Feedback Play-testing #2 10/18

During playtesting Concerns- October 18, 2016

- Clarify instructions more
- Make labels on different sheets of paper more prominent and obvious
- Clarify where to write notes and write the prompt
- Rethink the scaling of the score
Feedback (Mark Sherriff, Round 1):
- Too many moving pieces, too much paper
- Problem:
- Theres no lined area for the notes
- Its not clear what the titles of the prompts mean
- Give VERY deliberate directions (ex: label pieces of paper with numbers
so people do them in the right order, make sure that they know to take
notes in the notes section and not in the paragraph writing section - the
teacher shouldnt have to say this (although they can) - it should be
evident from the papers)
- Clarify Notes and Prompt, Big Titles, Transition should be very deliberate
- Dont put on music
- Instead, be dramatic with aesthetics
- Make undercover sheet say undercover work in very big, visible letters at the
top of the page (group 1 had trouble finding it, group 2 was okay)
- The mission statement is confusing, the statement is misleading (he thought we
tried to theme too much here - why would he talk about himself when it says hes
a member of an international crime organization, which hes not?)
- Choose better topics to talk about, shoving too much theming
- He likes the restrictions - can we add in others? Ex: All of your questions must
start with _____.
- Fix the body movement
- Make time a lot longer
- The idea and concept are solid though!
Feedback (Mariah, Round 1)
- Level 1 is too easy/boring, make it a bit harder
- Reevaluate the targeted audience (possibly middle schoolers, be more equip to
play the game)
- Restrict what kind of questions they can ask too, to make the game a bit more
interesting and challenging
- Too much paper = confusing

Feedback (Round 2, mostly from the one lady):

- Problem:
- Overwhelming amount of info in the folder
- Confusion when opening the folders - what should they look at/what
should they read?

What would you do for kids with learning disabilities & autistic kids who dont
have empathy?
- If a teacher has an inclusive classroom, you want them to be able to play
the game with the whole class
- Big words in the introduction (and throughout) - make vocab age appropriate
- Suggestion: we could try to connect the game with state testing
- Figure out when VA does state tests
- Ex: use similar directions, state what skills this is giving you & how they
relate to the tests
- Put all the objectives and state framework
- Anything they dont need to look up
- Level of difficulty
- This will make it extremely marketable to teachers
- Still a slight confusion on the restrictions
- Confusion about whether youre supposed to be yourself or someone else
(same problem as Mark Sherriff pointed out on the mission card)
- Clarify that you when you answer its from your own perspective
- Take out the whole class judging -- takes too much time
- Anonymous shouldnt be a problem
- Pair judging/ scoring or table rotation -- to cut down time
- Clarify your moving body parts-- not including
- Write it in first person when writing from your targets perspective (add this to the
teacher script)
- If target is nice, they said the restricted word for them -- defeats the purpose of
the challenge
- I think the problem here was moreso that some people could guess the
prompt, and answered based on that (And they guessed right)
- The guest judge said that thought this would be fine for fifth
graders
- Observation note: people kept asking to see each others mission cards after the
round - I think this is totally fine, although we might want to make clearer that
they dont need to see them, but they can see them if they want
Concept is good!
NO MUSIC -- or different music due to copyright problems
Condense the rules and regulation-- give the teacher a copy and a script, but dont need to give
the kids rules
Make titles big and obvious and evident

Another observation: What can we do about bad handwriting problems? I was the teacher and
had a lot of trouble reading Mark Sherriffs handwriting

Debrief
Game designed to be a sustained, weekly activity within the context of an elementary school classroom
Most likely conducted in 30-40 minute sessions (time constraints adjusted for younger players)
Steeper learning curve initially, but after initial introduction to the game, should be smoother and more
readily picked up by the players
Requires teacher scaffolding/facilitation (important in empathy pedagogy)
Issues to look for (during observation of gameplay)
What was most confusing to the players and why did this seem to be?
When were players most engaged/least engaged?
Items for Discussion:
General takeaways
How can we clarify the instructions?
How did you feel about the music/other dramatic elements?
Was the game difficult, easy, or somewhere in between?
Were the behavioral restrictions somewhat challenging?
What would have made the game more pleasantly frustrating? (ie what would have made you
work harder, but also be more invested in your performance?)
Thoughts for rubric on scoring (beyond the vague how much does it sound like the first writing?)

Playytesting: Structure for Feedback + CAF Model (10/18)

Jobs for Playtesting:
These are all flexible, feel free to move things around/add/delete stuff
Shelby - not here. Have fun in DC!
Celina and either Grace or Rachel (sorry, I dont remember who playtested last time) - playing other peoples
games
Lee - observe the game and make notes (to later be shared with the whole team) on everything you see in the
game (issues, concerns, confusion, suggestions, etc.)
If we get contrasting feedback, maybe specify who said it (ex: we might value Jennies feedback over a
classmates, but we want to make sure that we have records of both)
Specific focus: game mechanics, player engagement
Mary Ellen - Act as the teacher (read the script)
In debrief: ask if the players had fun, which parts could be improved, etc. Also ask about whether theyd
be willing to invest more time up front, so long as the teacher is explaining the game.
Grace or Rachel - Act as a game facilitator (play music - on dramatic elements doc - when needed. That is,
during the introduction and during the gathering information section of the game). Also observe the players and
make notes (so we have 2 sets of eyes).
Specific focus: dramatic elements and how they can be improved

Content Model
Learning objectives:
Primary
1. Players will develop empathy
and social skills such that they
may see the world from another
persons perspective and be able
to articulate that perspective in an
accurate way.
Secondary
2. Players will build writing skills in
that they will improve their ability
to connect ideas in an integrated,
sequential fashion to convey
concrete information gathered
verbally.
Implicit Outcomes (not specifically
tracked, though expected as a
result of gameplay)
3. As a function of greater
empathy development, social
cohesion is expected to be
enhanced in the classroom
community. Feelings of belonging
are expected to increase as well.
4. Players will develop creative
problem solving skills to obtain
needed information with
behavioral restrictions.

Task Model

Evidence Model

1. Empathy Skills
Tasks specifically targeting the
cultivation of empathic skills and
interpersonal understanding
include:
Gathering Evidence
stage in which players
seek to gather information
from their partners with
the explicit goal of
internalizing and fully
comprehending such data
Going Undercover stage
in which players must
literally take on the
perspective of their
partners and attempt not
only to see the world from
their perspective but also
to express this viewpoint in
an accurate fashion.
Produced data for interpretation in
the Evidence Model include the
written responses to the Going
Undercover prompts as well as:
______________ (notes during
Gathering Evidence? Other data
points which could be interpreted
as indicative of progress on
learning goals?)

Interpretation of collected data:

2. Writing Skills
Tasks specifically targeting
improvement of writing ability
include:
Going Undercover writing
prompt
Updating My Profile
writing prompt
Produced data include the two
written responses (Going
Undercover and My Profile)

1. Empathy Skills
The players are judged by the rest
of the class/other players on their
empathic performance in the
Going Undercover stage of the
game. The judgment will be in
voting style and will be based on a
to-be-created rating system rubric.
As it currently stands with this
prototype, we only have the
somewhat vague How much does
the detectives writing sound like
the targets writing? We plan to
develop a more detailed rubric to
guide the voting process of the
rest of the players.
2. Writing Skills
We do not currently have an
evidence model in place to guide
our measurement of writing skills
displayed in the Going
Undercover and Updating My
Profile phases of the game.
Connection to Content Model:
Based upon the judgment of the
class/body of players as a whole,
each player will receive points
toward a promotion within the
detective agency. If an individual
does not reach the 10 point
threshold for the next rank/level,
he/she must repeat the going
undercover process at their
previous rank in the agency in
order to further practice and
master the data collection and
expression process. Once
mastery is achieved at a certain
level, ranking is increased and
behavioral restrictions are levied
or expanded.

Emergent Themes from Play-testing (10/20)

1. Simplicity/intuitiveness of physical materials and instructions
2. Dramatic elements: in the aesthetic (detective kits + wearables) vs in game mechanics
(mission cards)
I kind of like these ideas for the detective sheets:
http://foodplay.com/downloads/pdf/Detective-Log-Page.pdf
https://www.google.com/search?q=detective+sheets&espv=2&biw=1037&bih=746&source=lnm
s&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh49Pip_LPAhVCNT4KHVe4CWkQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1#q=dete
ctive%20sheets&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACScIuJ7puu5VIjiL-c8_1JiXkpYhP4a5j0ZASL0WX3fm
HmbPz4AioEVG5aZKYkov50-3ncqU6D7Tw42YBPupgTFRYjyoSCYv5zz8mJeSlERnwbdgY5y_
1NKhIJiE_1hrmPRkBIRSHOohq4qN_1AqEgkvRZfd-YeZsxEyRx49n37a_1SoSCfPgCKgRUblpE
be0IRLijXKVKhIJkpiSi_1nT7ecR7ua5Mfuku_1oqEglypToPtPDjZhFC4dYqDnJs5CoSCQE-6mB
MVFiPEZBtYQyNbga1&imgrc=AumzBOzY13iLTM%3
Something like this for the mission cards?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/superteacher/3-5/pdfs/math1-numberdete
ctive.pdf
Maybe we can have a certificate for the end of the game for everyone along with the
prize for the winners?
https://www.google.com/search?q=detective+sheets&espv=2&biw=1037&bih=746&sour
ce=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh49Pip_LPAhVCNT4KHVe4CWkQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1
#q=detective%20sheets&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACScIuJ7puu5VIjiL-c8_1JiXkpYhP4a5j0ZASL0
WX3fmHmbPz4AioEVG5aZKYkov50-3ncqU6D7Tw42YBPupgTFRYjyoSCYv5zz8mJeSlERnwb
dgY5y_1NKhIJiE_1hrmPRkBIRSHOohq4qN_1AqEgkvRZfd-YeZsxEyRx49n37a_1SoSCfPgCKg
RUblpEbe0IRLijXKVKhIJkpiSi_1nT7ecR7ua5Mfuku_1oqEglypToPtPDjZhFC4dYqDnJs5CoSCQ
E-6mBMVFiPEZBtYQyNbga1&imgrc=tmYrX7llt3KSLM%3A

3. Appropriate for an inclusive classroom: how will students with disabilities participate (e.g.
non-verbal, on spectrum and thus missing empathic skills)
4. Scoring: framework and details
5. Expand restrictions to be more fun and challenging