Executive
Summary: The goal of this project was to take a one-day, SWE
facilitated workshop on the Girl Scout Merit Badge Science In Action and
convert it into a four-hour Girl Scout leader led workshop. The video can be rented from a regional Girl
Scout office thereby making it accessible to all troops regardless of size and
locale.
A
thirty minute (approximate) video was professionally produced from a script
using 3 local SWE members and 3 local Girl Scout members. The objectives of the video are to introduce
the field of engineering and different types of engineers (Civil, Mechanical,
Structural), increase knowledge of engineering concepts behind items observed
in everyday life, reinforce female participation in engineering as a field of
study/career.
Background
& Program Goal: The SWE Kansas City created an interactive video
following the guidelines of the Girl Scout Science In Action merit badge. The idea for the video came out of a need in
the Kansas City area for hands-on Girl Scout activity focusing on mathematics
and science. One year prior to this
project, the Kansas City section hosted two half day workshops for the Science
In Action merit badge and was forced to turn down over 100 participants due to
lack of space. The idea behind the video was to offer the experience to Girl
Scout troops who were unable to participate in the workshops because of space,
locale, or troop size. One of the
criterion was that a Girl Scout leader with no technical background should be
able to conduct the workshop in a half day. The script for the video was based
on the half-day workshops.
The
learning objectives of the video are to:
Program
Conduct and Content: The video is organized into three modules and an
introduction. The modules are Water
Quality, Building Bridges and Learning About Bicycles. Each module is independent and has a video
time of approximately 10 minutes. An
entire module (including experiment and discussion) can be completed in 45
minutes to one hour. The leaders may
choose to conduct all modules in one day or over a period of several
gatherings.
Each
module includes an introduction to the engineering field of study (civil,
structural, mechanical) by a SWE member.
Each module includes activities/experiments conducted by a team of two
Girl Scouts with voice-over detailed instructions by professional talent. There are suggested pause points in the
video to allow for experimentation and discussion by the troop leader.
A
list of materials including an estimated average cost per girl is included with
the video as well as where to go for additional information. The Learning About Bicycles module also has
three worksheets for completion during the experiments.
Schedule: As
you can see from the attached schedule (page 2), tasks slipped
substantially. Two reasons for the
slippage include 1) an original change in plans from self-filming and
production to professional filming and production, and 2)coordinating work
plans with the professional filming and production crew.
|
Date |
Task |
Status |
|
1/16/99 |
Initial meeting and task assignment |
Complete |
|
2/6/99 |
Three modules solidified Module scripts started |
Complete |
|
2/27/99 |
Module scripts complete Run through/Q&A with Girl Scout coordinator |
Complete |
|
3/12/99 |
Review of module scripts by fellow team members |
Complete (3/15/99) |
|
3/27/99 |
Dry run with small group of selected girl scouts |
Complete (4/1/99) |
|
4/10/99 |
Second dry run with small group. Rough cut videotape. Instructor guides complete. |
Complete (4/10/99) |
|
5/1/99 |
Final selection of videographer |
Complete (4/16/99) |
|
6/1/99 |
Scripts refined |
Complete (8/16/99) |
|
6/30/99 |
Final filming |
Complete (8/19/99) |
|
8/31/99 |
Edit #1 |
Complete (10/1/99) |
|
9/3/99 |
Edit #2 |
N/A |
|
9/10/99 |
Creation of copies |
Complete (12/15/99) |
|
9/15/99 |
Distribution of package |
Complete (2/1/00) |
3.0 Measured Results
Currently, the video and materials have been provided for the Mid-America Council of Girl Scouts in Kansas City, Missouri. To date, the video has been checked out two times since it’s availability in February 2000. The Program Director at the Mid-America Council reports that the Check-Out program was slow for all videos in late Winter and Spring and expects an increase in interest this Fall.
The Mid-America Council also has plans to include the video in the “Leader Aide” pamphlet distributed in the Fall and will also highlight it during their Science and Technology camps this summer.
Once
a market has been established in the Mid-America Council, the video will be
distributed regionally.
4.0 Publicity or Other Public Attention
See the attached “Good For Her!” Mid-America Council newsletter.
5.0 Description of Deliverable
A letter to the Girl Scout
Leader including two “materials needed” sheets
Handout #1 “Materials for Bicycles”
Handout #2 “Gears And Chain Drives”
6.0 Lessons Learned
The original project design planned for amateur video taping of a small troop of girl scouts performing the experiments. However, we felt that our first taped dry run was too amateur for distribution. Our Girl Scout contact, Director of Programs Veronica Nash, utilized her connections to negotiate a vastly-reduced price with a local professional production company. Opus Communications (Jack Hayhow, owner) donated several hours of creation, production, and editing time as did our professional speaker (who reduced her normal fees by half) and the script writer.
Although changing the plans
mid-stream made for a professional produced video, it did cause the schedule to
slip significantly as the production crew had to fit us in behind full-paying
customers. Essentially we were at their
mercy.
A second lesson was my
underestimation of the work involved.
Because we had conducted two merit badge workshops, I anticipated being
able to easily translate the ½ day workshop into a video. In the end, we ended up changing an entire
module and refining the other two because certain things could not be done in
video format.
7.0 Budget and Actuals
Budget Item |
Budget Cost |
Actual Cost |
|
Professional Services &
Fees |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Travel |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Lodging |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Meals |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Equipment & Supplies |
|
|
|
Publications |
|
|
|
Video Production |
$12,000 |
$4,000.00 |
|
Video Packaging |
Included in Video Production cost |
$118.53 |
|
Distribution |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Advertising |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Misc. (gift to Production
Co.) |
$0.00 |
$170.06 |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
$12,000* |
$4288.50 |
*note that original funds requested was $12,000. We were allotted $5000.
8.0 Appendices
·
What did we originally
want to accomplish? The goal was to
be able to provide a program “en masse” to girl scouts who were not able to
attend a workshop. See objectives of the video in the Executive Summary.
·
How did you go about
realizing the goals? See the Program
content and conduct for details.
·
What are the principal
outcomes of your project? See
Program content and conduct.
·
Are there any
recommendations to continue or build on the work accomplished under the
grant? The next step is to continue
to evaluate the local use, i.e. “check out” of the video and possible expand to
other geographic areas based on response.
·
Were the monies you
received adequate for the project? The
funds were adequate because the producer volunteered time and money to make the
project fit the budget. I originally
budgeted more funds but was only approved for $5000. In reality, I feel we should have been able to give the producer
more money.
·
Was the time allotted
for your project adequate? Yes, we
had unforeseen time delays due to the nature of the production and our
relationship with the producer.
·
Did you encounter any
significant problems in carrying out your project? No.