Fourth Interview Questions

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

My other mentor, Sean Bouchard, is a possible candidate for my interview. I've yet to interview him, but it would be sensible to choose him since he specializes in educational games. I haven't cemented who I will be interviewing yet.

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. What is a common theme you find in good learning games?
2. What aspects of a learning game do you find the most important in the design process?
3. What common flaws do you find in learning games?
4. How do you try to avoid making a boring educational game?
5. What is the most difficult part in designing educational video games?
6. Why did you decide to specialize in this area?
7. What is your particular design process when making video games?
8. When commissioned/granted to make a learning game of a subject you aren't familiar with, how do you go about it?
9. What are some examples of your favorite effective learning games?
10. Where do you draw most of your inspiration from when making educational video games?
11. Some might think that educational video games are somewhat rigidly-structured. How do you incorporate your creativity into it?
12. What do you say is easy about making educational video games (relatively speaking)?
13. What do beginning game designers tend to do (flaws or strengths)?
14.  How to you ensure your educational game is unique and not a glorified test?
15. My independent component is about teaching and giving awareness about mental illnesses. What is your advice on how I've approached it so far?
16. Straightforward: how do YOU think we should maximize player learning experience with minimal expense to the entertainment?
17.  What sources do you recommend I look into for my Senior Project topic?
18.  If you could turn back time to when you were first starting out, what would you do differently in your work in this field? (Basically, what are your regrets?)
19. What advice do you have for aspiring game designers, whether or not their focus is educational? 
20. What are you most proud of in your own learning games that you have made? Do you have one project you are most proud of?

Blog 19: Third Answer

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

2. Answer #3: 

Having a narrative is an essential factor to the both the entertainment and effectiveness of an educational/learning game.

3. 3 details to support the answer:
- Narratives give the emotional glue that connects the audience to the message. Much of what people remember from a learning experience are the feelings of the underlying message rather than a multitude of small facts (which are better reserved for job aids).
- Stories motivate target audiences toward learning goals. They are also ideal for attitudinal training because when an audience is motivated, they no longer need to be persuaded. An encouraging story will inspire someone to take action. Motivation is one the top of the list of "important factors" in making educational video games successful.
- Storytelling offers a cognitive frame for reflecting experiences and activities being done by the player, thus making things easier to comprehend while adding an entertaining dimension to the game.

4. The research source(s) to support your details and answer:

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcgt/2015/549684/ 

http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning2-0/why-you-need-to-use-storytelling-for-learning/ 

http://www.narratology.net/sites/www.narratology.net/files/ENN%202011%20Sanna-Mari%20%C3%84yr%C3%A4m%C3%B6%20-%20Narrative%20in%20Serious%20or%20Learning%20Game%20Design%20Reseach.pdf 

5. Concluding Sentence:
Stories were the building blocks of childhoods, and are some of the things we remember most; they are tools that we should not take for granted, and educational video games would do well in taking advantage of them.