[game_edu] Group project team formation
Chris Totten
totter87 at gmail.com
Mon Jul 13 16:37:49 EDT 2015
A framework that I've used several times in the past is to treat team
formation as the creation of a RPG group. In my own classes, I've found
groups of 3-4 to be a sweet spot so that everyone feels like they have
enough to do and nobody can get lazy (in theory.) I also require that each
team have a mage (programmer), warrior (artist), summoner (sound
designer/composer), and paladin (producer/manager.)
In classes where I've used the multiplayer classroom model, I've given
students a "trials of destiny" assignment at the beginning of the class
where they must complete a simple introductory tutorial related to each job
type, then choose a job they wish to pursue. They then organize themselves
from there. If there is a case where a team has more than one of one
person, they can then at least switch off into another job since they did
some intro material.
During the semester project, each job has its own assignment list or list
of things they can do to accrue points in the class. These lists are
basically to-do lists for that job in a game dev pipeline. To take varying
levels of skill into account, people can both make assets or code
themselves or download pre-made materials from the internet and write a
short essay of how that material will fit into their project. This way,
they can complete their tasks with their own skills or outsource materials
while still demonstrating thoughtful implementation and selection.
I'd be happy to share the syllabi for the model above to anyone who reaches
out.
On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 3:56 PM, <game_edu-request at igda.org> wrote:
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> IGDA Education SIG
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Group project team formation (Malcolm Ryan)
> 2. Re: Group project team formation (Darin L. Koch)
> 3. Re: Group project team formation (Ian Schreiber)
> 4. Re: Group project team formation (Jose P Zagal)
> 5. Re: Group project team formation (Ira Fay)
> 6. Re: Group project team formation (Tom Sloper)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 16:02:18 +1000
> From: Malcolm Ryan <malcolmr at cse.unsw.edu.au>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Subject: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID: <8118BC45-5058-4D68-B3AA-1A2493920265 at cse.unsw.edu.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> A question for other educators:
>
> I am running class which involved a semester-long group game development
> project. There are about 30 students and I want them to work in groups of 3
> or 4. I need a way to assign groups. There are a couple of constraints:
>
> 1) Each group needs to have a vision holder
> 2) Each group needs to have an appropriate set of skills to make their
> game.
> 3) Some students come wanting to work together and I would prefer not to
> break them up unless necessary.
> 4) Some students are quiet, shy or have language difficulties which mean
> it is difficult to get them to seek out groups of their own initiative.
>
> In the past I have let the students organise as they see fit. This has
> mostly worked, but there are always a small number of students at the end
> of the process who haven?t found a team. Putting these people together in a
> group has typically been a bad idea, especially if there is no-one with
> strong design or strong organisations skills in that group.
>
> Has anyone else faced this problem? Have you come up with any clever
> solutions?
>
> Malcolm
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 02:07:12 -0400
> From: "Darin L. Koch" <darin.koch at browardschools.com>
> To: game_edu at igda.org
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID:
> <fc.0119ec076f69a9e53b9aca0042bac357.6f69a9e6 at browardschools.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I will be out of the classroom until July 22nd.
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 07:32:58 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Ian Schreiber <ai864 at yahoo.com>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID:
> <567734890.1081680.1436772778096.JavaMail.yahoo at mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Similar to the problem of team formation during game jams, so talk to any
> jam organizer about how they do this :). One simple solution is to just say
> "no one gets to leave the room until everyone is on a team" and let the
> students decide how to divide the stragglers. If the leftovers form their
> own team and the team fits your constraints (mainly, has the skills to make
> their game) then fine; if not, then they'll need to either take on others
> to fill the gaps, or else disperse and get absorbed into other teams.
> A lot depends on how well the students all know each other by reputation
> before the class starts. If everyone knows everyone else already, then
> icebreaker-type activities won't work that well. If you have a few friends
> taking the class together but generally most students don't know their
> classmates, might be worth having each student introduce themselves and
> their skill sets on the first day so that everyone can get a feel for who
> they want to work with. You could go even further with this, for example:
> * Mandatory class game jam over the first weekend of the semester. Not
> during class hours. Let the students see what everyone is capable of.* In
> the first week or two, each student works on their own small-scale
> individual project (like an extended game jam, would be ideal if it can
> line up with one of the Ludum Dares or something). This gives them an
> opportunity to show off their strengths to the class, and everyone starts
> with a prototype of their own idea that others can rally around.* On day
> one, give students a survey to fill out listing their (game AND non-game)
> interests. See what kinds of things students can cluster around - for
> example, are there a bunch of students who are big into social justice
> issues, or who are all musicians, or something. Then give a set of
> constraints and let each individual choose which one they'd like to work
> on, each constraint gets its own team.
> Beyond that, I'd be tempted to take things on a case-by-case basis. Is one
> student a "lone wolf" type that HATES group work, and they're choosing to
> isolate themselves? Have a talk with them about their career goals; lone
> indie devs are rare but do exist, but if they want someone to pay them,
> learning to play well with others is useful, and maybe they can be
> incentivized to choose a team if their career is on the line. Is there a
> student who has a reputation for being a poor performer, and no team wants
> to get saddled with deadwood? Have a frank talk with them about their rep
> and its impact on their future, not just as a student but as a professional
> (in one of my classes, I actually asked each student to pick out the others
> in the class that they know they WOULD or WOULD NOT want to work with
> again, and also what they thought others would say about them; and then
> tallied and summarized the results and had a chat with each student about
> whether they have a realistic picture of where
> they stand; that alone caused some of the bottom performers to noticeably
> put in more effort when they realized that they didn't WANT to be thought
> of as mediocre). Got a student who is just shy? Overcoming that can be
> really useful if, say, they ever want to attend GDC and actually meet the
> people who might hire them... so they can be told to think of this as an
> opportunity to try out other personas in a safe space; and also an
> opportunity for the rest of the class to realize that the one person on the
> team who's just silently watching their conversation is probably sitting on
> the best ideas because they're putting their brainpower into listening and
> processing and analyzing, not just talking :). For language barriers, you
> get better in a hurry with practice when you have to, so some encouragement
> can help, as well as pointing them to the ESL resources on campus; it's
> also a wonderful opportunity for their teammates to deal with these kinds
> of barriers, because odds are they'll pro
> bably be working with some people who are from different cultures from
> time to time (I'm having vivid flashbacks right now to an outsourced QA
> team from India, and the interesting miscommunications we had when dealing
> with them).
> - Ian
>
> From: Malcolm Ryan <malcolmr at cse.unsw.edu.au>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 2:02 AM
> Subject: [game_edu] Group project team formation
>
> A question for other educators:
>
> I am running class which involved a semester-long group game development
> project. There are about 30 students and I want them to work in groups of 3
> or 4. I need a way to assign groups. There are a couple of constraints:
>
> 1) Each group needs to have a vision holder
> 2) Each group needs to have an appropriate set of skills to make their
> game.
> 3) Some students come wanting to work together and I would prefer not to
> break them up unless necessary.
> 4) Some students are quiet, shy or have language difficulties which mean
> it is difficult to get them to seek out groups of their own initiative.
>
> In the past I have let the students organise as they see fit. This has
> mostly worked, but there are always a small number of students at the end
> of the process who haven?t found a team. Putting these people together in a
> group has typically been a bad idea, especially if there is no-one with
> strong design or strong organisations skills in that group.
>
> Has anyone else faced this problem? Have you come up with any clever
> solutions?
>
> Malcolm
> _______________________________________________
> game_edu mailing list
> game_edu at igda.org
> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
>
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 15:43:03 +0000
> From: Jose P Zagal <jose.zagal at utah.edu>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID:
> <
> 76B4561CC237B149919D1CB6EFA1D2CA25479576 at X-MB11.xds.umail.utah.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
> For that many constraints, it's usually best (in my experience) to let
> them sort it out with the caveat of "no one leaves the room until".
>
> However, is there any flexibility in the constraints? (teams of 5-6?)
> Also, do you have enough time to allow for, say, an "ideation and team
> formation" that's part of your process? This can help with having a
> vision holder - ex: everyone in the class has to pitch a game, people
> make teams around the games pitched...you can do this iteratively over a
> few weeks (winnowing down the number of games, but during that time each
> time is working on protoypes they show and pitch).
>
>
> Jose
>
>
>
> On 7/13/2015 12:07 AM, Malcolm Ryan wrote:
> > A question for other educators:
> >
> > I am running class which involved a semester-long group game development
> project. There are about 30 students and I want them to work in groups of 3
> or 4. I need a way to assign groups. There are a couple of constraints:
> >
> > 1) Each group needs to have a vision holder
> > 2) Each group needs to have an appropriate set of skills to make their
> game.
> > 3) Some students come wanting to work together and I would prefer not to
> break them up unless necessary.
> > 4) Some students are quiet, shy or have language difficulties which mean
> it is difficult to get them to seek out groups of their own initiative.
> >
> > In the past I have let the students organise as they see fit. This has
> mostly worked, but there are always a small number of students at the end
> of the process who haven?t found a team. Putting these people together in a
> group has typically been a bad idea, especially if there is no-one with
> strong design or strong organisations skills in that group.
> >
> > Has anyone else faced this problem? Have you come up with any clever
> solutions?
> >
> > Malcolm
> > _______________________________________________
> > game_edu mailing list
> > game_edu at igda.org
> > https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
> >
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:36:24 -0400
> From: Ira Fay <ira at irafay.com>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID: <11721D07-196D-4C0E-B8ED-31C755E5F8F6 at irafay.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> At Hampshire, I've taught project classes with 3-4 person teams for 3-4
> week cycles up through a 34 person team for a 15 week cycle. I've found a
> few things work well:
>
> 1) Set a reasonable bar for entry. There will obviously be some skill
> variations, but everyone should have a minimum qualification in their
> chosen discipline(s). A short, individual project had worked well for me
> here, as Ian also mentioned.
>
> 2) Give students the chance to express preference based on project, if
> they are known in advance. In some classes, I've let students pitch
> project ideas, and then everyone in the class has 10 points to distribute
> among the pitched projects. More points means they are more interested in
> that project. And usually I require them to give points to at least 4
> projects. Some students use a 7-1-1-1 distribution, but others use 3-3-2-2.
> A shared google spreadsheet worked well here.
>
> 3) Give students the chance to express preferences based on
> people/teammates. Not everyone will know everyone, but a little survey up
> front can make them feel heard and avoid problems from the beginning.
>
> 4) I assign teams. This is how it works in industry, and I think it's
> better pedagogically too. I ensure there are balanced teams, and whenever
> someone doesn't get their top pick, I talk to them in advance and explain
> what's up. So far I've had a 100% understanding rate from the students in
> that situation, even if they're a little disappointed initially.
>
> Based on the post-class surveys I've given, it seems like 3 week cycles
> are too short, 5-6 people is a good sweet spot, good producers make a
> difference even at that size, and a big team can publish a decent game in
> one semester if they have sufficient leadership. (http://wordsnack.net
> for an example)
>
> Good luck! I'll be curious to hear how it goes for you. I think this is an
> issue many of us must tackle.
>
> Ira
>
> > On Jul 13, 2015, at 11:43 AM, Jose P Zagal <jose.zagal at utah.edu> wrote:
> >
> > For that many constraints, it's usually best (in my experience) to let
> > them sort it out with the caveat of "no one leaves the room until".
> >
> > However, is there any flexibility in the constraints? (teams of 5-6?)
> > Also, do you have enough time to allow for, say, an "ideation and team
> > formation" that's part of your process? This can help with having a
> > vision holder - ex: everyone in the class has to pitch a game, people
> > make teams around the games pitched...you can do this iteratively over a
> > few weeks (winnowing down the number of games, but during that time each
> > time is working on protoypes they show and pitch).
> >
> >
> > Jose
> >
> >
> >
> >> On 7/13/2015 12:07 AM, Malcolm Ryan wrote:
> >> A question for other educators:
> >>
> >> I am running class which involved a semester-long group game
> development project. There are about 30 students and I want them to work in
> groups of 3 or 4. I need a way to assign groups. There are a couple of
> constraints:
> >>
> >> 1) Each group needs to have a vision holder
> >> 2) Each group needs to have an appropriate set of skills to make their
> game.
> >> 3) Some students come wanting to work together and I would prefer not
> to break them up unless necessary.
> >> 4) Some students are quiet, shy or have language difficulties which
> mean it is difficult to get them to seek out groups of their own initiative.
> >>
> >> In the past I have let the students organise as they see fit. This has
> mostly worked, but there are always a small number of students at the end
> of the process who haven?t found a team. Putting these people together in a
> group has typically been a bad idea, especially if there is no-one with
> strong design or strong organisations skills in that group.
> >>
> >> Has anyone else faced this problem? Have you come up with any clever
> solutions?
> >>
> >> Malcolm
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> game_edu mailing list
> >> game_edu at igda.org
> >> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > game_edu mailing list
> > game_edu at igda.org
> > https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:56:47 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Tom Sloper <tomster at sloperama.com>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
> Message-ID:
> <329603527.1572908.1436817407571.JavaMail.yahoo at mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> This summer we used a random/arbitrary method of creating initial groups,
> and then my co-instructor modified the groups based on her knowledge of the
> strengths and weaknesses of the students. We didn't want all-stars to team
> together, leaving the weaker students to work together. We formed 10 groups
> of 3.?Tom Sloper?
> - Senior Lecturer, Video Games, Information Technology Program, Viterbi
> School of Engineering, University of Southern California.?
> http://itp.usc.edu/faculty-staff/Tom-Sloper/
> - Sloperama Productions. Services for game developers and publishers;
> "Making Games Fun, And Getting Them Done."
> http://www.sloperama.com/business.html
> - Helpful information and bulletin boards for game industry hopefuls.
> http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html- The Mah-Jongg FAQs. Information and
> bulletin boards about the game of mah-jongg.
> http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq.html- Author of The Red Dragon &The West
> Wind, the definitive book on official Chinese & American mah-jongg.
>
>
>
> From: Ira Fay <ira at irafay.com>
> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 10:36 AM
> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Group project team formation
>
> At Hampshire, I've taught project classes with 3-4 person teams for 3-4
> week cycles up through a 34 person team for a 15 week cycle. I've found a
> few things work well:
>
> 1) Set a reasonable bar for entry. There will obviously be some skill
> variations, but everyone should have a minimum qualification in their
> chosen discipline(s). A short, individual project had worked well for me
> here, as Ian also mentioned.
>
> 2) Give students the chance to express preference based on project, if
> they are known in advance. In some classes, I've? let students pitch
> project ideas, and then everyone in the class has 10 points to distribute
> among the pitched projects. More points means they are more interested in
> that project. And usually I require them to give points to at least 4
> projects. Some students use a 7-1-1-1 distribution, but others use 3-3-2-2.
> A shared google spreadsheet worked well here.
>
> 3) Give students the chance to express preferences based on
> people/teammates. Not everyone will know everyone, but a little survey up
> front can make them feel heard and avoid problems from the beginning.
>
> 4) I assign teams. This is how it works in industry, and I think it's
> better pedagogically too. I ensure there are balanced teams, and whenever
> someone doesn't get their top pick, I talk to them in advance and explain
> what's up. So far I've had a 100% understanding rate from the students in
> that situation, even if they're a little disappointed initially.
>
> Based on the post-class surveys I've given, it seems like 3 week cycles
> are too short, 5-6 people is a good sweet spot, good producers make a
> difference even at that size, and a big team can publish a decent game in
> one semester if they have sufficient leadership. (http://wordsnack.net
> for an example)
>
> Good luck! I'll be curious to hear how it goes for you. I think this is an
> issue many of us must tackle.
>
> Ira
>
> > On Jul 13, 2015, at 11:43 AM, Jose P Zagal <jose.zagal at utah.edu> wrote:
> >
> > For that many constraints, it's usually best (in my experience) to let
> > them sort it out with the caveat of "no one leaves the room until".
> >
> > However, is there any flexibility in the constraints? (teams of 5-6?)
> > Also, do you have enough time to allow for, say, an "ideation and team
> > formation" that's part of your process? This can help with having a
> > vision holder - ex: everyone in the class has to pitch a game, people
> > make teams around the games pitched...you can do this iteratively over a
> > few weeks (winnowing down the number of games, but during that time each
> > time is working on protoypes they show and pitch).
> >
> >
> > Jose
> >
> >
> >
> >> On 7/13/2015 12:07 AM, Malcolm Ryan wrote:
> >> A question for other educators:
> >>
> >> I am running class which involved a semester-long group game
> development project. There are about 30 students and I want them to work in
> groups of 3 or 4. I need a way to assign groups. There are a couple of
> constraints:
> >>
> >> 1) Each group needs to have a vision holder
> >> 2) Each group needs to have an appropriate set of skills to make their
> game.
> >> 3) Some students come wanting to work together and I would prefer not
> to break them up unless necessary.
> >> 4) Some students are quiet, shy or have language difficulties which
> mean it is difficult to get them to seek out groups of their own initiative.
> >>
> >> In the past I have let the students organise as they see fit. This has
> mostly worked, but there are always a small number of students at the end
> of the process who haven?t found a team. Putting these people together in a
> group has typically been a bad idea, especially if there is no-one with
> strong design or strong organisations skills in that group.
> >>
> >> Has anyone else faced this problem? Have you come up with any clever
> solutions?
> >>
> >> Malcolm
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> game_edu mailing list
> >> game_edu at igda.org
> >> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
>
>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > game_edu mailing list
> > game_edu at igda.org
> > https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
> _______________________________________________
> game_edu mailing list
> game_edu at igda.org
> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu
>
>
>
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> ****************************************
>
--
Chris Totten
Game Artist in Residence - American University Game Lab
<http://www.american.edu/gamelab/>
Chair, International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Washington, DC
Chapter <https://www.facebook.com/groups/igda.dc/?fref=nf>
Founder, Pie For Breakfast Studios <http://www.pfbstudios.com/>
http://www.christotten3d.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @totter87 <https://twitter.com/Totter87>
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