INFO 287-12
Seminar in Information Science
Topic: Gamifying Information
Fall 2015 Greensheet

Dr. D. Weissmann
E-mail
Office location: Online via Collaborate or Blackboard IM
Office Hours: By Student Request

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 20, 6 am PDT unless you are taking an intensive or a one unit or two unit class that starts on a different day. In that case the class will open on the first day that the class meets. Course sites will close on February 28, 2016.

You will be enrolled into the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

What is a game? What is fun? We ask these questions together as we explore ways to share Information as simple engaging fun game-inspired packages.  Using the books Everyone Plays at the Library by S. Nicholson c. 2010 and The Gamification of Learning and Instruction by K. Kapp c. 2012  - which you are welcome to buy on your own or can use the SJSU Library's digital copy - as our initial guides, together with a variety of articles that touch upon game play and information science, we will play, assess, and create simple games that teach or reinforce the skills and concepts within the field of Information Science.

You are asked to bring to this course your own interest in the field of Information Science, perhaps from a favored iSchool course or from on the job experience in the field of Information Science; you can choose any IS topic of interest to you.  Topics gamifyed by students in previous sessions have included literacy, research skills, accessing library's resources, outreach programs, readers' advisory, archive administration, finding aids, preservation practices, medical records administration and copyright.  As a class we will explore user populations, both mainstream clientele or groups marginalized by language, abilities, interests, or economics; we will consider information environments such as libraries or schools or archives or businesses or government; and we will devise strategies for bringing players to our games. 

In our 15 weeks together you can anticipate spending about 1/3 of your time creating simple games, 1/3 of your time creating targeted assessments tools, and 1/3 of your time exploring the theoretical constructs of the gamifying as well as interacting with your classmates. Students who have taken this course in the past have let me know that it takes a lot of time to stay current each week and also that it is very rewarding with many of the concepts of the course immediately applicable at work and at home. 

Course Requirements

Assignments
This class is set up to model game-like elements. The weekly readings and discussions are woven into an iterative leveling-up progression of Plan-Do-Reflect.

Plan

• Definitions and brainstorming exercises - CLO 2, CLO 5,
• Play and assess games  - CLO 1, CLO 3, CLO 4

Do

• Make simple instructional games - CLO 5, CLO 6

Reflect

• Create a portfolio that incudes theoretical underpinnings, bibliography, polished game, polished assessment, and reflection on process - CLO 2, CLO 6  
• Reflections on process CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 4, CLO 5, CLO 6

Course Calendar
The Course Calendar has been constructed to build skills in an iterative progression Plan/Explore-Do-Reflect.

• Week 1 Introductions
• Week 2 Brainstorming I
• Week 3 Explore and Assess Scavenger Hunt Games
• Week 4 Make a Scavenger Hunt Game
• Week 5 Reflect and Focus on Your Content
• Week 6 Explore and Assess a Badges Games
• Week 7 Make a Badges Game
• Week 8 Reflect and Focus on Your Content Bibliography
• Week 9 Explore and Assess a Social Game
• Week 10 Make a Social Game
• Week 11 Reflect and Focus on Assessments
• Week 12 Brainstorming II
• Week 13 Explore and Assess a Path Game
• Week 14 Polish Your Game and Assessment Tool
• Week 15 Put It All Together and Reflections

The course calendar is subject to change with fair notice.

Grading
The grading value is for effort and engagement.

• This is a class that rewards engagement and process over perfection.  
• As this class depends upon discussion and peer reviews of student work, late work may not be accepted. 
• Peer reviewer comments will not determine reviewed students' grade.
• Final grade distribution per SJSU School of Information Grading Scale

Other Relevant Information:

• If you are thinking about your weekly schedule, the work of this class occurs with the timely completion of weekly tasks.  There is no end of term research paper or final exam; rather the last two weeks of class might have the lightest workload.
• You do not need experience in programming to take this course. 
• You will be asked to try a game-scripting tool for kids called Scratch.  If you have experience writing code, you are welcome to use your skills to dazzle us with your games.
• Class game nights, team play, hangout chats, and other synchronous meetings are encouraged and can be set up in Collaborate upon student request.

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 287 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Generate a personal list of favored games (or information presentations) for L&IS topics for specific populations.
2. Identify and describe specific populations to be reached with specific games (or information presentations).
3. Evaluate existing games (or information presentations) based on criteria that assess the learning outcomes and technical presentation.
4. Evaluate information presentations for game-engaging qualities.
5. Storyboard and create a simple game for a specific population to learn a specific L&IS skill or concept.
6. Identify and practice ways to introduce a specific population to an L&IS learning game.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 287 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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