ITS 102 - Gamification
Assignments

Reading Assignments

For each reading assignment, you are expected to read an article or watch a video as listed in the Reading column. These articles/videos may be found on the web, or in the Documents section of Blackboard. The accompanying Question must be answered (on paper) and brought to class the day that the assignment is indicated. These papers will be collected in class.
Reading
Question
1 All the world's a game How do your parents/teachers/employers use gamification techniques to get you to do what they want? What works, and what doesn't?

2

 Using LexisNexis, find a recent news story about gamification in an area that interests you Summarize from the article: How does gamification motivate people in this case? Which people are being motivated? What are the measures of success?
3 Computing for good What makes an app "socially relevant"? Aside from what was mentioned in the article, how could you imagine computing helping someone in need?
4 How to gamify Using some of the principles in the article, how might you gamify some aspect of Stony Brook student life that would make life better for students?
5 10 qualities of an effective team player Think about a time that you worked on a team. Did it go well? If it went well, what made it successful? If it didn't go well, what made it fail and how might you have made it work better?

6

 Online Gaming Motivations Scale (see Blackboard) What motivates you in playing games? Is it primarily achievement, social, or immersion? Or is it something else?
7 4 Keys to Fun Describe how you can incorporate one of Lazzaro's 4 types of fun (easy, hard, people, serious) into your app to make it more engaging
8 The effectiveness of crowd sourcing What steps could be taken to ensure the quality of crowdsourcing?
9 Mentoring and Undergraduate Academic Success (see Blackboard) Who might serve as a good mentor for you over the next 3 years? How do you plan to stay in contact with your mentor?

Project Assignments

Additional assignments are designed to help you successfully create a gamified app for social good. Each assignment will be presented in class and/or at the 102 Seminar Showcase.
Assignment
1

Use Stony Brook Shares to propose how you might use gamification for good. In your description, identify ...

  • Goal: what do you want to accomplish?
  • Audience: who do you want to change the behavior of?
  • Activity: how will you use game mechanics to accomplish your goal with the audience?
  • Setting: where and when do you expect people to use this?
2 Create either a Wireframe, a Persona, or a Scenario for your team project, and email the results to me. You should decide, within your team, who will do what, so that each one gets created.
3 Using AppInventor, create the homepage for your app. Export the project to your computer, and then email me the resulting .aia file.

4

Continue to develop your app for the 102 Seminar Showcase (April 20th, 1-3pm, SAC Ballroom A).

  • The lead team member should refine the home page.
    • Create the extra scenes needed for the app. You do not need to design these screens; your teammates will. Give each screen a name everyone has agreed on.
    • Using the Blocks editor, add functionality that will allow the app to jump to each of the named screens.
  • Every other team member should develop a different screen for the app.
    • Create a new app, but leave Screen1 blank.
    • Create the new screen you are working on, and give it the agreed upon name.
    • Initially, fill all data fields with "dummy information". This can be linked to a database or other interactions later.

Export the project to your computer, and then email me the resulting .aia file. Be sure to indicate which project you are working on, and what screen(s) you developed, in the subject line.
5 Find a mentor, fill out the mentoring card for that person, and have them sign it.
Signed mentoring cards must be handed in by the 13th week to get a pizza party.