Laracon.us 2017 ScienceFair Presentation : Econ Education : Choose Your Own Adventure

My presentation at the 2017 Laracon convention in NYC on 07/26/17. I completed this project independently as freelance developer for Neil B. Niman, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Pilot project for novel approach to teaching undergraduate economics and injecting gamification. Project technology included: Laravel 5.3, Laravel Spark, Laravel Backpack, and much more.

Transcript

1. E C O N E D U C AT I O N : C H O O S E Y O U R O W N A D V E N T U R E M A R K K E L L E H E R ( 0 7 / 2 7 / 2 0 1 7 ) L A R A C O N . U S S C I E N C E FA I R
2. linkd.in/YXB8wE Who am I? What did I do?
3. T E C H N O L O G I E S / D E V E L O P E R R E S O U R C E S U S E D ( S L I D E F O R M A I N TA I N I N G V I E W E R AT T E N T I O N ) • Laravel 5.2 - Framework of project • Laravel Spark (integrated, but not currently fully utilizing yet) - Ability to make site into quick SaaS product • Laravel Backpack (https://github.com/Laravel-Backpack) - Needed quick/easy Admin interface (purchased production license) • Laravel Schema Designer (http://laravelsd.com/) - Quick to make all my models, migrations, etc • Blade templates instead of Vue.js • Bootswatch (https://bootswatch.com/) - Flatly design for frontend w/ tweaks • Currently with SiteGround shared hosting • Using GitLab repo
4. A B S T R A C T • Originated by Neil B. Niman, Associate Dean of Academic Programs, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of New Hampshire • Loosely based on Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” (Campbell, 1968) - 12 stage process integrating course concepts into a cohesive narrative • Pilot project for novel approach to teaching undergraduate economics and injecting gamification • Story-based approach incorporating key results from the education literature to develop a flexible and robust educational framework
5. T H E J O U R N E Y • Students enter a Journey and choose 1 of 3 Roles • The entire Journey is broken into 12 stages with a chapter every 4 stages • Each stage includes story narrative, key economic concepts, a quiz, an Attribute choice, and then a writing prompt to tell their own story • Each chapter ends with a peer review process • Every stage, chapter, and peer review is graded • The 12 stages contribute to 3 chapters and at the end of the semester, students are required to ensure that their chapters line up and tell a complete story
6. C H O O S E Y O U R O W N A D V E N T U R E • Multiple levels of changing story line based on user’s choices • Entire story changes based on their initial Role chosen • Story changes based on each Stage’s Attribute choice • At the end, their choices are tallied and they’re told what type of Role Category they belong to
7. S U P E R - Q U I C K D E M O ? • Frontend / Story Coach • http://econjourney.com • Backend / Admin Interface • http://econjourney.com
8. L E S S O N S L E A R N E D • More Vue.js practice • Shared Hosting can be a pain • Love View Composers • Saving time with Seeders (created model factories super quick with test-factory-helper [ https://github.com/mpociot/laravel-test-factory-helper ]) • Used additional packages with Laravel Backpack • Generators • Settings • Page Manager • MenuCRUD
9. W H AT I WA N T T O D O N E X T • Enhancements, bug/fixes and tweaks • Finish integrating with Spark • Integrate text messaging functionality (with Nexmo) • Add more CMS capabilities to allow customization of front-end (homepage)
10. T H E E N D Questions?