4/19/2023 0 Comments The tesseraHansen: The Computer History Museum has been a partner on the project since its inception. How did you get museums interested in the project? The game appeared at the Museum of Ancient Life, and a real-life version will appear at The Computer History Museum. Others have gained valuable skills in understanding how those from other disciplines think, how to effectively make “handoffs,” and how to be part of a creative design-oriented group. Several of the students want to pursue careers in game development as a result of the project. It is rare that students get to work on such interdisciplinary, high-impact projects like this as undergraduates. Hansen: Our game development team includes students from graphic arts, information technology, computer science, advertising, music composition, illustration, animation, business, and education. Were they able to bring their own disciplines into the project? Has this helped them on their own career paths? How has this changed the learning experience for them? A team of interdisciplinary students made the game. The social media accounts will start in earnest next week, as we have focused first on revealing the first few levels of the online game and finishing our museum experience. The social media sites will include Twitter accounts, an Instagram account, and a wiki where players can post their own stories related to The Tessera. Other social media accounts of fictional characters augment gameplay (e.g., give a bit more details on what our historical computing figures are thinking and grappling with in the unfolding narrative), though they are not required to complete the website activities. It allows players to participate in public chat and post forum messages, which we as “gamerunners” monitor. Hansen: The main hub for activity is, a website that we host and moderate. How does the game incorporate social media responsibly? Many teachers aim to leverage social media with students but are unsure how. We have to tweak things a bit - for example, make our large collaborative puzzle more appropriate for a single class. For example, a teacher could play through with her class. After we’ve finished all the levels, we’ll probably take a month or so to make it so that anyone can go to the site and play through the experiences. Some levels in the “live” game will require a large group of people working together (e.g., Level 5 when it’s released). However, people can join “late” right now and “catch up” by completing the levels that have been released. Hansen: The online part of the game has a fixed amount of “levels.” Right now, we are releasing a new level each Friday. They will also solve puzzles, often with team members, that introduce them to concepts such as binary numbers, networks, digital logic, and innovation design thinking. For example, players will interact with the ghost of Ada Lovelace at, as well as follow a Twitter account she posts to. The Tessera is one example of this new genre of game that is specifically designed to introduce players to concepts, skills, and history related to computational thinking. However, we will also make it available for “replay” after it finishes its live run. Unlike many purely online games, The Tessera plays out over a period of time in a “live” way. Professor Hansen: An alternate reality game is an interactive story that players participate in as it unfolds over time across different media channels (e.g., websites, a museum, social media). What does it mean that Tessera is an “alternate reality game”? How does it teach students computational thinking? Connor King, the graphic designer for The Tessera (and graduating from BYU this spring), also provided us with images. Hansen, the project lead, gave us the scoop via email. It launched on January 17 and showcased at the Museum of Ancient Life and The Computer History Museum.īYU Associate Professor Derek L. The Tessera incorporates social media and other interactive digital mediums. It features a Victorian steampunk aesthetic and challenges teens to collaborate with the ghosts of history’s brightest-a group that includes Ada Lovelace, Steve Jobs, and Thomas Edison-to defeat the villain “S.” Over 40 university students have just made a game to get teens interested in STEM.Īn interdisciplinary team of students from Brigham Young University and the University of Maryland worked together to create The Tessera, a free alternate reality game partly funded by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
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