺术家s and selected one song to feature in the jukebox. They designed album covers with photos of the 艺术家, 原产国, lyrics in French and English (that they translated), 有趣的是. Users of the jukebox would peruse the album covers and then select the song by pushing the letter and number 按钮 on the jukebox that correspond to the album. 当音乐响起, the 艺术家’s country of origin flag will pop up on the screen, 还有这首歌的名字.
通过让学生选择歌曲, they were exposed to various 艺术家s from different Francophone countries worldwide. It helped teach students that French culture isn’t just in France. “音乐 is a unifying force to share,” said Briggs.
跨学科合作
When students participate in cross-curricular projects, it connects their learnings from different subject areas, 比如数学, 科学, 历史, 和语言. It also exposes them to subject matter experts with varying skill sets who can guide them in completing a project. Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, St. 路加福音’s designLab collaborated on more than 40 classroom projects. “我希望如此,小姐. Briggs’ projects inspire other teachers,” said Gerardi. “I want them to see how we can collaborate and, 通过互动过程, make this process a wonderful experience for our students.”
什么是未来
Next year, Briggs' classes will move on to a new design-based project, but the jukebox will live on. It can be found throughout the year in Briggs’ classroom (Room 234) for students and faculty to stop by and play a song. With its unlimited capacity, new music can be added each year. 和, 世界语言周期间, the Francophone Jukebox will be out in the commons for everyone to enjoy. “It brought all the ambiance to World Langauge Week by providing a consistent stream of international hits,琼恩·希说, 世界语文主席. “It was an impressive collaboration orchestrated by Cynthia Briggs and executed by Kimberly Gerardi and CJ Agro.”