Blog 14:Third Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview my mentor Tony Nyguen, who has been a CSI for 17 years.
2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 
January 19, 2016. 2:00p.m.
3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
Is there any resounces you would recommend on what is the most compelling evidence to prove a case in court?
4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
What can I have the students do during my mock crime scene? 
5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 
What question is frequently asked through a variety of cases?
How can you convince a hung jury?

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am mentoring with the forensic unit at the Pomona police station.


2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?
My mentor is Tony Nyguen, he is a 17 year long CSI.


3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
I currently have 60 hours from mentorship (this includes my summer hours).

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.
So far I have managed to learn how to analyse fingerprints as well as locate and preserve them. I have also learned how to search and process evidence and a crime scene. Me and my mentor get along quite well. I plan to finish my hours at the same station learning about bloood spatter and DNA anaylysis. 



*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May.   The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50.  By the end of the year, you will have 60 hours counting that original 10.

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
Over the break I had went to my mentorship with Samantha Villanueva, where we performed our mock crime scene. Here we displayed our skills we gathered over our time at mentorship. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

I learned from my mentor, who had taught me how to analyse and sketch a crime scene.
3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

I plan to talk to my mentor Tony Nyguen. The reason being he is very knowledgible in forensics and if he is aware of my essential question he will be able to help me develop a lesson plan.

Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?
I am most proud of my ability to maintain eye contact and professionalism throughout the presentation. I also was able to keep my voice loud and clear.
2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.
I believe I deserve a P. I met all the contract requirements on the contract. I would make it a low P however, as my conclusion was not well done.
3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?
I would find a way to make the fingerprints from my hook show up on the doc cam. I would like to also expand on my lecture topic and have a stronger conclusion. I would say to improve Lesson 2 would just to have better planning.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

I am mentoring at the police station and evidence lab where my mentor works. I will be going to some crime scenes later on with my mentor. I do a combination of shadowing my mentor as well as packing evidence and learning CSI skills. Currently I am learning how to brush, collect, and analyze fingerprints from a variety of surfaces. There is another CSI Sheri Orellana, who is also there during my mentorship.
2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you? 

 I found my mentor through calling West Covina Police Department. I was then transferred to Detective Ted Stephen, who was able to get me an interview with CSI Sheri Orellana. Sheri Orellana offered me a mentorship after the interview, but I was not able to meet with the days provided. Sheri later called me and told me her partner CSI Tony Nyguen would be able to mentor me.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

I would rate the comfort level with my mentor a 6 out of 10, I would consider this relatively good because I have only known my mentor for approximately 2 weeks now.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

I appreciate that my mentor was very straight to the point, it went well because he was able to give me in depth answers without rambling. I feel I need to improve my communication skills, well the times with my mentor are great we run into our awkward silences occasionally. I believe I can improve this by expanding my knowledge in blood spatter and chemisty of forensics so I can ask more questions.

Click HERE to listen to the interview!

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).
I have a mentor at Pomona P.D's Forensic Department. My mentor's name is Tony Nyguen. I have completed the interview.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.
Blood Spatter has always interested me and I am looking to focus on that more. I am also looking at CSI, such as focusing on the methods of gathering evidence. 
   
3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?
I would say going to my mentorship will help me obtain more depth in forensics as I was previously self educating myself. I will be at the forensics department of Pomona police station.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.
What are the best sources of evidence that can be used to identify a suspect?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I plan to watch the entire first season of The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science. Each episode is approximately an hour long; there are 40 episodes. This will equal to 40 hours of watch time.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

 I will write an analysis on each episode and a reflection on what I have learned.

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

I will be able to learn about how forensic science is used to solve cases. This will also give insight to how I will complete my second independent component nt semester.

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.