Self+Evaluation

 I. A) List the five goals from your formal proposal. By the end of the semester, I hope to  1. understand what drove the Egyptians to build the pyramids.   2. discount all magical or alien theories about the pyramids.   3. understand the effect the pyramids have on people today.   4. teach other people the importance of pyramids beyond a physical feat.   5. build a pyramid the same way the Egyptians would have, but much smaller.   B) Prove that you met each of these goals or thoroughly explain why you did not. 1. I learned a lot about the different reasons for the pyramids. There is not one answer, but many, and I understand each one. 2. Although I did not focus much on this, I put out many more realistic theories that have more factual proof. 3. I myself am in awe of these massive structures, and after reading many articles, I see how other people feel too. Although humans have built things more grand since then, we still marvel at just how they managed to do what they did with such limited tools. 4. This will happen during my presentation, but I have spoken to people throughout my project and impressed upon them the magnificence of the pyramids. 5. I did, starting from the bottom, cutting out each block. However, my blocks were of each layer, instead of many bricks for one layer. II. What did you seek advice for on this project? Did you improve at asking for feedback? I asked for help for research, especially using the online resources. When I was writing my paper I sought out edits from my mentor. I probably could have used my teacher more for help editing my paper.

III. Describe any risks you took in order to complete this project. Be sure to consider emotional, intellectual or physical challenges. A risk I took for this project was choosing a friend instead of a parent or a teacher for my mentor. Relationships with friends are always more variable. An adult may be better equipped to deal with the project. Also, the friend I chose was not taking Senior Seminar at the time, and so they did not know as much about the course. I had originally signed up for the second day of presentations. However, I switched my spot to the first day. I took the risk of not being ready that first day (two nights can make a big difference) but I think it paid off. It forced me to think about my project and presentation over the break, and I didn’t leave everything till the night before. IV. List and describe three personal satisfactions you have gained from doing this project. I am glad I took a topic that I was not familiar with, because I gained a lot of knowledge over the past few months. Putting together the step pyramid was very satisfying, especially using calculus to figure out how long and wide to make each level. The last personal satisfaction was changing my presentation date from the second day to the first. That was a risk I am glad I took.

V. Explain two problems you encountered and how you solved them. My first problem with this project was just deciding what my topic should be. I had a very general starting point, engineering, but by narrowing that subject to architecture and then pyramids, I came to an interesting topic and a solid thesis. When it came time to build my pyramid, I did not a very effective tool with which to cut the Styrofoam. However, I solved this problem by making two pyramids. One rougher looking step pyramid, and a second hollow pyramid with smooth sides.

VI. What did you learn about managing your time? That I am not the best person at managing my time. I start out managing my time well, but when I have a long time between due dates, I overestimate how much time I have and underestimate the amount of work I will have to do during that time.

VII. What did you learn about managing your level of stress? Surprisingly, I was not too stressed during this project. If I ever felt like I had too much work to do before a deadline, I would just sit, focus, and work, and I could get it done. However, having to present on the first day was a bit of a stressor, but I relived my stress by reminding myself that the presentation was simply a recap of my project that I knew so much about.

VIII. If you could do the same project over again, what would you do differently? I might make my thesis a little more narrow and focus only on why they built them, or just the crazy theories people have about the pyramids. I took a little too broad approach.

IX.  Grade yourself based on the stated goals of the course - to encourage higher order thinking skills such as application of knowledge, analysis of information, creativity and the ability to make strong evaluative judgments. What grade do you deserve and why?  I think I deserve an A because.