1. The Capstone project is a unique and demanding challenge. In the process of completing it, what did you learn about your subject? What did you learn about your skill set? What did you learn about yourself?
During this experience I learned that I have more knowledge than I thought I had about outboard motors, I also learned more about electrical components and how the pistons inside the cylinders of an inline six really work. I learned that when it comes to my skill set, I have more experience and more to offer than I thought, leading me to use my skills to diagnose problems. I learned patience as I needed help from my dad at times and coming from a big family it is not always easy to have one parents undivided attention. 2. How is your project relevant to you? How is it relevant to the school? How is it relevant to the community? This project is relevant to me because I revolve around mechanics, it’s the core of who I am, I love to work on engines and figure out what is wrong with them. It’s relevant to school because I use my diagnosing skills with problems, I see in front of me during classes as well as using them in mechanics when I bring in my own car to work on. It is relevant to the community because it helps me further my skills like patience and communication so I can use it with peers and in programs I volunteer with in the community. 3. What impact did your Capstone have on you? My capstone not only impacted my family life at home with my father daughter relationships, but it also enhanced my skills that I can use during my job at the marina I work at this summer. It created a stronger bond between my dad and I over the love of outboard motors. 4. What aspects of your project are you most proud of? I am most proud of the fact that the motor is not a dud, and the seller was wrong because my dad and I can then sell it for a higher price than what we bought for it. I am also proud of all the work I put into it, I never thought I what get the chance to do something like this so I’m extremely grateful that I was. 5. What was a difficulty you encountered while researching your Capstone project? How were you able to overcome those obstacles? In total I didn’t research a lot online. I mostly used my manual to look and diagrams and figure things out, so I would say a difficulty I faced was finding the correct diagrams and steps on how to put things together as it wasn’t exactly easy to follow. In order to overcome this, I would ask my dad and we would usually figure it out together. 6. What is the one thing you would have changed about your project if you could? Something I would have changed about my project specifically is not finding it quick enough and possibly spending more time with it. However, if we were in a linear system, I think the capstone would have been easier and developed more rather than the semester system because there’s not enough time to fully immerse yourself in your project. 7. What advice would you offer to future Capstone students to help them with their Capstone journey? I would say to start early (early bird gets the worm) to ensure that you have a plan of yourself and what you want to accomplish. I would also say to do it about something you’re passionate about because then you’ll love the project even more and enjoy spending your time on it just like I did.
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Personal Awareness & Responsibility Self-determination and self-regulation are the two competencies I’ve achieved during the time of working on my capstone. During my capstone I showed self-determination through asking my mentor when I needed help and being self-motivated to complete my task. Self-regulation was shown when I set goals for myself through the blog posts so that I could continue to go forward in my capstone although I did have to understand it took time to complete. Social Responsibility Solving problems in peaceful ways and building relationships were used during this core competency. Solving problems was something that I had to do periodically, for example when I had to find out what was wrong with my motor, I had to use diagnostic skills to find the problem. Building relationships was shown through continuing my relationship further with my dad and creating a new relationship with my dad’s friend mike. Critical Thinking I was able to question and investigate through learning about my motor by reading the manual for electrical problems to know what I was working with and if I wasn’t sure I would ask my dad to help so I could come to a successful conclusion. Develop and design was also used because videos were a key component in showing individuals how I was doing things in my garage on my motor and in the end, I had to settle for numerous photos and explanations so I could explain to someone that didn’t know what an outboard motor was what was going on. Creative Thinking Within the core competency of creative thinking, I chose novelty and value and developing ideas. Within novelty and value, I created the idea that learning about a motor is not as difficult as it may seem as through simple steps, I explained what I was doing which hopefully will allow others to have a new perspective of mechanical features of a motor. Developing ideas was used when I realized that I did not have all the knowledge to know what to do to the motor to fix it. I do not like to accept that I do not know what I am doing so it was hard for me to persevere and accept failure but eventually I did, and I learned from it. Communication Connect and engage with others was when I was able to see the perspective of my dad’s friend mike, he had been doing this for a long time and although he was hard on me when I asked questions he was always there to collaborate and discuss what needed to be done. Collaborating to plan, carry out and review was used not with working with other students during my capstone but collaborating with others while working on my capstone during class and my mentor during the time where I was working in my garage. Personal & Cultural Identity Personal values and choices were understanding what’s important to me, working on engines has always been my passion and through my capstone I was able to show others what I value in my life, which I believe shows my personality. Personal strengths and abilities were used when I was choosing my capstone, I knew my strengths were mechanical objects and fixing things and I knew it was a new side to me that a lot of people haven't seen so I decided to play to my strengths. a) What are your Capstone goals between now and December 1st?
Between now and December first my goal for my capstone is to be able to do a compression test to see which pistons need to be replaced within the engine, to do this I need to use oil and the car battery from my car to give power to the engine for it to run. b) Which specific elements of your project will you accomplish before the end of the month? Specific elements I hope to complete are taking apart some of the engine to get to the pistons and as I mentioned before by doing a compression test. c) How will you accomplish your goals and stay on task? Working with my dad on this project timing is difficult, however by working on the engine every weekend together we should be able to accomplish my goal of making the engine run and stay on track. d) How often and how will you provide evidence of your progress and learning during this time? Hopefully I will be able to provide examples of my evidence every week by taking pictures and videos of myself taking apart the engine and explaining what the parts do, by showing others what I know about the parts I will showcase my learning through this. Which people in my life can I look to for help with my Capstone project? How can each of these people help me as I work through my research and the creation of my project?
1. Two people I can look to for help are my dad and his friend Mike, they both have background knowledge in mechanics and have been working on engines for most of their life. As I work through my research and dissembling of my engine, they can both help me through the process of taking apart my engine because of their experience in this field. What are three specific sources of information you plan to rely on to conduct your research? Why have you chosen them as sources of information and what are their pros / cons? 2. Three specific sources I plan to rely on are my dad, YouTube or tutorial videos and the module of the outboard engine that the seller gave me. I chose these three resources because they’re the most reliable to my capstone and provide the best information. For my dad some pros are that he has amazing background knowledge so he’s very knowledgeable if I ever get stuck on something, a con is that he’s usually only free at night or at the weekends so it’s difficult to find time. For the YouTube and tutorial videos a pro would be it’s in depth and hands on and a con would be that it’s not an in-person tutorial, so I won’t be able to ask questions. For the module a pro is that it’s a very reliable source of information and a con is that it’s an old book so the parts needed in it may not be available. How is your Capstone project coming along so far? (Detail your progress, your successes / struggles, and most importantly, be honest in your assessment of where you are at.) 3. So far I’ve been able to take the casket off the engine and look at what’s going on inside, the next thing to do would be to run a compression test but for that I need to get oil in order to do the test so once I get that I’ll be able to find out what the compression is, showing what cylinder is down. How has your draft proposal helped you with your Capstone Project?
1. So far, my draft proposal has been able to give me a clearer outline of what needs to be done in the time period we have and what I should focus on when making my posts about different parts of the engine. What strategies do you plan to use to keep yourself on task and organized with your project? 2. Some strategies I hope I’ll be able to use for my capstone to keep myself on task are talking with my dad and hopefully being able to take something off my engine every weekend as that is when my dad will be able to help me the most if I ever need something. What obstacles remain that you need to overcome to be successful with your project? 3. At the moment I don’t have any major obstacles, however my dad, only being able to help on weekends, could pose a bit of a problem if I ever needed help with something on the motor since I wouldn’t want to bother my dad at work. Other than that, the only other thing I could see as a problem would be not having knowledge about some parts, in particular the wires area. What have you accomplished so far?
1. So far what I’ve accomplished is being able to get my outboard engine in my truck and back to my house. As of right now I have the outboard engine in my garage with the pistons, gaskets and wires needed to fix the motor. What have I learned? 2. Something I’ve learned so far is how to take the flywheel off based on a YouTube video and the knowledge of my dad, however I have much more to learn about taking apart an engine especially when it comes to electrical work within the motor itself. What still needs to be done? 3. A lot still needs to be done to the engine, for example, taking all the parts off and explaining their function on my website, and replacing the second piston within the inline v6. However, I still have a lot of time to be able to take it apart. |
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