Blog 18: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?
How can we maximize player learning experience in educational video games with minimal expense to the entertainment? 

2.  What is your first answer? 
One of the most crucial methods to ensure an educational game has an enjoyable learning environment is by designing it to have intergenerational gameplay wherein multiple age groups can interact with one another in a positive manner.

3.  What is your second answer?
For the player to gain the most out of their playing experience, a game designer should program their games with an adaptative system so that that the player be able to change  variables and learn by observing the consequences of their manipulations.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

-  Oregon Trail would hardly be compelling if it didn’t matter whether you had more doctors than farmers on board, or began with 50 or 30 pounds of food. Part of what makes the game entertaining is that players get to observe what happens if they tinker with the variables. Not only is this fun (because you get to make decisions), but it also encourages systemic thinking, which is at the heart of productive cognitive work.

- In my most recent interview with my mentor, I had gotten this answer: In terms of the actual gameplay of a game for learning, an educational game is better when there is no obvious right and wrong answer as there might be on something in a quiz. Rather, the game gives a range of variables the player can mess with and, through the consequences and changes that they experience, understand the system through that.

- In Feed the Fox, a game prototype developed by Muzzy Lane and Knewton, students construct food webs in various biomes to learn about species classification, the environmental pressures different biomes present, and how organisms are related in an ecosystem. Each student action in the game gives Knewton a hint about one, or perhaps several, of her conceptual understandings (or misunderstandings).

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/24/making-educational-games-is-tough-especially-if-you-want-to-make-money/

6.  What other source supports your answer?

http://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/08SA.pdf 
http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/pdf/media/video_games_metaphor_dubbels.pdf
https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/ed-tech/educational-game-1/

http://edepositireland.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/39164/Adaptive%20Educational%20Games%20-%20Providing%20Non-invasive%20Personalised%20Learning%20Experiences.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/adaptive-learning/adaptive-learning-and-game-content-bridging-gaps-to-engage-students-2/

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

We learn best not by getting things correct, but by making mistakes. Video games allow free range of possibilities that would be harder to achieve in real life. We can learn more with video games by taking advantage of the idea that video games can act as a "sandbox" and we can learn the consequences without experiencing the consequences of things.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

(Click Image to listen to Interview 3)

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

Without a doubt, discovering that educational games - or, as my mentor puts it, games for learning - aren't limited to curricular subjects has been very important thus far. I honestly feel ridiculous for not having realized this sooner, especially since it seems like an intuitive thing to pick up. To some degree, I DID know this, but I never realized how this knowledge could have helped me for my Independent Component. 

As I was completing the pre-production for my video game in my IC1, I had settled for having the educational aspects in the game be put in the 16 puzzles that are intended to be in the game. However, I couldn't help that, in a very distant but still connectable way, this was basically another setup for a "glorified quiz"; there were basically 16 questions, with 4 for each core subject (Math, English, Sciences, Social Sciences). When I said that I wanted this to be a puzzle-horror game, my true vision for the game was to have the 16 puzzles to be ACTUAL puzzles - critical thinking problems, riddles, unconventional problem-solving that can be artistic or downright gruesome. However, I also wanted to educate something (hence it being an educational game), so I thought I should settle by having each puzzle in each of the 16 classrooms simply be a problem that is related to its respective classroom (for example, in Estrada's class, the "puzzle" will be a problem that must be solved using basic algebra). I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied by this, because it felt almost like a sort of rushed addition to make it into a game. 

But it never occurred to me that not all educational games have to be curricular. They can teach a concept, and or situation. 

That's where this comes into play: in addition, the actual narrative of the game had taken a direction that I didn't initially intend, which was addressing mental illness. The main character, Sunny, will be revealed to suffer from depression, and this in itself is one of the factors that fuels the nightmarish environment our protagonist must endure for most of the game. 

Everything in the game will remain the same in terms of my IC1 and IC2. In fact, surface-wise, nothing has changed. But I have a much more defined and uniform objective now. I'm no longer constrained in making the levels/puzzles mere conventional word-problems, but actual puzzles like I originally wanted.  Moreover, my goal now will be to handle the addressing of mental illness more carefully in the game now; rather than it be a type of plot device, it will actually be essential to the underlying message. Mental illness is often faced with a lot of misunderstanding, but I have friends who battle with it constantly, and I think it would be good if this game's goal was to educate people about misconceptions about depression. 

2.  How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

I have been much more at ease in my interviews, especially compared to my first one. This recent interview was unintentionally the longest out of all the ones I've conducted, but it had been done so out of sheer engagement with my mentor's wisdom. Especially because we have much more freedom with the questions, I feel more open in asking what I need from my mentor. It's also helped by the fact that, whereas in my previous interviews I was doing general researching, this interview had a much more clear goal, which was to research for my EQ.

Blog 16: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
Independent Component 1 was essentially the Phase 1 of my video game project; it was the general blueprint of everything without actually making the game itself (except for the digital prototypes). My proposal for IC 2, on the other hand, will be putting all that planning into motion and actually developing the game. I will be refining and inputting the dialogue into the actual project, produce the art that will come in the game, arrange the public-domain music in the game (I can't compose music or play an instrument), program the events that will occur in the game, and ultimately end up with a fully functioning game that an individual I-Poly student can play. I can definitely tell that this will be a arduous process that will be much longer than my first IC, but it's one I'm genuinely excited about and will have no qualms doing even 60 hours for. I have already produced the digital prototypes, which will give an idea of what the game will be like.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
Similar to how I did IC 1, I'm planning to take photos of my physical work (sketches, prototypes, etc.) and screenshots of my digital work (such as the actual programming of the game). Now that I have the software, I might even record my desktop directly for intervals at a time as I'm working. When I am content with the game, it will be published for anyone at I-Poly to play. That in itself will also be a testament to the hours I spent on it.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
This game, as I have outlined before, is meant to be a horror-puzzle game intended to teach basic educational concepts. I want to make a very simple educational game basically that will be accompanied by a dramatic narrative. Of course, I'm not just going to be programming them immediately. I will playtest the games with people to see if I am achieving the right reactions from the players. The playtesting and iteration are all part of the development process as well. While I will definitely be receiving feedback from peers and external sources, I'm generally going to be acting as a one-person game developer. This experience is going to be more experiential than my previous IC, which was more research-based. This will give me insight on the inner machinations of a game designer, from their 

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Yes. Alright. Affirmative. Roger that. Copy. Ok. 
Here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YuoVImM4-UA4vKrLTj_diY75B4dhf4R3oh6keFVh8nM/edit?usp=sharing 

Independent Component 1

LITERAL

•  I, Jessica Bui, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 35 hours of work.
• The sources that primarily helped me in my independent component were the textbook Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games by Tracy Fullerton, which explained to me the iteration process of game design as well as the Game Design Log from Lost Garden (http://www.lostgarden.com/2011/05/game-design-logs.html), which largely influenced how I documented/compiled my work. The video tutorials on how to work the software RPG Maker VX Ace by the Youtuber Novem also helped me grasp the basics on how I made my digital prototypes (maps). 
• See here for Hours
• In the amount of hours that I have worked on my Independent Component, I have basically gotten down the pre-production on the game I play to fully create in my second IC. I looked at Tracy Fullerton's iteration process in her book to determine what information I would be putting down in my document, such as story, premise, characters, physical prototyping, digital prototyping, and player experience goals. My time working on the project consists of mostly working on the computer. I also made sure to add artwork, as well as a video tour for what I had of the digital prototype thus far.

INTERPRETIVE 

• This Independent Component has truly allowed to me to have a deeper experience in understanding what it's like to be a game designer, even an amateur one. By taking on this project, I had not only assigned myself as the game designer, but also the creative director, writer, artist, and programmer. The majority of my time was spent on the digital prototyping, and the second most of my time was spent on the writing/narrative of the game, which is significant to my vision of the game. I have many drafts that do not even make it to the Game Design Document because they are mostly repetitions with minor tweaking.
• Evidence: Game Design Document and RPG I-Poly Campus Digital Prototype Tour

APPLIED

• Thanks to this IC, I understood that, despite being basically the sole creator of the game at first, collaboration and input from others is extremely important. Game design, as is any form of design, is a largely creative field, and when it comes to making art, there will be times you will have to weigh on whether you should pursue a decision as the independent hand of the project or actively take into the consideration of others. Many of my decisions in the game were heavily influenced by three of my supportive friends in this project, such as character design and certain sensitive subjects that will be in the game. Nevertheless, I have realized that the design of the game has become much better than if I had decided to simply worked on it without bothering to show others.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I am actually quite proud of both my hook and activity, both of which were Twine games that I made myself. Not only did I take an extremely long time in coding them, but from what I can tell, both were very funny and very enjoyable to the audience. Moreover, there was actually quite of number of unforeseen pickles during the beginning of the presentation, but I feel I reacted appropriately by moving past them instead of fretting over it during the presentation (namely, that I couldn't properly put my PowerPoint on full screen). I have tested it over and over again in my own computer, and it worked totally fine, and I don't believe I should be held accountable for the PowerPoint malfunctioning on that point .

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)? P.

     b.  Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I don't think I had any trouble with volume and enunciation, as well as body language and eye contact. I made sure to face the audience at all times. Unfortunately, because of the technical difficulties, which required me to stay on the editing mode of the PowerPoint, I tended to be close to the computer because I would have to constantly click on the correct slide since I couldn't simply go to the next one with tap on the SmartBoard. I 

I did not necessarily have props, nor did I really need any in my presentation. My Senior Project activity was actually a game that I made (http://www.philome.la/flitchera/do-your-activity/play) and I think it was creative and I spent a lot of time on it. The game allowed each player to have alternate routes in the story to play, and I debriefed the idea of teaching a lesson/moral and how that applies to educational games. 

Most of my research is adequate, and I feel like I gave enough support to validate my EQ answer.

I believe my powerpoint was aesthetically pleasing, but it was very very unfortunate that I could not "full screen" it. However, at the very least, I feel like I was able to capture the attention of the class at the beginning, which required a lot of interaction with them.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I am sure that I was able to teach the audience something new about my topic, introducing the relatively new genre in educational video games such as intergenerational game play. In addition, both my hook and activity games produced the humorous reaction I had hoped from the audience, and I'm glad because they honestly took quite a long time to make.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

Ohhh my GOD, I would change absolutely so many things, but honestly, I don't know how I could avoid them even if I did go back in time. I had run into technical difficulties with my PowerPoint at the beginning, which wouldn't go "full screen" and I had to resort to playing my presentation in the editing mode. The only thing I would commend about this moment is that I made sure not to dwell on it much when I realized what was happening. I was afraid of wasting more time, so I just kept going. I would also manage my time better; I spoke for nearly 11-12 minutes, which cut down my time in the activity.

I had briefly forgotten to set up my EQ at the beginning of the presentation but remembered to place it when I reached the slide that announced what it was. Nevertheless it was mortifying and unprofessional.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

During my presentation, I had shown the audience an educational game example that I once played, and I mentioned that it was a wonderful game because when I played it as a child, I didn't even realize it was an educational game. I was immersed in the game, and this gives me the idea for another answer, which is that educational games should be designed to not look like educational games.