Collaborative Unit Criteria

Work to have done: collaborative project preview

Plan for the day:

  1. Reflective writing (5 min)
  2. Refresher on unit goals (7 min)
  3. Gathering criteria (45 min)
  4. EXT: Studio and microconferences

1. Reflective writing (5 min)

In your own space – you won't have to share this unless you want to – do a little solo writing about your Twine-in-progress. What's exciting about it? What's challenging about it? What are you unsure of?

2. Refresher on unit goals (7 min)

Pause in your writing to look again at the top-line goals for this unit, as framed by the assignment prompt:

  1. to practice managing a complex project involving multiple team members;
  2. to assess your own skills as a digital media composer, so as to find ways you in particular can best contribute to a joint project; and
  3. to integrate and consolidate the skills you've practiced across the semester.

Take another few minutes to think in writing about your project in light of these goals: How are you collaborating on the project’s to-do list? Do you have a sense of the individual strengths that you are bringing to the table? Of your partners’ strengths? What skills from earlier in the semester are you engaging? What skills could you engage?

3. Gathering criteria (45 min)

Primed now by that writing and thinking, I’m going to ask you to get in groups and brainstorm in pursuit of baseline and aspirational criteria for this unit. You can stay in your project groups this time.

3a. Crowdsource ideas (10 min)

To bring all our notes together while allowing for real-time collaboration, use this google doc: bit.ly/miller2019spring.

Take 10 minutes in groups to make some lists: given the goals of the unit, what should we set as our minimum criteria for full credit? What are some ways we might push beyond that minimum – not just in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality? As in the past, I really want you to see these aspirational goals as opportunities to stretch yourselves and your skills, not just to do more of the same. Think about what would be new and potentially exciting... just not required for everyone.

3b. Discuss and Integrate (30 min)

Quickly read through the other groups’ notes, adding comments in the margins to upvote or propose modifications. As you see consensus forming, propose an official version for our list of shared criteria.

We’ll refine as a group, and repeat, and then return to these (and possibly revise again) after Thursday’s workshop.

EXT: Studio and microconferences

As time allows, we can keep moving toward these goals!

Homework for next time:

  • A full-as-possible draft of collaborative project, for workshop. This should be a solid attempt at a complete, playable game – even if you know there’s more you could add.

  • Turn in the same components as for the Preview, but updated:
    • an html file exported from Twine using Publish to File
    • a screenshot of the story map
    • any other files we’d need to import and view your Twine: images, css to import, etc
    • an updated README and/or title slide introducing the game
    • any necessary credits (as part of the Twine, linked from your title passage)
  • Push all this to your repository (whether GitHub or Box), and confirm that it imports successfully on someone else’s computer.