BAADE – Unit 2 Evaluative Report: Greenwich SE 10

The process of Unit 2 included several stages, starting off with the research leading to a game design. Our group had to present Greenwich. In the first stage, each one was given a specific building or area to research individually, which would be the basis for the actual design.
I was given Greenwich Park, as this related to my pathway, spatial.
As far as the research is concerned, the most useful resource was the park itself, the observation of it and its effect and importance for Greenwich.
Apart from a direct observation, I used a book on Royal Parks as well as maps and several websites as a second resource to get information about the park and Greenwich.
Furthermore, some books on study and research skills also helped me to go through the research process.
I believe that I have built a good foundation of research for the park as part of the game.
The park took an important part of the game, being the final place and it contributed well as the activities taking place in the park refer to its history and function, so there is a logical connection and integration of the park in the game. For instance: the park has a strong royal influence and used to be a battlefield, which is why we decided to introduce an activity on presenting a tournament. I should have done more research on the whole area of Greenwich and its history, which would have allowed me to put the park into a more sophisticated context of the Greenwich area.
The second stage of the project was the creation of a main layout for the game trying to imply all the different areas of research in a logical way to represent Greenwich as a whole and in a clear and communicative way.
At the beginning, we had some difficulties in actually coming up with useful ideas and an elaboration. At that stage, I did not contribute as much as I could have done. I presented my research, but did not put too much effort in bringing all the different pieces of research together, whereas in the end when it came to the actual design, I became much more ambitious, especially after having visited Greenwich as a group. I developed ideas influencing the course of the game process and I also took a strong part in the stage, when we connected the areas of research trying to bring them in a logical order to furthermore make them work as a whole.
Considering the work of the whole group, we should have started the development of the actual game much earlier. There was not enough motivation and teamwork and I felt that, although I am rather pleased with the final game design, our game could have gone to a more effective level if everyone would have put more effort into it.
The final game design is still satisfactory including all the different areas that have been researched individually and connecting those to an informative and interesting representation of Greenwich.
If I was to do the project again, I would try to achieve a better involvement of everyone, as well as a better time managment. We should have also gathered more information about the area and its history as a whole, which would have made the game clearer for the group playing it.



Bibliography:


- Boud, D., Enhancing Learning Through Self Assessment, Routledge Falmer, New York,
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- Cottrell, S., The Study Skills Handbook, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1999.
- Farrell, T., Buckingham Palace Redesigned: A Radical New Approach To London’s Royal Parks, Andreas Papadakis Publishers, Great Britain, 2003.
- London A to Z, Geographer`s Company Limited, 2003.

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