History Space Exploration

This forum supports the Early Access Program for the PC for Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager (SPM). iOS, Android and Mac releases are still in development. SPM is the ultimate game of space exploration. It is the mid 1950s and the race for dominance between the US and the Soviet Union is about to move into a new dimension: space. Take charge of the US or Soviet space agencies - your duty is be the first to the moon. Carefully manage your budget by opening programs, spending R&D funds on improving the hardware, recruiting personnel and astronauts and launching space missions in this realistic turn based strategy game.

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rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings to All,
A few students are defecting to the Soviet Union and engaged to launch Sputnik 1 & 2 and Vostok/Voskhod.

Some good AARs
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CV60
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by CV60 »

Rommel-Any comments by the students on how useful the US campaign was to teaching the history of the space program? I would love to hear the student's impressions, if those could be shared.
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” -Abraham Lincoln
rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings CV60,
I have not yet posed that question to the students since half oo the class has not finished the U.S. space program. However, I do see improved chapter quiz scores using History of Space Exploration by Tim Furniss,which build on the BASPM lab activities.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Space-Exp ... xploration
Just as the Kings of Israel were required to write a copy of the holy writings in their own hand to better remember them, I believe that BASPM helps the students "internalize" the names and chronology of the U.S. space program by repetition in the computer simulation.
I will be asking a viewpoint question on the usefulness of BASPM in learning the history of the U.s. and U.S.S.R. space programs.
1/3 of the class has defected to the Soviet Union to manage the Russian space program and on their way to becoming heroes of the Soviet Union.

rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings to All,

The PBS Makers series has an episode on Women in Space.

See the live streaming link below: (you will see the gender discrimination of the 13 women selected for Mercury/Gemini)

http://www.makers.com/documentary/womeninspace
rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings to All,
One student has successfully finished both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. campaigns to reach the moon. The student liked the award screens and becoming a hero of the Soviet Union. The U.S. and U.S.S.R. campaigns were each 4 week labs for a total of 8 weeks for 8 labs. Each lab had set space program goals and each student submits a detailed AAR for each quarter to reach successful launch. I appreciate CV-60 providing AARs for the students to reference as a guide in preparing their own.
Looking forward to more students finishing the U.S. and U.S.S.R. moon landings.[:)]
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CV60
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by CV60 »

I'm glad my AARs were helpful. If possible, I would be curious to see any student AARs, or any comments they have about how useful the BASPM exercise was to teaching.


Greetings to All,
One student has successfully finished both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. campaigns to reach the moon. The student liked the award screens and becoming a hero of the Soviet Union. The U.S. and U.S.S.R. campaigns were each 4 week labs for a total of 8 weeks for 8 labs. Each lab had set space program goals and each student submits a detailed AAR for each quarter to reach successful launch. I appreciate CV-60 providing AARs for the students to reference as a guide in preparing their own.
Looking forward to more students finishing the U.S. and U.S.S.R. moon landings.
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” -Abraham Lincoln
rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings CV60,
Due to student teacher confidentiality, I cannot post a student's AAR since it is their intellectual property according to the college's higher education lawyer. I have told students that they can post, if they wish, in the AAR forum. I can inquire if they would allow me to post excepts from their AARs.
Ever since congress passed legislation for college student rights I cannot talk to parents of students about their academics. The college tells us we must refer parents to the Office of Family Relations. If I talked to parents I would violate the student's privacy rights and could be subject to legal action. Faculty would also lose the access and protection of the college lawyer free services. I know of students successfully suing their college faculty and winning.
I will not miss teaching when I retire in a year or two.
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CV60
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by CV60 »

I understand. I hope that they would consider posting their AARs, as 1) it would possibly help to improve the use of BASPM as a teaching tool and 2) may encourage other teachers to use BASPM for teaching
Greetings CV60,
Due to student teacher confidentiality, I cannot post a student's AAR since it is their intellectual property according to the college's higher education lawyer. I have told students that they can post, if they wish, in the AAR forum. I can inquire if they would allow me to post excepts from their AARs.
Ever since congress passed legislation for college student rights I cannot talk to parents of students about their academics. The college tells us we must refer parents to the Office of Family Relations. If I talked to parents I would violate the student's privacy rights and could be subject to legal action. Faculty would also lose the access and protection of the college lawyer free services. I know of students successfully suing their college faculty and winning.
I will not miss teaching when I retire in a year or two.
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” -Abraham Lincoln
rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings to All,
Currently teaching a small class of 8 students in summer session History of Space Exploration using BASPM.
Students will do 5 program labs for the U.S. and 5 program labs for the U.S.S.R. with BASPM for the six week course.
3 students are using the iOS version, while 2 students use the Apple Macbook OS and 3 use Windows version.
Looking forward to their AARs.[:)]
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CV60
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by CV60 »

Great! Let us know how it goes!
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” -Abraham Lincoln
rommel222
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Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:27 pm

RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings CV60,
Just finished the Summer course in History of Space Exploration using BASPM for computer sim lab.
One student dropped out while 5 students did very well and 2 students struggled with BASPM. They could not get the hang of management strategy of the simulation. They tended to just overspend with no sense of priority. Even so, they all did fair to excellent AARs.
I am preparing for two 15 student sections of History of Space Exploration next week. So 30 more students will be introduced to BASPM. In addition, this may well be my last year of college teaching as financial problems are forcing terminations and early retirements.
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CV60
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by CV60 »

Rommel-I'm sorry to hear about the forced retirements. I am glad to hear about the utility of the game as a teaching tool. From your observations, are there any modifications that could be made to make it more effective as a teaching tool? Regarding the students that had trouble understanding prioritization, did the development schedule I drafted and posted here (post #6)
tm.asp?m=3942144

help students understand the sequencing and prioritization of the programs?
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” -Abraham Lincoln
rommel222
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Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:27 pm

RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings CV60,
I currently have 31 students enrolled in History of Space Exploration and one third of them have almost completed the U.S. NASA campaign. Two students have progressed to the U.S.S.R. campaign and successfully launched Sputnik & Vostok.
Now that the three geologists have negotiated their severance packages I will be waiting for March 1st to see what my terminal contract will be(perhaps Last Post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCDWYgVyps). However, I will still teach one section of History of Space Exploration in the Spring semester using BASPM.
rommel222
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Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:27 pm

RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings to All,
Just finished teaching two sections of History of Space Exploration using BASPM for computer simulation lab.
Sadly, over 1/3 of the students could not get the "hang" of BASPM and failed or got very poor grades.[:(]
But 2/3 of the students did well so it was still positive.
It seems that more and more students are unaware of how to use their Windows pc or Macbooks to even install a program, let alone decompress a file.
I wound up having to walk several students through the downloading, decompressing and installation procedures just to get BASPM up and running for the lab course. Over half the class, in each section, had trouble using BASPM since they refuse to read the manual or watch the posted youtube videos I selected on using BASPM. Many students would try to open too many programs and hire way too many personnel at the start. They could not understand/make the connection why they could not get anything to progress/launch with overspending. [&:]
Most of the students were business majors so I was surprised by the lack of managerial skills this time around.

I am going to teach one section of 16 students this Spring semester using BASPM. Hopefully, the results will be better.
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Nacho84
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by Nacho84 »

Hello rommel,

Happy New Year! Thank you for your update, very interesting read. I'm curious, are your students roughly in the same age group? If yes, how old are they?

Cheers,
Ignacio Liverotti
Lead Developer of Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager
Polar Motion

www.polar-motion.com
spm.slitherine.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PolarMotion
rommel222
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RE: History Space Exploration

Post by rommel222 »

Greetings Nacho 84,
Most students are college seniors and are 21 to 22 years of age. I do have some 2nd & 3rd year students ranging from 18 to 20 years old.
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