Vision Board Activity
The vision board activity was designed to provide students with a structured yet creative way to set personal and academic goals at the beginning of the year. By creating a visual representation of their aspirations, students could translate their ambitions into concrete, visible objectives. This visual, goal-oriented approach aimed to foster intrinsic motivation and a sense of accountability, as their boards were prominently displayed in a shared learning space, making them an ongoing reminder of their aspirations.
Some benefits of the activity include commitment, opportunity for reflection and self-assessment, and closure. Seeing their vision boards regularly reinforced students’ commitment to their goals. This exposure acted as a constant visual nudge, keeping their aims in mind and motivating them to strive towards achieving them.
By revisiting the vision boards mid-year, students engaged in reflective practice, assessing their progress, re-evaluating their goals, and adjusting their approach if necessary. The accompanying blog post encouraged them to articulate this reflection in a structured way, helping them develop critical self-assessment and communication skills.
Returning the vision boards at the end of the year allowed students to hold their year-long journey in their hands physically. This closure provided a moment to celebrate achievements, recognise growth, and learn from unmet goals, fostering resilience and growth-oriented thinking.
Some of the challenges of the Activity included maintaining motivation over time, the emotional impact of the reflection and balancing the reflection with practical goals.
While the vision boards were intended to be motivating, some students might have struggled with sustained motivation if they faced significant setbacks or shifted their priorities throughout the year. This could lead to disengagement or even discouragement if their initial goals felt too ambitious in hindsight.
Mid-year reflections could be challenging for students who might feel disappointed if they fell short of their envisioned achievements. This exercise requires a delicate balance to encourage honest reflection while fostering a constructive, non-judgmental attitude toward progress.
As vision boards often contain aspirational elements, students may have needed guidance to turn these into actionable steps. The process of breaking down visionary goals into achievable milestones was crucial to ensure the activity remained practical and beneficial.
Instructions here:
Below are the instructions for the halfway mark. This then occurred in the first week of semester 2, allowing the students to reflect on where they were at the beginning of the year and question how much they had achieved.
Students response:
Manifesto Activity
Students built individual manifestos and brand identities from collaborative analysis of existing manifestos, directly supporting the learning outcome of articulating their design identity. An example of students constructing knowledge together.
Play-Doh Self-Directed Activity
In this introductory exercise, students are given Play-Doh without specific instructions, creating space for self-directed exploration. This approach encourages students to take initiative, prompting them to reflect on their own agency and creativity. By observing how students respond when given autonomy, I reinforce the idea that they are active participants in their learning journey, responsible for shaping their educational experiences.
VR Headset Creation
Students assemble a simple VR headset from a flat template, fit lenses, and test it with a mobile device. The aim is to demystify XR by connecting theory to hands-on making: they experience how lens focal length, screen distance, and alignment affect field of view, comfort, and immersion. The activity builds practical skills in rapid prototyping, precision, and troubleshooting, while highlighting how hardware constraints shape interaction design decisions. Students conclude with a short reflection on what worked, what failed, and how they’d iterate, reinforcing that “failed” attempts are data for improvement and preparing them for subsequent AR/VR analysis and prototyping tasks.
