MSU Planetarium: Persona

by Nate Sharp
For academic purposes only.

User: Butters, Age 9, Middle Park Elementary School, 4th Grade

Background Information: Butters is 9 years old and has lived in the small town of Middle Park his entire life. He is also a fourth-grade student at Middle Park Elementary School and his experiences have been typical of conventional small-town life. Butters is a cheerful, naive, optimistic, and passive person as well as an average student. He also has a hard time staying still for too long and tends to fidget with his hands. His friends perceive him as both a fun and nerdy person who maintains a wholesome attitude and mild disposition. His hobbies include a general interest for anything science fiction, playing video games on his computer or iPod, watching movies, and being involved in playground games with his friends, such as Cops & Robbers.

Recently, his teacher has decided to plan a field trip to a planetarium. Knowing that his students have little knowledge about astronomy and the night sky he decides to use an interactive game on the planetarium's website to help teach and prepare them for their visit. The teacher instructs his students to download the planetarium app onto their iPhone or iPod and create a username and password. Butters does this, and decides to simply use his first name as the username. Once all the students have finished setting up their devices the teacher connects the classroom computer to the projector, logs onto the planetarium's website and navigates to the trivia game. He then enters the school's 'team' name for his classroom. The game starts and the students (or more aptly put the 'Players') use their devices to answer the questions. The trivia game starts by briefly posing a question, followed by a list of potential answers. Questions are answered by pressing numbered buttons that correspond to multiple-choice answers. Players that answer correctly the fastest are rewarded the most points. After a short amount of time the correct answer is shown, followed by a brief explanation, fact, or history about it. The process repeats for 15 questions. After each game, the top 5 individual winners, as well as the top 20 highest scoring teams on the entire network, are broadcast in a "Rankings" summary for each game. The top 3 players in each team are awarded points which they can redeem for prizes and the planetarium.

Having a general interest for science fiction and a love for video games Butters decides before the game begins that he wants finish in the top 3 enough times in order to win a prize at the planetarium. By focusing hard Butter's succeeds in his original goal, and wins enough times to earn a prize at the planetarium.

Goal:
‣ Learn about astronomy and the night sky by playing a game
on the planetariums website with his classmates.
‣ Finish in the top 3 enough times in order to win a prize at the planetarium.

Information Needed: A trivia game that can be played as a group, which asks questions about astronomy and the night sky, followed
by the correct answer & a brief lesson about it.

Motivators: Hands on learning experience
‣ Interactive learning that’s entertaining, rewarding and competitive.
‣ It’s competitive and can be shared with others.
‣ Students are rewarded ‘points’ for completing certain games and activities which they can then redeem for toys/items at the gift shop.
‣ A ‘Rankings’ summary provides competition between students and other networks/teams.

Problem Setting: Younger audience
‣ The study of astronomy and the night sky goes far beyond what many younger students understand or can comprehend. The issue would be to create and provide questions & information that appeals
to them while retaining core ideas and facts.
‣ By design, the trivia game & online environment needs to be easy
to navigate and understand, as well as open and inviting.

Online Affordances:
‣ Students can prepare and learn about the planetarium
directly from within the classroom.
‣ Encourages interaction and open dialog among students & teachers, whereas the planetarium's theater is limited to a viewing experience.
‣ Interactive & virtual resources that provide instant
2-way user feedback.
‣ iPod Touch/iPhone app that provides a mobile extension
of the website/online environment.
‣ Explore terms, ideas & information about
astronomy and the night sky.
‣ Share information between users.
‣ Play / interact with content directly.