Research and Development of an Android App

Student Researcher: Lila Alvarado, Lawrence Free State High School, Lawrence KS

Research Teacher Mentor: James Deane, Ottawa High School, Ottawa KS

Research Mentors: Prof. Dave Besson, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS

Purpose: The purpose of the Android app is to display meteor detection data in an easy-to-use format for use in an educational environment, such as a high school physics classroom.

Methods: To develop the app, we had to learn the variation of the programming language Java specific to Android Studio.

Results: Unfortunately, the assignment proved too complex for the time allotted, and the app is left unfinished, although we did make significant progress. Under Hannah’s instruction, I worked through several Android Studio tutorials, covering the basics of creating an app, the details of working with specific activities within the app, and creating graphics within activities. After completing those, I mainly served as a second pair of eyes for Hannah’s code, and helped research solutions to any problems she encountered.

Meaning to Larger Project: It is anticipated that completion of this app will create a resource to help teachers and university researchers bring research data and methods into pre-college classrooms.

Future Research: Picking up from where the app is now, someone experienced in Java and Android Studio could continue work on the unfinished code until the app properly displays the data, and put it to use in a high school classroom for educational purposes.

Acknowledgements:

We appreciate the assistance and guidance of the following students during this project.

• Hannah Gibson, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS

• Steven Prochyra, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS