Projects
Case studies, artifacts, and work samples spanning VR design, curriculum development, and multimedia — each with honest reflection on the decisions made.
Artifact 4 · ID-8960: Applied Design and Development
Multimedia · VR Experience ConceptA narrative-driven virtual reality instructional experience designed to teach Newton's Three Laws of Motion to 5th Grade students through immersive, mission-based gameplay guided by an AI mentor named NOVA.
This artifact sits at the intersection of immersive technology, instructional design, and K–12 STEM — my intended specialization. It demonstrates creative capacity and research literacy: design grounded in peer-reviewed immersive learning research from 2024–2025.
A coherent narrative structure — setting, characters, three-act mission progression, adaptive feedback, and conclusion — with clear learning objectives mapped to each of Newton's Three Laws and AI guide NOVA providing real-time adaptive mentoring.
The only multimedia and immersive design artifact in this portfolio. Its three-mission structure, character-based mentoring, and adaptive feedback are design patterns transferable across subjects and grade levels — and identified as a potential STEM program development project.
The Design Challenge
Newton's Laws are abstract concepts students often memorize without understanding. The design challenge was to create a learning environment where the laws are encountered as phenomena — felt and observed in context — rather than defined and applied.
"A VR environment offers something no textbook can: the ability to place a learner inside the physics itself. Mission: Motion uses that affordance deliberately."
The Instructional Framework
The design is grounded in current empirical research on immersive learning environments (Acevedo et al., 2024; Tene et al., 2024; Jiang et al., 2025), supporting narrative framing, embodied interaction, and adaptive feedback as mechanisms for deepening conceptual understanding in VR.
NOVA embodies Mayer's Personalization Principle — a conversational, responsive presence that adjusts guidance based on learner performance, maintaining engagement without removing productive challenge.
The Challenge
City Church Academy needed more than activities — a coherent, sequenced curriculum that built genuine scientific thinking across an entire academic year. No existing curriculum, no material library, no template.
"The backward design logic meant starting with the showcase — what would students need to know and be able to do to present confidently? — and working backward from there."
The Approach
Each session was built using the UbD three-stage model: desired results first, then acceptable evidence, then the learning plan. Mayer's CTML principles informed the multimedia design — slide decks minimizing extraneous load, recording sheets scaffolding thinking rather than just collecting answers.
Every session included an explicit exit reflection connecting the day's activity to a real-world problem — building the habit of transferable thinking that carried through to the showcase presentations.
Deliverables
"What I would do differently: the community representation framing needed more intentional design. The curriculum was built for a specific school community — but my initial documentation treated it as generic instructional work. Naming the community and connecting decisions to culturally responsive practice is the revision I am currently working through."
A complete instructional slide deck for the first session of the Spring Earth & Energy semester. Students investigate weather, build working anemometers, and connect wind to atmospheric energy — all in 60 minutes.
Each slide has a single focal point, consistent color coding (sky blue for Weather Watch), and timed activity banners so students always know how long each phase lasts. No slide exceeds one concept — direct application of the Coherence Principle.
Students build a working anemometer in 25 minutes using paper cups, straws, a pencil, and a pin. The slide sequence scaffolds planning before building, building before testing, and testing before reflecting — the engineering design process made explicit.
Every session closes with a question connecting the day's activity to the real world. Weather Watch closes with: "Wind is caused by differences in air temperature — where do you think that energy originally comes from?" Setting up the solar energy session in Week 2.
Live Gamified Learning Platform · City Church Academy
EdTech · Game Design · Grades 1–5What began as a single multiplication practice app evolved into a five-game arcade platform with a shared XP economy, rank progression, achievement badges, combo scoring, and a full canvas-based action game — all built on free hosting with zero student data collected.
Live Platform
Enter the Math Arcade — five games, one progression system
No login. No download. Students pick a game, earn XP toward eight ranks, unlock badges, chase high scores, and build fact fluency across all four operations. Progress saves to their device.
5
Games
Addition Blaster, Subtraction Strike, Multiplication Mayhem, Division Destroyer, and Laser Blaster — a canvas-based action game where correct answers fire your ship's laser at falling asteroids.
8
Ranks
A shared XP economy across all games. Every correct answer earns XP toward eight ranks — Rookie to Legend — with combo multipliers rewarding streaks.
6
Badges
Achievements like Perfect Round, Speed Demon, and 10 Streak — unlocked through play and displayed on the arcade hub's badge shelf.
0
Data Collected
All progress, XP, badges, and high scores live on the student's own device only. No accounts, no servers — COPPA-compliant by design.
Design Rationale
At the 4th and 5th grade level, the goal shifts from procedural knowledge (being able to calculate) to automaticity (instant recall). Timed modes were chosen to build this type of recall under mild time pressure — mirroring how facts are used in real academic tasks like long division and fractions.
Rather than requiring student accounts, progress uses the browser's built-in Local Storage API — meaning zero personal data is transmitted or stored on any server. This approach is COPPA-compliant by design, making the app appropriate for school use without additional privacy agreements.
Students select which fact families to practice rather than being assigned a fixed sequence. This reflects self-determination theory — giving learners autonomy over their practice path increases engagement and persistence without sacrificing structure.
A 60-second warm-up serves a different purpose than a structured homework session or a formal mastery assessment. Building all four modes into every game means teachers don't need separate resources for each context — the platform adapts to the moment.
Streak combos, escalating point multipliers, rank progression, and achievement badges were added deliberately — not as decoration, but as replay drivers. Fact fluency requires distributed practice over weeks, and the XP economy gives students a reason to return. Sound design, particle effects, and screen shake provide the immediate feedback loops that make repetition feel like play.
Laser Blaster inverts the typical drill structure: instead of answering questions to earn points, students solve problems as the core game mechanic — the answer IS the weapon. Falling asteroids create authentic time pressure, boss battles require sustained accuracy, and wave progression scales difficulty automatically. The math is not a gate before the fun; it is the gameplay itself.
Frameworks in Action
| Framework | How It Appears in This Project |
|---|---|
| ADDIE | Analysis identified the fluency gap. Design chose timed recall and mastery thresholds. Development produced the single-file HTML/JS app. Implementation deployed via GitHub Pages. Evaluation is built into the mastery tracking system. |
| Bloom's Taxonomy | Targets the Remember level — the foundation for all higher-order math operations. Students must recall facts automatically before they can Apply them in multi-step problems like long division and algebraic expressions. |
| Kirkpatrick Model | Level 1 (Reaction): student choice of mode and fact family maintains engagement. Level 2 (Learning): mastery threshold provides measurable evidence of fact acquisition. Levels 3–4 to be tracked as classroom data emerges over the school year. |
| Cognitive Load Theory | Automaticity with multiplication facts reduces extraneous cognitive load when students encounter fractions, long division, and algebraic expressions — freeing working memory for the new concept being introduced. |
Portfolio Document
Case Study · PDF · Starr Instructional Design
Multiplication Facts App — Full Case Study
A four-page portfolio document covering the project context, design rationale, ID frameworks applied, and outcomes. Built in Starr ID branding — burnt orange and forest green.
Download Case Study →
"This project demonstrates iterative instructional design in action: a single practice app, validated with real users, then rebuilt into a gamified platform grounded in motivation research. Each design decision — from combo multipliers to boss battles — serves the same goal the original app did: automatic recall of math facts."
Rise 360 eLearning Module · Professional Development
Instructional Design · Teacher Training · Interactive CourseReady to transform 5th grade math lessons into dynamic, interactive experiences? This course empowers upper elementary teachers using the Abeka Arithmetic 5 curriculum to elevate student engagement and understanding — exploring practical techniques for integrating visuals, interactive elements, and comprehension checks into daily math instruction.
Live Interactive Module
Launch the full Rise 360 course in a new tab
Built in Articulate Rise 360 and hosted independently. Opens in a new tab since Rise's interactive elements are best experienced in their own window.
The Audience
Designed for teachers delivering the Abeka Arithmetic 5 curriculum who want to move beyond lecture-and-worksheet instruction toward lessons that actively engage students and surface understanding in real time.
The Structure
Mapping the Arithmetic 5 curriculum, designing effective comprehension checks, selecting and creating visual aids, integrating interactivity, and a step-by-step walkthrough of enhancing existing Arithmetic 5 materials — moving from theory to direct classroom application.
Academic Work
A Grade 5 project proposal for Weekly Wisdom Review Boards using Canva and Google Gemini AI. Students synthesize weekly science content into multimedia presentations featuring visuals, AI-sourced quotes, and faith-based reflection — submitted and peer-reviewed via Google Classroom.
A visual instructional graphic summarizing five core instructional design principles — Relevance, Experience, Choice, Application, and Progress — in a retro TV format. Designed as a session recap tool for learner engagement and principle reinforcement.
APA Papers
Designing With Purpose
Applying backward design and Mayer's five multimedia principles to professional portfolio development — with specific design applications and violations to avoid.
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Designing With Integrity
A seven-criterion rubric for evaluating portfolio design against ethical design, universal design, and DEI principles — with an honest self-assessment applying it to this portfolio.
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Grade 5 States of Matter — Project Management Plan
A complete project management suite: WBS, schedule, communication plan, stakeholder email, risk assessment, closure report, and future trends reflection.
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