Modern Blanket Toss: Findings and Observations

2016 FINDINGS
LIMITATIONS OF THE EVALUATION
The results of this evaluation are limited by several factors. First, we rely greatly
on self- reported data. Self-reported data is limited by the fact that it rarely can
be independently verified. Further, self-reported data contain several potential
sources of bias that should be noted as limitations: 1) selective memory
(remembering or not remembering experiences or events that occurred at
some point in the past); 2) telescoping (recalling events that occurred at one
time as if they occurred at another time); 3) attribution (the act of attributing
positive events and outcomes to one's own agency but attributing negative
events and outcomes to external forces); and 4) exaggeration (the act of
representing outcomes or embellishing events as more significant than is actually
suggested from other data). Also, much of the work of this project takes place
during the school year at the remote sites. It is very difficult to assess what
information and support was available to students at the different sites, and to
what degree the implementation of these supports differed. Additionally, our
sample size is extremely small; it is difficult to describe statistically significant
relationships from the data, as statistical tests normally require a larger sample
size to ensure a representative distribution of the population. Lastly, the impact
of the project on student’s career choices will not be observable until months
or years after the end of data collection (University of Southern California,
2016).
Section 2. Implementation
Modern Blanket Toss participants were drawn from the ranks of UAF Upward
Bound students. Upward Bound is a secondary education program within the
UAF Division of General Studies which works with low-income, high-risk high
school students who are identified as the first in their families to attend college.
Modern Blanket Toss, aligned with the Upward Bound program, had two distinct
components: summer programs held at UAF, and school-year implementation at
participating students’ schools.
SUMMER PROGRAMMING
First, a subset of students from the participating Upward Bound sites
participated in a six-week summer program held on the UAF campus. All
participants took two core Upward Bound courses (e.g., language arts,
mathematics, laboratory science, foreign languages, technology skills, study skills,
service learning, and financial literacy) as well as Modern Blanket Toss courses
focused on UAVs, geospatial cognition, and associated science and technology
and communication and science leadership training.
The first summer program in 2014 focused on flight safety, UAV flying skills with
both simulators and quadcopters, and collecting data with the UAVs. Students
were given glimpse on the last few days of how the collected photos and videos
could be linked to maps on the computer.
In the summer of 2015, there were two afternoon sections devoted to MBT.
One section focused on flying and building bigger, stronger UAVs to be used for
data collection and the other section focused on GIS skills to use and integrate
the collected data. Students in the build section learned about design by
calculating loads and lifts as well as hands on wiring, soldering, sanding and
cutting. Both groups worked together for the last week or so to fly UAVs,
collect photographic data and then merge the data into a map.
43