The game I will be developing is called WordPlay which is a tabletop game. This game will use the cognitive processes such as memory in order to win. This game will be used as a tool to help ESL students learn new vocabulary words. All players must roll the dice in order to determine the order in which the players will go, the highest number rolled will go first, second highest second etc. Once the order is determined the first player rolls again to determine the number of space they will move along the board. On the board there are various colors such as blue and green. Each color represent a specific element of a word the player must provide. For example if the player lands on blue they must define the word, green means they must provide the synonym. In order to successfully complete the task they must give the correct answer however if they fail to provide the correct answer they must move the number of spaces before they rolled the dice. In addition to the colors on the board there are wild cards. The wild card indicates to the player that they have 2 minutes to successfully provide all 4 tasks for a word from the previous lesson. The task including definitions and using them in a sentence. In order to win this game the player must successfully complete 1 full round on the board. After playing this game the test results from exams will be observed to determine if this game was successful in helping the ESL students remember vocabulary words.
Category Archives: FA16-Project 6
FA 16 Project 6 Week 6
The experiment that I will be conducting will observe the cognitive process of memory. My subjects will be 6th graders between the age of 10 and 12 who are in an ESL class taught by a specific teacher thus it will only be available to those students. The ethnicity of the students will be a mixture of Spanish, Middle Eastern, and African American just to name a few. I will create a table top game in which it will test the students memory of vocabulary words. The students will have a few minutes to study the list of vocabulary words including the definitions. They will then have 2 minutes to match the words with the appropriate definition and vice versa. If they receive a special card then the subjects will have to give the spelling of the word in order to get points. However, if they fail the spell the word correctly then they will lose a turn. After the game is over the team with the most points wins the game and although they are not getting paid they will receive extra points in the class. The effects of this game will be tested against the score the students receive on an exam in order to determine if there was any improvements in memory thus confirming the thesis.
FA Project 16 week 5
Playing games isn’t something one would think of as a way of teaching a subject to students. however, new studies have shown that playing games has good benefits to students in the long run.One suggests that computerized games benefit to individuals. Students in 1st grade, who didn’t attend school on a regular basis, played computerized games for less than 6 hours a day over a 10 week range. After the 10 week range the students felt encouraged to attend school and catch up with the work of their peers in math and language. Similarly, another study was done that showed an increase in math and reading scores for 2nd graders. A computerized brain training program was developed by Yale University. These second graders played brain training games three times a week for a four-month period. As a result there was a significant increase in the test score compared to those who had one-on-one training. much like these studies that were done I would like to conduct a research on 6th grade children in an ESl class to observe how well they remember the lesson when it is approached in a different way such as a board game. I would like to investigate if there is any difference in how quick they learn the material and if there is an overall improvement in their abilities opposed to learning in the traditional way.
FA 16 -Project 6 Week 4
Thesis: Playing video games help to improve your memory.
The cognitive process that will be studied is memory. The research will look at how well people can remember things after playing a video game.
This study is relevant because we use our memory every day. From the moment we wake up we remember a dream, or something we are supposed to do. While traveling to work or school we use our memory to help us remember how to get there or to help find our keys if we are driving. Throughout the day we may see something that reminds us of something else’s or someone and we try to retrieve those thoughts. In addition, this study may be relevant to patients who suffer from mild or severe memory loss as it can help improve their memory over time.
A recent study was done where it tested the memory of subjects who played videos games. One group played 3D games and the other played 2D games. The subjects played these games for 30 minutes each day for two weeks. Both before and after playing the game the researchers tested the memory of all subjects through a series of test. The results concluded that there was more of an increase in memory among the subjects that played 3d games. If I replicated this experiment I would allow the players to play the game for a longer period of time such as 1 hour each day to see if there is drastic increase in memory.
This project interests me because as I get older I have noticed a decrease in my own ability to remember things. People can tell me something and later ask me to recall the information and I sometimes have trouble with this. Many of times after much debate on whether I was told or not I ask them to describe to me detailed information such as date and time, what we were doing when they told me and what my response was. Usually after this sort of detail is when I suddenly recall the information. This concerns me because I wonder if I am slowly losing my memory of things or if it’s simply because I wasn’t paying attention in the first place. Also, I have a family member who has dementia so it makes me wonder if I am at risk myself. Additionally, I read an article some time ago that said playing certain games and engaging in specific activities can help strengthen your brain which in turn will improve your memory. The answer to this question is one that I would like discover first hand. This sort of discovery can help researchers and patients who have mild to severe memory loss greater than imagined.
FA 16 -Project 6 Week 2
Hi Everyone,
For this week’s game I chose the game called The Sweatshop by LittleLoud. This game provides players with an understanding of how the sweatshop works. In order for this game to function you need workers of all groups including children and woman. The game starts off very simple and easy. You have to set up your avatars around the conveyorbelt. Each avatar has a certain skill they specialize in such as shoe maker or hat maker. As items move down the conveyor belt the avatar has to process the goods and package them up. You earn points for every item you complete however if you fail to complete the packaging on an item it counts against you. If you fail more than a certain amount then you must start that round over again. As the game progress you get more avatars with special skills including children. All of them work at a different speed so the player must strategically decide where they want to place the characters in order to be most effective. In addition to new avatars the game also provides things to make the workers happy and productive such as water, radios, and fans. if the workers get tired they stop working which results in increased amount of fails.The difficulties in this game is to manage the work environment for the workers as they get tired quickly and to ensure the work gets done. The more completed items you hve the more money you get. the money allows you to buy more workers and items to make them happy so strategy is important in this game.This game has only one possible way to get the final destination so for this reason the narrative is linear. Overall, this game is fun to play and keeps the player engaged because the desire to win keeps growing with each round.
FA16-Project 6 week 3
For this week’s game I decided to play the game called Save the Park created by Schell Games. This game can be found at Games for Change at http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/save-the-park/.The purpose of this game is to teach players about pollution that happens in various national parks across the country. This game is designed to approach this very serious issue in a fun informative way. The players can choose between four different avatars that each possess different skills and duties. They are also given the option to choose between four different backgrounds or playing field such as forest and deserts. Although this game is a single player game it requires skills that would typically be found in a two player game. The player needs to control two avatars simultaneously by switching between one of four lanes. To switch lanes the player must use both hands to either swipe up or down the screen. In each lane there are items that need to either be collected or avoided. Items that need to be collected are things like canned goods, empty food containers and power ups as these items help the players score points. If the player runs into items such as tree stumps, puddles of water, and animals they automatically lose their ability to score points. In order to complete each round the player must first achieve a certain number of points as well as a certain number of comboS. Combos happen when each avatar collects the desirable items at the same time as they are both moving at different speeds. The more condos that are collected the quicker the round is complete. Each avatar has a specific task or skills that need to be completed at each designated location. Once all for avatars have completed their task in each of the four parks then the game is complete. This game uses a linear narrative because there is only one way to get to the final destination. Although the characters have the ability to move up and down the screen the game constantly propels you forward and for this reason it limits your control. Overall this game has the ability to keep its players engaged because as the game progresses anticipation builds up. The player has an increased desire to do better each round especially when getting very close to the desired score. However, this game does require the player to be alert at all times and to master the somewhat difficult skill of controlling two avatars simultaneously while still following the rules of the game.
FA16-Project6 Week 1
Hello,
My name is Tisha. I played the game called Young Meteorologist Program. It teaches its players what to do in severe weather conditions such as hurricanes and floods. I found this game to be very easy to play as it is geared towards a younger group of players. There wasn’t anything that really challenged me mentally while playing this game. I found it to be informative because it did provide information relating to severe climate conditions that I wasn’t aware of prior to playing such as lightning can strike the same place twice. Additionally, when you see lightening every 5 seconds that past mean it’s 1 mile away. For example after 10 seconds has elapsed the lightening is 2 miles away from you, 15 seconds equals 3 miles away etc. Although this game is not geared towards a mature crowd it did provide good tips and information that can be helpful to all.