Project Description (rev 2/26/99)

The Vartan Gregorian Elementary School is a "core knowledge" school with a well-articulated, integrated, and sequential curriculum. Ms. Claudia Pietros is the art teacher, and she does innovative work at integrating the topics and activities of her students with the subjects they are studying in their academic classes at the school.^*

In addition to several enrichment groups of six students, Ms. Pietros sees students once every two weeks for about an hour. Ms. Pietros teaches art for the entire elementary school; however, she only incorporates architectural studies into her second- through fifth-grade art classes. Each grade has a set architectural curriculum that usually covers one or two periods of history, and these periods range from the Renaissance to Modern Architecture. With her second- and third-graders, Ms. Pietros spends approximately three class periods studying architecture, and her fourth- and fith-graders spend approximately five class periods on the topic.

The curriculum is designed so that students will gain an understanding of the styles of certain architectural periods, recognize famous buildings, and be able to use that knowledge in their own art works. Ms. Pietros uses hands-on activities whenever possible to teach architectural concepts. Her students construct everything from Doric pillars to flying buttresses out of cardboard, clay, and construction paper. Most often, the students work individually on projects; however, they do sometimes work together, particularly those in the art club.

The students of the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School are from the local Providence area. Ms. Pietros estimates that approximately 2/3 of the students use English as a second language.

Ms. Mary Ellen Boisclair is the technology coordinator for Vartan Gregorian Elementary. Although there is no formal computer curriculum in place, Ms. Boisclair helps incorporate technology into the core knowledge curricula of the teachers. She notes that many of the students use computers at home to a varying degree.

Currently, the school has a wide array of computers ranging in platform and power. In each classroom there is at least one new Acer Pentium or PII desktop machine running Windows 95. (The operating systems will soon be upgraded to Windows 98.) The machines are multimedia equipped, including CD-ROM, and sound is most often piped through headphones for the students. Every computer is connected to the school network which in turn offers access to the Internet. The web browser of choice is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

The school is in the process of upgrading its computer systems. Every classroom is now hard wired with Ethernet cabling, the network for which is driven by a Windows NT Server. Students have access to the network logging in using two different profiles. Profile A is suited for Kindergarten through second-graders whereas Profile B is suited for third- through fifth-graders.

Within the next few weeks, the Vartan Gregorian Elementary school will complete the physical upgrades of its computer systems. Ultimately, this means that a computer lab will be established containing 31 new Acer Pentium machines. In addition, 17 computers will be added to the classrooms, bringing the average number of computers per classroom up to six.

Unfortunately, the Apple Macintosh is slowly being phased out of the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School. However, there are still several Macs scattered around the school. The oldest Macs, the LCs and LC IIIs, will be removed first. The remaining Macs will be used until they become more of a burden than a benefit.

Ms. Pietros, who does not have an art classroom of her own, will soon have one Pentium-powered PC in her "work area." However, she most often teaches her classes in their respective home rooms, and thus she has the use of those computers.

Because of the current computer situation and the promise of a large delivery of Pentiums, we have few constraints for choosing an authoring tool. We will use Macromedia Director to develop the software.

The goal of the project is to create an instructional software package that teaches the architectural history of several different time periods. Ultimately, students will be able to recognize different architectural styles, those styles’ well-known buildings, and use these concepts in their own art projects. The software will supplement Ms. Pietros curriculum, allowing students to work by themselves or with their teacher. Students will also be able to work with each other using the software.

Like many popular instructional software packages, the instructional aspects of the software will be imbedded inside a simple plot. The instruction will be led by a cartoon-character "guide." In fact, since this package will be used by different grade levels, the program will have a cast of guides. Each architectural unit (e.g. Renaissance, Colonial, etc.) will have a guide that speaks to the student level around which the curriculum is designed. (This is already determined by Ms. Pietros.) The simple plot will be that this cast of guides can travel in time machines to explore different sections of architectural history. Ms. Pietros will instruct her students which unit(s) to choose.

Within each architectural unit, the student will explore particular concepts. For instance, within the Middle Age unit, students will be able to choose to learn about Medieval Castles or Gothic Cathedrals, among other things. Each instruction screen will contain different examples of that particular type of architecture. By the use or roll-overs, the student will be encouraged to explore the scenery. Architectural terms will pop up, along with photos of famous examples of the architecture from around the world. The depth of interaction with the buildings is not yet fully determined.

As mentioned earlier, an important part of Ms. Pietros’ instructional technique is hands-on instruction of architectural concepts. Therefore, at the end of each unit concept (not a long period of time), a project page will pop up, instructing the student of an interesting hands-on project to try. This way, groups of students can use the program and create hands-on examples of architectural structures in shifts. Students will be able to follow the directions on the screen or print them out to create their models.

Before these project ideas manifest themselves in Macromedia Director, they will be fleshed out in more detail on paper. Ms. Pietros’ input throughout the entire process will be invaluable to the successful development of the software. After at least one architectural unit is done, it is hoped that Ms. Pietros and several students will be able to test the program and give feedback. That feedback will be incorporated into the final product which will be completed by April 15.