So with the response from our peers, we decided to expand upon the second of our three ideas. The idea fit what entity wanted more so than the other ideas while also having the shortest and least costly development. It also has the benefit of showing implicit bias in a scenario that the to-be teachers would be put into in within their careers, having a more practical impact than our other more game-y ideas.
Game Brief:
Genre:
Grading Simulator
Audience:
Graduate teachers performing a course on implicit bias, specifically those looking to see how their own bias affects their grading of students.
Primary Objective:
Show teachers how implicit bias can directly affect grading in the classroom.
It meets the needs of the teachers by showing how their own implicit bias can directly harm or benefit students in a low stakes environment.
We chose this objective because there is a large amount of pre-existing pre-graded material to compare it to which removes our own biases from the equation leaving only the teachers own.
Introduction to Game:
Mechanics: Look at a piece of a paper and grade it on an A-F scale. Only information you get is name and appearance as well as various expressions of students as they pass the paper in.
Afterwards they show a chart of what everyone graded the papers as well as the real grade from online to allow for discussion.
Story: You are a teacher grading papers in a classroom
Look/Feel: Generic/sterile (clean paper, clean desk, clean floor), Quick and easy UI , focus is on the papers and the students
What mechanics in the game are you using to optimize and actualize the objective:
Unlike a similar game (fairplay) this game aims to show the actual effects of implicit bias on grading through the use of discussion in the classroom of results based on pre-graded papers.
Game Control:
Player selects sections in the paper where they think there are issues and then a spot where they can select a grade to give the paper. The mouse is used for selection and picking the grade.
Interface/Information:
- Things you can see:
- Snippet of paper and question it was answering
- Student + Name
- Grading options
- “Highlighter” to show issue areas
- Next button
Main User Mechanics/Actions:
Select: Select sections on papers
Match: Match grades to papers
Levels/Environment:
Environment One is the classroom, specifically the teachers desk
Environment Two is a spreadsheet of grades and papers
Obstacles:
The Paper is the only obstacle as not grading it will prevent you from moving on to the next paper.
Describe and Explain the unique ways in which your game idea meets the needs of the theme, entity, AND objective:
It shows a direct connection between the teachers implicit bias and grading in the classroom and shows how a teachers bias can directly affect the classroom
Sixty Seconds of Play:
Player receives a paper and student, they grade the paper choosing “problem” areas and a final grade. After grading the set of papers they show all of the grades given by teachers and the “true” grade given online as well as the students associated with papers to allow for discussion
Links:
Production:
Estimated number of Developers: 5
Special Licensing: Access to pre-graded papers
Estimated Length of time for Dev: 2 to 3 months
Estimated Costs: Salaries of developers
Plan for post release: None
Group Members:
Myself,
A serious game problem 