assignments

Complete assigned readings and activities before the class in which they will be discussed.  The class will be largely student-driven through your commentary on issues brought forth by the readings and in-class activities.  This includes leading the class in discussion and activities related to that week’s readings.  The creation of notes/handouts is encouraged, and Powerpoint slides are welcome if it helps lead the class in discussion.  Each student will be leading the class in a discussion related to that week’s readings every 3 weeks.  Remember to (at least) skim the readings from the other track before that week’s discussion.  A full reading is recommended.

Bring to class and send (electronically, before schedule class time) to the instructor notes on the day’s covered reading(s).  You will be responsible for each reading in your track for that assigned day, in addition to readings assigned to both tracks.  Use the template provided by the instructor, “summary-template.doc”.

Participation in and leading class discussion, and article summaries are 45% of the final grade.

Demonstrate/review an instructional game for the class.  Follow the presentation outline in Attachment A.   10% of the final grade.

Design an instructional game based on a lesson aligned with state and national standards as presented by the instructor.  Produce the game in a team-based setting.  You will be reviewing content-related materials and exploring new ways for students to explore the designed lesson by designing a work of interactive fiction.  You will turn in your finished product along with a design brief of the project, and demonstrating your project to the class.  Design brief information is available in Attachment B. You will demonstrate the design to the class during the scheduled final exam.  Be sure to articulate your design strategy using established theory/steps/criteria. The group project/game is worth 45% of the final grade.

1. Participation and summaries 45%
2. Game presentation 10%
3. Game design and creation 45%

Special Note:

You will have an opportunity to reflect on your group members’ contributions and your own contirbution to the group project game.  I will take this information into consideration when evaluating the design document and product. 

Attachment A: Outline for Demonstrating Instructional Game to the Class 

Before preparing a demonstration, approve your topic with Dr. Shelton.  Scheduling will be accomplished in class. Presentations need to be professional and well-prepared.  Presentations should last approximately 10 minutes.  Present as if you were making a presentation to a professional meeting.

1. Summarize and present your main points using Powerpoint or similar program, and provide handouts to the class. Include at least the name of the instructional game, its publisher, and its price.
2. Select a game (public or private) that emphasizes either its effectiveness in teaching its objective, or its lack of effectiveness. Make sure to explain why you think it either accomplishes its goal(s) or it doesn’t.
3. Evaluate how the game’s designer(s) approached the game.  What kinds of constraints did they recognize?  What major design decisions may have impacted the final product?  What might have they done differently?
4. Describe how you think the instructional game would be used in a variety of educational settings.  If you can, find out where it is actually being used, by what type of users, and for what purposes.

Make suggestions you think would improve the game as an instructional tool.  Lead the class in a discussion of their reactions to the game.

Attachment B: Outline for Design Briefs

Before preparing a design brief, be sure it has been approved with Dr. Shelton.  Briefs need to be professional, well-prepared, and conform to standard APA practices (unless otherwise approved) for the IT field.  This information has been adopted from Prof. Mitchel Resnick http://llk.media.mit.edu/courses/mas714/ .

 You will be working in groups. Whenever possible, you should test your tool/activities with sample users.

 Here is an outline of the key elements of a design brief (http://llk.media.mit.edu/courses/readings/design-brief-guidelines.pdf).

 Below are three examples of design briefs. Although these design briefs were written in different contexts, with somewhat different goals, they provide you with a sense of how and what to include in a design brief.

 Datagotchi Deep Dive: Report from a design charrette focused on the use of handheld computers for mathematical learning. (http://www.cilt.org/resources/DataGotchi.pdf)

 Development of the I-Mail Prototype: Design of an email prototype for people with mental and/or physical disabilities (by Leo Burd and others) (http://www.cs.colorado.edu/%7Esumner/idreams2000/Final_Reports/Imail.pdf)

 Interactive Art Construction Tool: Design brief written (by Michael Smith-Welch) for Media Lab class in spring 2003 (http://llk.media.mit.edu/courses/readings/msw-final-paper.pdf)