Making Puppets – TEALS case study
Background
The plan of action
Developing the brief
Implementing the plan of action
Evaluation and assessment
Implementing the plan of action
Gateway 3 required students to implement a plan of action to develop a working puppet that meets the requirements of the brief.
As the students implemented their plans of action, they continued to research, explore, and experiment with materials, mechanisms, and techniques.
The students made prototypes of different sections of their puppets and trialled their mock-ups, using a video camera to aid analysis. As they made modifications and changes to their plans of action, they recorded these in written or graphic form, explaining the reasons for their decisions.
When their puppets were completed, they selected a story to tell to a chosen audience and demonstrated how their puppet could be manipulated as part of the storytelling.
Ana continued to explore ways to fulfil her brief through design work, research, and extensive experimentation. Annotated modifications to her design work clearly linked her plan of action and subsequent mock-ups to development of the final prototype. Many of her experiments with materials led her into unexpected but exciting outcomes that were effectively evaluated in terms of their usefulness in developing her dragon puppet. In her portfolio, she extensively documented all aspects of her practice, clearly demonstrating her ability to think through problems, both anticipated and actual. When faced with a problem, she responded fully, often to the point of developing multiple mock-ups and exploring a wide range of possible solutions before making a decision.
Right from the outset, Ana implemented a highly integrated technological practice where research, planning, experimentation, evaluation, modification, and adaptation were ongoing and iterative processes. The following transcript of her discussion with the teacher indicates that, when developing wings for her dragon, she had a clear vision of what she wanted and she was prepared to work at the problem until she had solved it.
I wanted them [the wings] to look real – like skin or something. I experimented a lot with them because I knew they could be quite fragile. At first I tried to make them out of clay – but then I thought they would have broken easily if they had hit something. I didn't want them to be as thick as the clay. It was hard to get the clay thin without breaking. So then I decided to make them out if wire because it would sort of demonstrate how wings have bones on them.
I got some tissue paper and folded it over and glued it, and to keep the sides from sticking up, I put glue over one side. It dried, but it was still very sticky ... it wouldn't dry properly. So that didn't really work. So, I got some more tissue paper that was a lot thinner, but it was stronger and some sort of an alcohol solution called dope. I folded over the tissue paper and put the dope over and it dried it, as well as sticking it, and it was actually quite strong when you put a few coats over. It also kept the transparency effect. After that, I dyed them green and they looked quite leathery like skin and still transparent.
Ana demonstrated her ability to plan ahead and to prioritise the factors that would impact on and be influenced by each decision, managing her time so that there was no "down" time. For example, while waiting for paper pulp to dry for the head, she worked on the jaw, experimenting with different materials, eyes, and modes of movement. Her construction of the jaw and its mechanism for movement is an example of her ability to think around a problem to achieve a solution. After much trialling of mechanisms, materials, and construction techniques, she decided upon a wire framework covered in plastic for the lower jaw because this would allow her to mould it to the required shape and size to ensure a perfect fit with the upper jaw.
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