DESIGN


 * DESIGN**


 * Rationale for your design**

Rationale for Game Design Learning is not about gaining information, but an ongoing process of exploration about consciousness, self, context, and interactions of complex systems in order to adapt to the evolving environments (Li, Clark & Winchester, n.d.). Players in [name of game] will be able to enact some of the challenges that are faced by Brian, the hero of the story, they will be able to draw on their own past experiences as well as create new experiences with the idea of survival. They will also be able to explore some of the emotions that might be involved with Brian’s plight, for example, the frustration of not getting rescued or nor being able to find food.

Players will also have better situated awareness of the flight controls of an airplane, where they belong on the airplane and how they move. They will have an enacted experience of actually placing control surfaces on an airplane. After this experience it will be easier for them to remember (know) where they belong in the future as compare to seeing them on a power point slide and the teacher explaining where they belong. The same may be said for the process of identifying the control surfaces when they are found in the game and how they move once they installed on the aircraft.

From Gee’s book “What Video Games have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy”, Chapter 4, situated meaning and learning; 1. The player must probe the virtual world (which involves looking around the current environment, clicking on something, or engaging in a certain action). 2. Based on reflection during and after probing, the player must form a hypothesis about what something (a text, object, artefact,event, or action) might mean in a useful way. 3. The player re-probes the world with that hypothesis in mind, seeing what effect he or she gets. 4. The player treats this effect as feedback from the world and accepts or rethinks his or her original hypothesis. In the game [name of game], players will know that the control surfaces are missing from the airplane and what they are called. As the player finds these odd shapes in the woods, they will have to form hypothesis about what these shapes are for and where they might fit given this specific situation. (The situation being that there are three control surfaces to find and they probably belong on the airplane).

Players will also have to make hypothesis about how to survive or gain health within the game, perform certain actions based on these hypothesis and decide if those hypothesis are correct based on whether their health actually increases or not. For example, players will learn what berries are good for them (raspberries) and what berries will make them sick (gut cherries).

[Name of game] will provide situated meaning for learners. The learner will have a more embodied experience of the character in the novel “Hatchet” and they will be able to better relate to the story and write about it.

Keller’s ARCS model for integrating motivation into lesson planning (2000) provides a framework that can be used to ensure the video game design will provide motivation for learning. The key components of the model attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction and how these components are integrated into the game design are summarized in table 1 below. Variation, necessary to sustain attention. || The beginning of the game will catch the attention of the player as their curiosity is peaked about how they might be able to find the control surfaces for the airplane and keep enough health without starving. The challenge has been raised. Throughout the game they find new challenges to sustain their attention. || Connecting the content of instruction to important goals of the learners, their interests and their learning styles. Use simulations, analogies, case studies and examples. || Content of the game is relevant. It ties into their novel study about a boy who has to survive in the wilderness as well as their work in science about air and aerodynamics. Different learning styles are addressed by the game play and simulation to identify with the main character in the novel. || Objectives are clear and examples are provided of acceptable achievements. Depends on personal effort or ability. || Players understand at the beginning of the game what is expected of them and their small successes in the game, such as finding food and shelter and gaining health and finding the airplane control surfaces help them to gain confidence that they will successfully finish the game. Game may begin easy and slowly get harder as players become more confidence in their skills. || Receive recognition and evidence of success that support intrinsic feelings of satisfaction. Tangible extrinsic awards can produce satisfaction. Grades, privileges. promotions, certificates Opportunities to apply what one has learned. Sense of equity or fairness. || When players “beat” the game and repair the aircraft so they can fly away, they will have positive feelings about what they have accomplished within the game. They will have applied what they have learned about aircraft control surfaces to their plight and used that knowledge to win the game. The players may also have positively identified with the main character in the novel study. || **Table 1**
 * || Keller’s ARCS’s model (2000) || [name of game] ||
 * **Attention** || Mentally stimulating problems that engage deeper level of curiosity. Especially at the beginning of a lesson.
 * **Relevance** || Motivation is lost if content has no real perceived value to the learner.
 * **Confidence** || Establish positive expectancies for success.
 * **Satisfaction** || Positive feeling about one’s accomplishments and learning experiences.


 * Educational objectives for the game**

Re Parts of an airplane. Educational objectives would include knowing what control surfaces are required on an aircraft to fly it and where they are located on an airplane.

Re Novel study- - - Vanita?


 * How it maps to curriculum or standards/benchmarks**

Topic B: Flight Overview Students apply their knowledge of aerodynamics to design, build and test a variety of flying devices. In constructing models, students develop a basic design, then build it, test it, and solve the problems that inevitably arise. Through teamwork they learn that planning, communication, cooperation and flexibility are important to the overall result, even though parts of a task can be worked on individually. In the process, __students__ __learn about the parts of an aircraft, their role in__ __controlled flight and the differences between__ __aircraft and spacecraft.__


 * Design Constraints**


 * Ways to use it for learning**

to get students more engaged, play the game and then write about the plot, etc. narrative elements etc. transfer of learning. Vanita will write about language arts connection.

Lisa will write a science piece