Category: Projects

Community-neighborhood projects

Posted on

School Safety, Data-Driven Evidence- Based Findings, and Recommendations

The project was three-pronged and involved conducting school security audits, mentoring at-risk students, and the observation of the work of School Resource Officers (SROs). Students generated items for an audit instrument, planned and carried out their mentoring activities, and provided observational analyses of their SRO time. The product for this project was a formal presentation to the community partners.

Faculty Mentors: Bryan Byers
Departments: Criminal Justice and Criminology
Community Partners: Muncie Community Schools, Burris Laboratory School
Students: TJ Brown, Elizabeth Cassady, Andrew Chapman, Joel Donovan, Paige Eacret, Daniel Etchison, Samantha Kridler, Lindsey Rainbolt, Mario Rodriguez

Posted on

Serious Game Design with Minnetrista

Student working on game design at a laptop

Spring 2019: A multidisciplinary team of undergraduates has worked with Minnetrista to develop an original, interactive, educational video game about food preservation. We have tied our research and development process into Minnetrista’s revision of Oakhurst, the historic home where the original Ball Blue Book canning recipes were developed. The team worked together to create a game for families who visit the museum, to get them working together in an exciting simulation of canning.

Fall 2018: The students in this semester’s Honors Colloquium on Serious Game Design worked with Minnetrista to create original games that explore regional history, culture, and themes. The students began the semester by studying fundamentals of game design with an emphasis on transformative and educational games. This included a formal analysis of Minnetrista Fairy Trails, a game created by an immersive learning course in Spring 2018. In the second half of the semester, each student identified a particular theme to explore through iterative game design and produced the playable prototypes that are presented at the showcase. Between semesters, faculty and staff from Ball State and Minnetrista will evaluate what was learned this semester to choose a project for production in a Spring game software production studio course.

Spring 2019

Faculty Mentors: Paul Gestwicki
Departments: Computer Science
Community Partners: Minnetrista Cultural Center
Students: Jawad Al Mamoon, Lauren Binnewies, Chris Bucker, Gabrielle Hogan, Makayla Hughes, Nick Manis, Lindsey Murphy, Eli Sokeland, Tanner Stanley, Austin Tinkel, Hunter Wallace, Julie Xiao

Fall 2018

Faculty Mentors: Paul Gestwicki
Departments: Computer Science
Community Partners: Minnetrista Cultural Center
Students: Ryland Babusiak, Lexi Benakovich, Katie Grieze, Nathan Hahn, Zachary Hughes, Sarah Humphrey, Kyle Jones, Ariel Meece, Mathias Miles, Eve Miller, Alex Ross, Samantha Stapleton, Christopher Zurisk

Posted on

Scenery in Space

In this project, a diverse group of students partnered with Muncie Civic Theatre to assist in the development of stock scenery. This scenery will be used within their regular production season and will be a significant upgrade in safety and efficiency over their current stock.

Faculty Mentors: Kerry Chipman, Mickie Marie
Departments: Theatre and Dance
Community Partners: Muncie Civic Theatre
Students: Sam Buchholz, Kathryn Burke, Chrstine Gordon, Jade Grady, Madeleine Hollinger, Jay Jeffcoat, Kali Marquart, Nicholas Maurer, Carlee Miller, Logan Niccum, Amanda Pecora, Laura Pierson, Amber Riggle, Mitch Smolek, Valerie Stoffer, Ashley Talcott

Posted on

Reading the Wor(l)d Critical Literacy and Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries

Research affirms the power of culturally relevant literature and practice (Clark 2017), yet, the International Literacy Association (2018) reports that equity in literacy, diversity, and access to diverse content are the most pressing issues in K-12 schools, acknowledging that teachers are unprepared to address these challenges. This project addressed this preparation gap. Pre-service teacher candidates worked with classroom teachers, students, and community members to design classroom libraries containing a robust collection of culturally relevant texts.

Faculty Mentors: Kristin Cipollone, Susan Tancock
Departments: Elementary Education
Community Partners: Whitely Community Council, Longfellow Elementary School
Students: Keaton Bailey, Miranda Berry, Sarah Black, Sydney Chaney, Kayla DeRemer, Alyssa Flanagan, Olivia Ford, Jordan Fuerstenau, Ashlin Hair, Kaylie Johnston, Hannah Lockington, Hailey Maupin, Sarah Meyer, Alison Schwartz, Bre’Anna Serf, Makenzie Smith, Michaela Strahm, Kortney Thalls

Posted on

Muncie Arts and Culture Council Video Project

Local art projects are a way for communities to create dialogue, share cultural experiences, solve problems and build relationships that enhance quality of place and local economic development efforts. Part of the Muncie Art and Culture Council’s (MACC) mission is to serve as an arts alliance that builds community among artists and arts organizations, and is a resource for professional growth and opportunity among Muncie artists. In this project, student teams created video to help MACC document Plyspace, its artist-in-residence program and promote other local art projects.

Faculty Mentors: Suzanne Plesha, Tim Pollard
Departments: Immersive Learning, Telecommunications
Community Partners: Muncie Arts and Culture Council
Students: Oscar Arriaga, Jacob Barajas, Matt Carson, Jason Franchville, Connor Hillestad, Grant Mountcastle, Benjamin Ritter, Melody Smith, Parker Stewart, Mason Whitis

Posted on

#keepmuncieweirdandwhimsical

This project was an immersive, service learning opportunity where students met with residents of the community to teach creative writing techniques and to collaboratively write a text. Objectives of the project included the enrichment of the creative writing students through engagement in the local community, scholarly study of memoir through relevant essays about creative nonfiction writing pedagogy and community engagement, and through the use of critical and creative examinations of the student’s own work and end project was a publish anthology of the writing generated by the students and residents along with several public community readings around Muncie. In the anthology, Muncie area residents shared their experiences, their memories, and their love of what makes Muncie unique.

Faculty Mentors: Darolyn Jones
Departments: English
Community Partners: Muncie residents
Students: Claire Bauserman, Audrey Bowers, Charlie Cain, Alyssa Clemento, Pam Fancher, Katharyn Fletcher, Vanessa Haro-Miracle, Nikki Kendall, Janie Obrochta, Eileen Porzuczeck, Kayln Reyer, Aidan Sacks, Matthew Swain