SUDDO'S DESIGNS
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About
DESIGNING LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Suddo's Designs is dedicated to developing the best learning experiences for all types of learners. While there is an explosion in Ed-Tech companies, very few of them ground their products in research. At Suddo's Designs, we believe in leveraging the very best education research in developing educational products that are highly effective and ensure that learning takes place.
Bio
MY NAME IS SEAN!
I have had the opportunity teach for over 11 years, at a community college, two universities, and privately. This has allowed me to understand the trials that learners endure as they battle with concepts. I have also had the luxury of great educational experiences at MIT, McGill, New York University's Stern School of Business, and now at Stanford's Graduate School of Education, where I am pursuing a Masters in Education degree focused on Learning and Design Technology. My mantra is to draw on all these experiences to design the best learning experiences and products possible.
Coming to Stanford to pursue the Learning and Design Technology Master's degree at the Graduate School of Education was one of the best decisions of my life. Here are some of the things I have learned.
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DESIGN COURSES
Design Thinking Studio
Designer in Society
Visual Expressions
Visual Design
Understanding Users (HCI)
Behavior Design (BJ Fogg)
EDUCATION COURSES
Technology for Learners
Learning Environments
Power Ideas in Learning Science
Qualitative Research
Curriculum Construction
BUSINESS CLASSES
Inside Life and Leadership
Angel and Venture Capital Financing for Entrepreneurs and Investors
Strategies of Effective Product Management
Design Projects
KANDODIS
MOBILE APP THAT TEACHES HIGH STUDENT ATHLETES THE KEY ELEMENTS OF MASTERY THAT ENABLE SUCCESS.
Background: Kandodis is my capstone project of the LDT Master’s Program. It is a mobile application designed to teach high school student athletes who struggle to balance academics and athletics time management and prioritization skills, as well as how to apply concepts of mastery that they learn in their sport to other areas of their lives.
Learning Problem: Many high school athletes are attracted to sports by some of the celebrity athletes that are portrayed in the media. These students mistakenly believe that by training hard everything else will work out. Little do they know that in order to get scholarships to college they need to do well (enough) on the SAT and ACT exams, and so disregarding their academics compromises their dreams. Another consequence is that many of these athletes do not end up having professional careers nor make it to college.
Solution: Research shows that a key differentiator between athletes who are able to successfully balance academics and those who do not is their ability to prioritize and manage their time. Given this reality, and the reality of college athletic life, the solution should help high school athletes develop these skills, which are helpful regardless of whether they continue with athletics. Furthermore, having a solution that builds on their understanding of mastery is helpful in getting athletes bought into the concept of applying mastery to other areas of their lives.
Benefits: Kandodis provides three major functionalities: a serious of 10-minute video lessons that help students learn time management, prioritization, and mastery skills; a tool to help students plan and execute their projects based on research in mastery and utilizing the concepts taught in the lessons; and a platform to share each other’s projects, as well as triumphs and trials on and off the field.
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BEHAVIOR DESIGN - BECOMING PROFICIENT
PROJECT SUBTITLE
Background: This was my final project for EDUC 302 - Behavior Design, taught by BJ Fogg. In this class, we explored first steps that lead to a person developing a desired long-term behavior. In this course, each student was tasked with developing expertise in the first steps that most effectively lead to a long-term behavior. I chose to work on developing competency, as I am very interested in designing for continuous learning.
Learning Problem: How often do you start to learn something or try to acquire a new skill only to stop shortly thereafter? Many people do not have the enduring motivation to learn or to truly master a concept. This can lead to many unfulfilled dreams and frustrated learners. As an educational experience designer, I am often challenged to design effective learning experiences. However, there are first step behaviors that could be designed such that students become more willing to invest in learning for long term.
Results: In researching this topic, I looked at several types of skills that people like to learn. I then dove into what makes people commit to learning piano over the long-term. What I found was that people who have had what I call “deep enchantment” experiences are much more likely to develop an enduring motivation to learn, as versus those who only had “short-term propeller” experiences, which at least get you to start learning, but do not push people to commit to developing that skill for the long-term.
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JUNTOS
BGCP/STANFORD ART COLLABORATION
Background: Juntos was a final project for EDUC 281 (Technology for Learners), in which we learn to use technology to craft educational experiences for learners. We worked in groups or three working with an external client, in our case the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula (BGCP), who had a partnership with Stanford. Stanford students who register for SPANLANG 11SL have a split class. They spend two days per week at Stanford and two days per week at the BGCP, where they take a joint class with middle school kids based on studying mural art of Latin-x artists and create a joint mural to be installed at the middle school at which the class was held.
Learner Problem: Professor Alice Miano, the Stanford professor is very concerned that her students understand that they would be coming in with a warped view of cultural capital and that Latin culture has many values that are different from traditional American culture. Professor Miano was very concerned that student really empathize with the kids and really understand how to recognize examples of community cultural capital.
Solution: Our solution was to create a Google Doc that allowed Professor Miano to assign her Stanford students reflection assignments on videos, as well as their experiences with the BGCP kids. With this, Professor Miano had the flexibility to change assignments, as well as be able to get timely feedback from students. She will also be able to tell how much students have grown in their ability to recognize cultural capital from their media consumption and their interactions with the BGCP kids.
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ECOADVENTURE ACTIVITY BOOK
PATIENT EXPERIENCE AT NEW LUCILE PACKARD CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Background: This was the capstone project of my Design Thinking Studio Class (dschool core course). We were tasked with working in a group of four to design an experience around one of two pieces of art work to be installed at the new wing of the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. We chose to develop an experience for the mural that depicted the wild life in California from the Pacific Ocean up to the snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
Learning Problem: Many patients at the hospital spend long periods of their year at the hospital, where they pretty much explore the environment and become very familiar with their environment. So the question becomes how do we keep these children, particularly from 5-10 year olds, engaged over a long period of time, have them interact with the mural, have an educational experience, and have an experience that they can take with them beyond the confines of the hospital?
Solution: After considering many options, we chose a series of activity books that explore animals that live in the various ecosystems that make up the mural. Each book will contain puzzles, coloring activities, and story telling, as some basic technology that allows for interactivity, such as recording personalized animal sounds and sharing designs on the floor common walls and online. Every two months, the hospital can swap the ecosystems allowing for patients to have a new experience.
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I&E301 - INTRO TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE UAE AND STANFORD'S CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NOW PART OF THE VICE PROVOST FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
Background: From January 2017, I began interning with the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD), which is responsible for Stanford’s external partnerships. The Ministry of Education of the UAE contracted SCPD to help them develop an Innovation and Entrepreneurship course that all their third year university students would take. This course was rolled out in 2016 across 89 universities.
Learner Problem: With the curriculum developed and implemented, the next challenge was assessment. To meet the goals of the Ministry of Education, we had to figure out the changes in students’ mindset with respect to innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as determine the impact of the course on the lives of the students, faculty, institutions, and the society at large.
Solution: Given this mandate, I helped the team research best practices with respect to assessing innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Because many of these were mindset shifts, I worked collaboratively to develop pre- and post-surveys to be taken by the students at the beginning and at the end of the course. The questions in these surveys allowed us to assess shifts in mindsets along certain key indicators of entrepreneurial mindset, innovation, and creativity, as well as how well students understand the broad application of design thinking. I then worked collaboratively with the team to develop an impact report that detailed the impact to date and provide guidance on ways in which impact could be tracked longitudinally.
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NESA
CURRICULUM FOR PROGRAMMING BOOTCAMP IN LAGOS, NIGERIA
Background: This was capstone project for my Curriculum Construction Course (EDUC 208B) taught by Denise Pope. This course looks at the art of developing curriculum, paying attention to the purpose, stakeholders, and the many challenges that are involved in curriculum construction. We had to work in teams to develop a curriculum for an external client. My group worked with the NESA Makers of Lagos, Nigeria.
Learner Problem: In Nigeria, many of the university graduates in computer science are not trained in the programming languages and methodologies used in industry. This prevents them from finding gainful employment in the field post graduation and prevents Nigeria from being able to fulfill its need for computer science expertise with local talent.
Solution: NESA Makers wanted to create a curriculum that combines training in state-of-the art programming, design thinking, and interpersonal skills. We designed the outline a three-month curriculum aimed at helping them achieve their goals, as well as provided 10 detailed lesson plans across the three major buckets of classes. This program was earmarked to begin in May, 2017.
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TEAMUP
APP TO PROVIDE STUDENT ATHLETES A PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATING WITH OTHER STUDENTS BOTH AT SCHOOL AND ON THE ROAD
Background: This app was designed for a course called Understanding Users (CS 377U), which is an HCI course in the Computer Science department crafted to have students form groups of three or four to work through the process of user research, design, build, and field testing.
Learner Problem: Our group of three was interested in helping Stanford student athletes who have a difficult time accessing academic resources because of their rigorous training schedule. While there are existing solutions that help students connect according to academic interests, none of them give you the control over forming groups nor do they help you access friends who may have taken the courses you are currently taking and seeking help on.
Solution: Provide a mobile application that allow students to access help from their friends who are taking classes that they are taking or have taken before. This allows students to request help and streamline their conversations around academic topics. While existing chat solutions can do this, they do not curate the conversation according to topic. Furthermore, because they have a social purpose, they distract student athletes from the task at hand.
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THROWAWAY THURSDAYS
DESIGN OF THE "DESIGN RITUAL"
Background: The final project of Design Thinking Studio (dschool core class) required that we work in teams of three to design a ritual that would help teams appreciate one of the eight design principles upon which the Design Thinking Methodology is founded. Our team chose “crafting intentionally”.
Learning Problem: One of the biggest issues that teams have when trying to create innovative solutions is falling in love with their ideas and not being willing to let go of old ideas in order to move forward and embrace a more impactful solution. Our interpretation of crafting intentionally, is that in order to move forward, we have to often let go and letting go is much more difficult than acquiring new ideas/products.
Solution: We designed a ritual called “Throwaway Thursdays” in which team members would be asked to ceremoniously throw out one item in their possession that is not garbage and that they did not intend to throw away before. From our prototyping activity, we confirmed that people are very reluctant to throw out articles and become highly emotional. They typically delay throwing the item out by telling the story behind the particular item and then explaining their rationale for getting rid of the item. This had two benefits: the discussions that ensued led to teams bonding and the process of selecting demanded a deliberation and an intentionality that was analogous to “crafting intentionally” during the design process.
Random artifacts, physical and digital, from design courses
LDT Internships
FRANKLIN WINSTON, LLC: ANALYST
APRIL 2017 - AUGUST 2017
Determine the efficacy of educational interventions within portfolio projects.
Design user experiences (UX) for healthcare projects that rely on educational components.
STANFORD CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CUSTOMS PROGRAMS
JANUARY 2017 - AUGUST 2017
Developed assessments to measure the development of a creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial mindset among students taking I&E301 (Introduction to Innovation and Entrepreneurship), a course developed by Stanford for the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates aimed at introducing third year university students across the country to entrepreneurship and innovation.
Developed elements of a final proposal on how to assess the longitudinal impact of I&E301 on students, faculty, institutions, and the society at large in the UAE.
STANFORD CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ADAPTIVE LEARNING GROUP
OCTOBER 2016 - DECEMBER 2016
Surveyed the adaptive learning landscape to understand key players and their existing technology with the goal of identifying gaps and potential places for improvement.
Assessed the efficacy of existing SCPD online courses and determine means of improving offerings and better integrating adaptive learning technologies.
Professional CV
PREPAREA: DIRECTOR AT PREPAREA, AN EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING FIRM
JUNE 2011 - AUGUST 2016
Founded a niche-tutorial service specializing in standardized test preparation and high-school math/science.
Assisted over 500 students in acquiring knowledge and strategies needed to excel.
Managed all aspects of company’s operations, guaranteeing product excellence.
Developed curricula that better targeted and addressed student needs.
MCGILL UNIVERSITY: FINANCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS COURSE INSTRUCTOR
AUGUST 2014 - JULY 2016
Prepared and delivered lectures on International Finance, Investment Management, and Applied Corporate Finance.
GOOGLE: MBA INTERN - MEDIA & PLATFORM SOLUTIONS STRATEGY
JUNE 2010 - AUGUST 2010
Created an innovative global service team organizational structure that supported Ad Exchange’s revenue expansion from $200M to $500M by optimizing activities and capturing efficiencies
Built a capacity model that utilized data from process reviews, resource utilization evaluations, and client projections to determine future headcount needed to guarantee service excellence
KAPLAN TEST PREP: INSTRUCTOR
NOVEMBER 2008 - MAY 2011
Trained over 400 students and working professionals through private tutoring and in group sessions in preparation for their SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT exams.
ÉCOLE DE LANGUES LPS: ESL TEACHER
NOVEMBER 2008 - SEPTEMBER 2009
Coached over 150 English language adolescent and adult learners, reinforcing fundamentals of grammar and guiding conversations to help them become more confident communicators and improve their chances of professional success
MEDULLAN TRINIDAD LIMITED: OPERATIONS MANAGER
AUGUST 2006 - SEPTEMBER 2008
Led a four-member team managing operations that defined and implemented efficient processes that streamlined firm-wide facility management, human resource, accounting, and IT functions
Prepared budgets, tracked expenses, and administered bill payments, payroll, and tax reporting, thereby ensuring that office performance met targets and tripled revenues to US$2M in two years
Organized and executed hiring initiatives that reviewed over 500 international candidates; grew office from two to twenty-five employees whilst maintaining high performance company culture
Supervised the design and timely build out of two new office spaces, led the procurement and shipment of material and office furnishings, and negotiated agreements with local contractors
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES: ASSISTANT LECTURER IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
NOVEMBER 2005 - AUGUST 2008
Designed curricula and secured approval for four new courses in Music Technology, Sound and Music Science, Acoustics, and Software Safety that provided research opportunities for students
Delivered lectures in five subject areas, including media, music technology, and software safety, to over 150 undergraduate and graduate students, now practicing engineers and researchers
Advised and mentored 10 final year students working on projects related to acoustics and steel drum technology, one of whom received the Most Innovative Engineering Project Award in 2008
ST. VINCENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LECTURER
SEPTEMBER 2004 TO JUNE 2005
Taught 75 A-level Information Technology high school students and supervised final projects resulting in a record 95% pass rate on Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations
CCA: HEAD OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
JUNE 2004 - AUGUST 2004
Managed a team of 12 electricians that delivered fully functional installations in over 150 villas on 300 acres of land at the Raffles Resort Facility, representing a total investment of over US$200M
Fostered team spirit needed to drive project to an on-time completion in spite of site limitations
Improved efficiency of executing interdepartmental projects by collaborating with other department heads to align teams’ schedules based on project demands, thereby reducing delays
CESARI & MCKENNA, LLP: SPECIALIST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
OCTOBER 2001 - FEBRUARY 2003
Drafted over 10 non-provisional patent applications and 30 rejection appeals leading to approved patents on inventions related to network devices, computer architecture, electronics, and fuel cells
Assessed technology, conducted patent searches, and prepared litigation support material to ensure proper representation of the novelty of clients’ inventions vis-à-vis claims in competing patents
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"The goal isn't to live forever; the goal is to create something that will."
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Contact
Thank you for reviewing Suddo's Design Portfolio. Please get in touch to find out more.
sean <dot> j <dot> p <dot> sutherland <at> gmail <dot> com
650-942-4215