My group hasn’t done a ton of research for our project. This is because our project specifically is very hands-on and personal and there aren’t many online resources that directly align with our project. Most of the research we did for our project was sources that gave tips on how to better our final project as a whole. I did most of my research looking up websites like how to make good and influential moodboards, how to get a community to engage in student projects, and the benefits mood boards have on society. As our final project is coming to a close and it’s time to start thinking about preparing for the presentation, the research I’ve done to create our mood board and presentation has definitely been beneficial.
One of our biggest concerns for our project was the level of community engagement. The chance that someone may notice our poster and take the time to submit a response is against our odds. So of course, as a group we tried coming up with ideas to make our project specifically stand out. Keeping in mind that there are a number of other groups posting flyers not just in our class but in classes all around campus, we felt we had a slight upperhand by working with ladders; a place where student flyers may not be as common. But with that being said, researching tips on how to up the level of engagement for our project is crucial for success.
I found a website, titled “Community Engagement 101:Ultimate Beginners Guide” (https://visiblenetworklabs.com/guides/community-engagement-101/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-13) and found a number of tips to help my group out. A section of this article that stood out to me was making sure to identify the short and long term goals of the project. Of course the short term goal is to gather enough responses to create a successful moodboard, but the long term goal is to use these responses to influence the community to be more mindful of sustainability and overconsumption. Using these tips, we concluded some short and some long explanations of the importance of our project and what our end goal of conclusion is within our flyers. The website also concluded 5 strategies on how to engage the community. Strategy 1 was “Public Dialogue and Consultation” . We used this strategy by openly posting our flyers around campus as well as Ladders. Strategy 2 was “Collaborative Partnerships and Co-Creation” . We put this strategy into action by collaborating with Ladders. Strategy 3 was “Research and Data Collection” . We followed this approach by using our resources and researching ways to better our project; and we collected our data using our survey forum. Strategy 4 was “Digital and Online Engagement”. We made use of this strategy by posting our survey on different social outlets such as Facebook communities, Snapchat, and Instagram. The last strategy was “Education and Outreach Programs” we specifically partnered with Ladders because it is a small business that is well known in Plymouth for its warm and welcoming vibe, we hope by having this collaboration with a good cause, nonprofit organization we can use this to our advantage to educate the public about our ideas.
I also did research on how to make a good moodboard, and the effects and benefits of a moodboard. The websites I used to help guide me are: https://milanote.com/guide/create-better-moodboards and https://toward.studio/latest/the-benefits-of-mood-boarding. This research helped to guide the group into a solid direction for our project and use our current knowledge and skills to create an inspiring project. After researching we saw adding colorful and alluring methods to our project will draw more attention to our moodboard and hopefully cause students to be more engaged with our project. I learned how to make the mood board more organized and how important it is to explain our thinking while still being respectful to everyone. We will use images, colors, and funk to make a favorable moodboard. Alongside this, I knew it was very important to learn more about the effects our presentation will have, I was mainly more interested in the advantages which is why I did some research on the benefits of moodboards. I learned my group can use our board to rationalize our solutions and show real-life examples of how that is done. A mood board is a great way to lay out information in a fun way and it was a great way to incorporate the psychology majors into the project.
I feel that putting in the extra effort to engage with the community, create constructive mood boards, and recognize the effects our project will have on the community showed all examples of the habits of mind. Those being Purposeful Communication, Problem Solving, Integrated Perspective, and Self-Regulated Learning. We showed comprehension of our work by showing understanding of the message our project is attempting to send to the public, as well showed Effective Application of Strategies for Communication by recognizing that others may have different perspectives and opinions on the goal our project is delivering. We demonstrate understanding of Problem Solving by explaining the key components of the problem, that being overconsumption and what can be done to solve this wicked problem. We identify that this challenge is an up-hill battle because this is an issue not just within the small community of Plymouth, but all over the world. We also intend to show plans on how we can possibly solve these issues. We show comprehension of Integrated Perspective by being self-aware through our project and understand that different point of views route from different personal events. My group collaborated amongst ourselves by bringing our different ideas and views to create a project we felt displayed all of our approaches and opinions. We prove understanding of Self-Regulated Learning by maintaining responsibility for our own learning process and engaging in the project in our own ways to benefit the group. We have recognized that we have completely different majors and we have used the strengths and weaknesses we all have from our knowledge to effectively work together as a group.
I wanted to share a short tiktok clip that shares some insight on how to make a fun, informational, and alluring moodboard that we will consider while creating ours:
Bibliography:
Dave. “The Benefits of Mood-Boarding.” Toward, July 2019, toward.studio/latest/the-benefits-of-mood-boarding.
Clancy, Marc. “How to Make a Moodboard: 2025 Step-by-Step Guide.” Milanote, 31 Oct. 2025, milanote.com/guide/create-better-moodboards.
“Community Engagement 101: Ultimate Beginner’s Guide.” Visible Network Labs, 21 Nov. 2023, visiblenetworklabs.com/guides/community-engagement-101/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-13.
Lucyedendesign. “Make Your Day.” TikTok, 25 Aug. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@lucyedendesign/video/7271267200772738346.
ARAYAPAYON, MR.KISSANA. Students Collaborate to Research Cartoon . 16 Feb. 2020. Shuttershock.Com, Shutter Shock, https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/students-collaborate-research-cartoon-1647247663. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
Flat International Human Solidarity Day Illustration . Freepik.Com , Freepik.Com, https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/flat-international-human-solidarity-day-illustration_33433039.htm#fromView=keyword&page=1&position=0&uuid=10d8adce-1fa1-4f26-b1c8-fb72a3fa8b9b&query=Community+engagement. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
Thomas , Robert. 144 Moodboards – Digital or in-person Check-in Tool . Teacherspayteachers.Com, Teacherspayteachers.Com, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/144-Mood-Boards-Digital-or-in-person-check-in-tool-8174651. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025. Velasquez, Diana Johanna. Sustainability World Ecology Environment Cartoon . Alamy.Com, Alamy.Com, https://www.alamy.com/sustainability-world-ecology-environment-cartoon-image414822579.html. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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