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Summary

In this lesson, students will develop open-ended questions for testers to provide feedback on their video game.

Curriculum codes

Digital Technologies: AC9TDI4P05 AC9TDI6P06

English (Language): AC9E3LA02 AC9E4LA02 AC9E5LA02 AC9E6LA02

English (Literacy): AC9E3LY02 AC9E4LY02 AC9E5LY02 AC9E6LY02

General capabilities

Critical Thinking: Analysing

Literacy: Speaking and listening

a young boy sitting and playing with handheld gaming device

Learning intention

In this lesson, you will develop questions to ask your testers that will ensure you get quality feedback about your video game.

Prerequisites

Lessons 1 to 7

What you need

  1. Make one copy of the Feedback Questions worksheet for each student.
  2. Have devices available for students to continue working on their games after they have completed their feedback questions. 
  3. Devices for continued prototyping work 
  4. Access to the Problem-Solving Board from lesson 7 

Activities

Introduction (10–15 mins)

  1. Tell teams that the next lesson will be devoted to testing everyone’s games. In the testing session, teams will play one or two other games and give feedback to each team on how they could improve their game.
  2. Discuss, as a class, that the purpose of game testing is to give and get feedback.
    • What might you learn from playing another team’s game?
    • What feedback might you offer another team when you try their game? For example, is it fun, are the instructions clear, or does the game work?
  3. Discuss the importance of asking open questions when seeking feedback.
    • What is an open question?
    • What kind of questions would be useful for you to ask about? Refer students to the Problem-Solving Board for inspiration.
  4. Tell teams that open questions encourage an explanation in the answer, not just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. They often start with: what, which, when, where, who, why or how.
  5. Ask teams to suggest some open questions that would provide helpful feedback on their video games. Remind teams that feedback on game instructions might also be useful.
  6. Record some questions on the board as examples of how to structure open questions.

Main Activity (35–45 mins)

  1. Ask teams to discuss which parts of their game they would like to receive feedback on. Students might choose to write questions specifically about their role within the team. For example, the visual designer might ask about the colours they used, the programmer might ask about the speed of the character movements, and the storyteller might ask about the clarity of the narrative.
  2. Teams will write two questions on a feedback sheet. Each student should also record their own questions. Questions within the team can be different.
  3. Once their questions have been written, teams should continue working on their game prototype.

Reflection/Sharing Tasks (5–10 mins)

  1. Ask one student from each team to share their questions.