Skip to main content

A Critique of complex simplicity:The Poetic Dance Between Simplicity and Uncertainty in Physics

 

The Poetic Dance Between Simplicity and Uncertainty in Physics

By MindShift AUGUST 19, 2014

Assessment criteria: As part of authoring critiques of digital storytelling in INTE 5340 three criterions are selected from Jason Ohler’s assessment traits.


Audience Sensibility (Score 1-10: 10 Points)

Explanation of story is accessible to audience. Use of media and character is appropriate and appealing to audience.

Comments:
Concepts in physics and the duality of theories and perspectives is a challenging concept to present to any audience. However Xiangjun Shi created a beautifully animated video with a ‘hand touch’ to bring the story and concepts to light in simple terms. This story is accessible to grade school age audiences through adults.

Story Economy (Score 1-10: 10 Points)

Information was presented concisely and in organized fashion. No detours or tangents.

Comments:
It may be easy to get lost in technical jargon or advanced concepts in physics. However the author kept focus and interest with the story through a concise manner, although jumping from one physics concept to the next. The animation really helps the story move through each concept with simple yet elaborate transitions.

Personal Communication (Score 1-10: 8 Points)

The story unfolds as a personal journey or story that has meaning and relatable emotion.

Comments:
The animations and narration by a little girl helps bring the audience to a humble and personal level. The personal story is inspiring because in the end Xiangjun Shi demonstrates she understands the basics of physics and is coping with the polarity of theories and concepts. It makes the audience feel relatable, not just about theories in physics but life in general. But is the story really told from the perspective of a little girl?

Total Score 28/30


Other characteristics this assessment fails to capture:

The limited assessment criterions do not necessarily capture the planning or process of this story. Did Xiangjun Shi help animate this or only narrate? In the credits it appears the story was a collaboration between RISD and Brown University. How did they decide to collaborate to tell this story? In a way it is misleading that perhaps a little girl very talented at physics is also very talented at drawing.

How could this digital story be improved?

I wonder if some more background information in the animation itself could make the story a little more personal. How old is Xiangjun Shi? How long has she studied physics? What made the collaborators come together to tell this story? What is the intent?

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VR ‘Redefining’ How We Design

SAMR: REDEFINITION. Image courtesy of Christina Moore 2017. In recent years virtual reality (VR) technologies have gained popularity for enhancement of a myriad of industries and experiences. It’s hard to dispute VR has the potential to transform. It’s exciting to consider exploring these technologies for the purpose of education, but before putting VR into practice in the classroom, it’s important to apply the study of theory to VR potential. The SAMR model (substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition) is a great way to apply rather basic theory to VR tech. Although it’s possible VR practitioners and learners can traverse SAMR, based on how VR is used, “redefinition” may be the most impactful way to demonstrate use of these technologies for learning. Redefinition, in regards to SAMR, refers to the ability for technology to “create tasks and ways of learning that were previously inconceivable.” (Technology Is Learning 2014) From the perspective of a CAD and Int...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Discourse and Creativity Express Meaning

Moving from literacy and ‘new literacies’ to D iscourse. In chapter one of New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel . I learned about literacy as a historical concept and a social practice. I also learned about new literacies as ‘paradigmatic’ and ‘ontological’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 27). In chapter two I began to learn more about literacy as a social practice through Discourses and encoded texts. “Hence, literacies are ‘socially recognized ways in which people generate, communicate, and negotiate meanings, as members of Discourses, through the medium of encoded texts.”  (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 50). As a social practice one can think of literacy as observable ‘things’ humans do with their bodies and minds to create meaning. Lankshear and Knobel cite the work of Scribner and Cole to describe these practices as “consisting of three components: technology, knowledge, and skills. (ibid,: 2...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Is Your Passion Archetype Character Buzzfeed Quiz

Archetype Collage (Buzzfeed quiz cover) What are your natural aptitudes? Based very loosely off of multiple intelligences. Are you the Artist, the Technologist, the Naturalist, the Performer, the Musician, the Poet, the Athlete, Puzzle Fighter, or the Renaissance Man or Woman? Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421860690073254141/ Diana Ziv - http://zivcreative.blogspot.com.au/ A Meaningful Assignment This week I focused on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory and Ken Robinson’s The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything . In so many ways this scholarship resonated with chapter seven in the Lankshear and Knobel text as well as my focal theme ‘the importance of creative arts in education.’ I wanted to find a ds106 assignment that could help me synthesize scholarship with ‘new literacies’ application. The literacy dimensions and cultural appreciation in order to craft a Buzzfeed personality quiz that has humor and meaning is really challen...
Post a Comment
Read more