When Shaun isn't working on design and technology projects, he's teaching students to code at universities in New York.
In spring, 2017, he was teaching Introduction to Python at NYU, and to motivate students to absorb complex concepts, as well as to make it more fun, he created a coding scavenger hunt to be completed during class, jokingly called The Glorious Neopixel Strip of Axani. As students solved more ciphers and puzzles, they received bonus marks.
The experiment began with basic string manipulation problems to be completed in teams. Once students uncovered hidden messages, however, they had to roam around the campus to get other hints, and find QR codes to unlock coordinates to graph out secret answers.
Students were highly motivated to absorb information as there was a reward, and it was a fun learning experience for them applying the concepts they were learning in class and having that extend out to the real world. The experiment presents an interesting way to supplement learning in a field that is sometimes lacking creativity.
Note: As this was purely for educational purposes for one class, images were found online, but puzzles were created by Shaun.
