Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (1: 3 Questions)

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These are public postings of my writings for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University.

Each week, we are also required to post three questions for the rest of the class. These are mine (yes, I did four this week).

Please note: these posts are not intended as any kind of commentary on or assessment of the course I’m taking, or its instructor, OR of Michigan State University or the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, or the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. They are solely my thoughts and reactions that stem from the readings.

Feel free to comment, disagree, or what have you.

Week 1

These are the two readings for this week:

  1. Part 1 of: National Institutes of Health (2005). Theory at a glance: A guide for health promotion practice. Retrieved August 15, 2010 from http://www.cancer.gov/PDF/481f5d53-63df-41bc-bfaf-5aa48ee1da4d/TAAG3.pdf
  2. Briggs, R. O. (2006). On theory-driven design and development of collaboration systems. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64, 573-582.

My Questions

1. What does theory do for us that other things can’t?

In what ways does adherence to theory free one from “paint-by-numbers” approaches to program planning? In other words, what does adhering to a theory allow that following some other prescription does not?

2. Are there choices for program planning or other kinds of interventions that fall outside of the binary choice between theory and “paint-by-numbers”?

I was quite struck by the perspective adopted in the introduction to the NIH manual – the implication was that the choice was between “paint-by-numbers”, implying  presumably, an uninspired approach where solutions are developed according to some pre-defined plan, or on the other hand, the application of “theory”, which is claimed to offer more effective designs. However, how one can have confidence that a given theory will help is not explained. I’m hoping that the remainder of the text will do that, but in the mean time, I’m left wondering.

3. How can we tell a model from a theory?

In science, a theory is an explanation some phenomenon. A model is a representation of a system. It often includes variables, behaviours, and interrelationships. This doesn’t seem to be true in the social sciences so I find it difficult to know when to call something a theory and when to call something a model.

4. Going Digital

It’s notoriously difficult to come up with a precise definition for  “game”, yet most of us can recognize one when we see it. I have found it useful to restrict the definition to a particular context – especially when talking about design and analysis. so the question is: what sets digital games part from other artifacts we might label as games?

I would say that digital games are indeed distinct. not only that – I would also say that we should distinguish between “computer-mediated” games (I.e. those that have versions existing outside the computer, like solitaire, or chess) and “pure” computer games (I.e. those that have no non-digital counterpart (like Tetris, MMOs, the Mario franchise, etc.))

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Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (1: Theory to the Rescue?)

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This is a re-posting of my reflection for the first course of the Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University.

Please note: these posts are not intended as any kind of commentary on or assessment of the course I’m taking, or its instructor, OR of Michigan State University or the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, or the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. They are solely my thoughts and reactions that stem from the readings.

Feel free to comment, disagree, or what have you.

Week 1

A piece of my front yard in late summer

These are the two readings for this week:

  1. Part 1 of: National Institutes of Health (2005). Theory at a glance: A guide for health promotion practice. Retrieved August 15, 2010 from http://www.cancer.gov/PDF/481f5d53-63df-41bc-bfaf-5aa48ee1da4d/TAAG3.pdf
  2. Briggs, R. O. (2006). On theory-driven design and development of collaboration systems. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64, 573-582.

 My Response

I’ve been a scientist most of my adult life. When I hear the word “theory”, I have a  particular meaning associated with it. To me, a theory is an explanation about how something works. A theory that has been proven to be true beyond all reasonable doubt can be considered to be a fact. When a theory about something is proposed, it is assumed that it will be tested in a rigorous fashion, the result of which is either to verify or falsify it. A theory that has no supporting evidence is really little more than an idea – it is not until sufficient supporting evidence has been gathered that the theory begins to be taken seriously. Often, experiments in science are designed to try and disprove a theory – much of what happens in science basically involves trying to break things. I’m quite comfortable with the notion that any theory I propose must be subjected to considered skepticism and careful scrutiny.

I have considerable difficulty getting my head around the notion of a theory the way it is typically understood in the social sciences and humanities. In art and philosophy, a theory is not measurable. Here, a “theory” can be quite loosely developed and poorly tested (see NIH p.4), and yet still gain acceptance and even legitimacy. The NIH manual “Theory at a Glance” admits that theories are abstract, not highly developed, and may not have been rigorously tested, yet it still talks about how important theories are as tools for evaluating and designing health promotion behaviours. It even claims that these loosely developed and poorly designed theories are important for planning effective programs. This is quite at odds with how theories are considered in science.

Much of the first part of the NIH manual reads likes a sales brochure – it glosses over the testing and verification portion of theory development and jumps right into the advantages that theory can provide in planning and development (over what?). It claims that adherence to a theory frees us, implying that the alternative is to follow a paint-by-numbers approach. Is it not possible that there are a other ways to find solutions to problems that do not fall into either category?

Somewhat in contrast, the Briggs paper does talk more about testing and verification. Here we learn that a theory is a causal model, that the phenomenon of interest is the effect and never the cause, and that all models are not created equal. Perhaps part of the message here is that theory is not as simple to use as the NIH introduction implies.

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Theories of Games and Interaction for Design (0)

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School’s in again. I’m not currently teaching so I thought I’d take the opportunity to move to the other side of the classroom again – I’ve enrolled in a Graduate Certificate Program in Serious Game Design and Research at Michigan State University.

What I could be doing instead….

I’m taking the online version which of course requires a considerable amount of reflection-writing and other bits and pieces of communication. Now, I can’t tell you who’s in the class or share anything about them without their express permission of course, but I can post my own stuff publicly. It’s common in Education classes to require students to create blogs and to post a certain number of entries for marks. I’m not required to do that in this course, but I figured, what the hey? Why not?

So, it is my intention to post my weekly reflections here as well as to submit them for marks. Maybe I can even talk some of my classmates into putting comments here, either as copies of the responses they contribute in class, or as side channel conversations.

Anyhow, stay tuned. I’m quite excited about this – I’ve always loved learning new things…..

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More on why teachers need to be able to give zeros…..

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In June, an Edmonton teacher (Lynden Dorval) wa suspended from his job because he refused to stop giving zeroes to students who didn’t hand in work. I posted a reaction to that here.

His hearing is coming up in a little over a week, and he may get fired.  The Edmonton School Board is going to review their policy although I suspect they will do almost anything to avoid admitting they were wrong about something and will decide that the status quo is just fine. Of course, the official institutions like the U of Calgary are quick to support the status quo. Dr. Friesen sounds like she’s trying to run for public office. Lots of words; very little real information.

There’s a FaceBook support group for Mr. Dorval

Here are a few comments that really resonated with me:

I don’t have a scholarly education, I’m an electrician. I’ve worked in construction, in industry & in service. I’m appalled even with those who go into the trades who can’t read and write yet have a high school diploma, not a GED but an actual diploma. I’ve had teacher friends who I’ve told (when i operated my own business) to tell their classes that I won’t hire a person who can’t tead or write and who can’t do simple math in their head. Like the times table, like measuring a room length and dividing it in 2 or 3 to space out lights. I also wouldn’t hire somebody who couldn’t write properly because they couldn’t fill out service reports that were a) legible and b) I couldn’t make sense of in order to send an invoice. Even if the people who’ve worked with me could read, write properly and do simple math in their head; if they consistently didn’t finish projects on time or at all guess what, I would fire their a*s because they cost me money. No sense of entitlement working in the real world, it’s time these coddled kids grew up and these intellectuals who run our education system got fired and got a real world education themselves.
……
(Those) who are vocationally minded (…)  often feel it doesn’t matter if they know how to write properly etc. It does matter and now I sit back and observe (I’m a people watcher and currently work in an ice cream factory) and see people in factory environments who struggle with basic communication skills, like all their writing and notations are a text message on their cell phone. Nothing to me is more irritating than someone who can’t be bothered to write proper words in a report. Short forms and abbreviations are of course acceptable but stuff like ” ur” isn’t.

 

Communication skills are key – no matter what you end up doing in your life.

Self-esteem is built by real achievement – NOT by patting kids on the head and saying “It’s OK, we’ll let you continue because we know you could have done it if you’d only… well… you know…. ACTUALLY DONE THE WORK.”

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Where I’ve Been Online (Weekly: Aug. 25- Sept. 1)

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~ A record of places on the web I want to remember ~

01 Sep 12

Honey-Bee Death Conclusively Linked With Pesticide Use
About: The ongoing debate about the cause of colony collapse disorder has finally ended. Mongabay recently reported that “Harvard researchers have re-created the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in several honeybee hives simply by giving them small doses of a popular pesticide, imidacloprid.”Bayer pesticide linked with bee deathImidacloprid is manufactured by Bayer and the company even released a statement to say that the chemical has no effect on colony collapse. However, the Harvard research conclusively shows that the opposite is true.
Comments:
More from:more from www.triplepundit.com
Tags:pesticide animals bees colony-collapse

 

30 Aug 12

American Indian spiritual beliefs influential in spurring youth to avoid drugs and alcohol
About:New research indicates that urban American Indian youth who follow American Indian traditional spiritual beliefs are less likely to use drugs and alcohol. Arizona State University social scientists will present their findings at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Comments:
More from: medicalxpress.com
Tags:american indian spiritual beliefs youth

40 Sites for Educational Games – Academic Learning Coach
About:Tech and Learning has just posted a wonderful article concerning Internet Gaming. With school starting up, make sure you have your resources available to help that special student of yours make the grade. Read on, and check out the hotest sites available for online learners.
Comments:
More from:www.academiclearningcoach.com
Tags:learning educational games list

29 Aug 12

Create an interactive bubble chart with HTML5 canvas | Tutorial | .net magazine
About:

Josh Marinacci, software engineer, researcher, part-time designer, and general miscreant, explains how to use HTML5 canvas to build an interactive chart that works on desktop mobile and then populate it with real data

Infographics are a way to make data understandable and entertaining. Some achieve their goal through creative graphic design, such as print infographics. Others achieve it through animation and interactivity. The best example I’ve recently seen is a series of talks by imaginative speaker and professor Hans Rosling. I highly recommend you watch his 20 minute whirl of a TED talk where he debunks common myths about the developing world.
Comments:
More from:www.netmagazine.com
Tags:Tags:canvas tutorial bubble chart visualization

28 Aug 12

Learn WordPress.com
About:
Comments:Looks like a great place to get started with WordPress.
More from:learn.wordpress.com
Tags:Tags: wordpress tutorial guide howto

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My First Coursera Course: First Impressions

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I have registered for my first Coursera course: the one on Gamification.

I’m keen to see what it’s like. Besides, I think all teachers should become students* from time to time.

First Impressions

The syllabus page is clean but fairly mundane. It includes a list of the video-lectures we should watch (again, fairly mundane), some additional readings, and a unit quiz. Being the keener I am, I immediately went to the quiz without even reading or watching anything. When I click on the quizzes, assignments, and exams – I only get access to the current one.

The videos, so far are also pretty mundane – a talking head embedded into a slideshow that includes some additional video. I’m actually writing this while I am listening to (and occasionally looking at) the videos. Not bad, just not special, and certainly not new.

I tend to be kind of impatient when it comes to learning – I prefer to move at my own pace; I am easily frustrated when things move too slowly in a course (which is most of the time). When I discover I have missed something – I want to be able to go back and target just that part that I need. In return, I expect that the assessment/testing will actually be a good representative sampling of what I need to know.

The first week quiz consisted of 5 (yup, FIVE) questions. That is not a representative sampling.

Oh – and the class is NOT gamified. Hmmmmmmm.
“you can’t teach what you don’t practice” ~Bjarne Stroustrup

learner vs student

* I keep waffling on the terms ‘learner’ vs ‘student’. Right now I am thinking ‘learner’ is too vague. I’m ALWAYS a learner, aren’t I? I know that lots of educationists dislike the term ‘student’ – though I’m not completely sure why – something about inclusiveness and respect, I think. I don’t think the choice of label is going to make a bully professor who specializes in pseudoteaching become a better teacher, but that could be just me.

My predictions:

The course: nothing remarkable; nothing new; very little, if anything I couldn’t have learned by watching a well-produced one hour documentary.

People’s reactions to the course: people will rave about how amazing and progressive and ’21-century’ it is. This is the “Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome” – something that seems to be becoming more and more common as people understand less and less of the new technology.

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Tips & Techniques: Assessment with Stoplight Feedback

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Here’s an idea that a student in a class I taught this summer shared with me. I LOVE it and wanted to share it here.

First, THANKS to Roberta Slobodian for letting me share this.

Here’s her idea:

When you assess something (it could be anything) mark it with a RED, YELLOW, or GREEN dot or star. Each colour means something. I bet you can guess what each one means without even being told:

GREEN: Full steam ahead. It means you’re on the right track, keep it up.

YELLOW: Caution. Needs improvement. There are some issues you need to work on.

RED: STOP. There’s a problem. Come see me.

 

Here’s what Roberta discovered:

The part that I didn’t expect was how they treated it a bit like a game, sharing with their classmates the colour they received, but more importantly, it worked! Students with yellow and red were actually coming to see me for extra help, rather than stuffing it into their binder and ignoring it.

 

SO simple. I think the use of quick, simple feedback is highly under rated. I understand the value of detailed, considered feedback, but when you have more than a dozen or so students to deal with it quickly becomes very onerous.
There’s a real talent to finding fast feedback mechanisms that support people as they more toward their ‘learning goals’ without being trite or too silly. Gamification is a great idea, but not if it is simply superficial. This one is neither.

 

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Using Standards Based Grading to Drive Instruction

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I came across this this morning and it has a lot of good ideas:

Keep It Simple Standards-Based Grading | Action-Reaction.

In particular, I like:

  • Keeping the number of standards per unit small (like 5ish)
  • Grading standards yes/no – though personally, I think I would still have some that are assessed good/fair/poor/NO because it gives more feedback. On the other hand, something like Roberta Slobodian’s stoplight idea is simpler still, and gets the message across very effectively.
  • Once a standard has been achieved, it isn’t undone. This is similar to the idea behind how games assess: points can only go up. Your best score on any level is not replaced by an later attempt – unless of course, you do better.

I disagree with refusing to allow student initiated reassessment. I must always allow for the possibility that I may have missed something.

Also, I would leave all the assessments in electronic form and save the paper.

Now to the reason this post has the heading it does:

So I just put the most missed standards on subsequent quizzes.

A good idea. Even better: take some time in class to “re-teach” those parts where too many students missed things. How many is too many, you ask? Well, that totally depends on what it is. Face it: not all things are of equal importance. Some things are crucial and MUST be understood before going on. In those cases even a small number of students who missed it demands some attention. Other things are less important or ‘smaller’ and could perhaps be addressed by simply telling everyone what they need to know directly.

I wonder how many teachers (HE included) actually take the time to do this? How many actually build space in their schedule for this?

How should we “re-teach” something? There are a myriad of ways, some of which I will talk about in a future post. So stay tuned folks…..

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