Orientation Testing

We had the library staff run through the freshman orientation exercise yesterday. We were hoping it would take them 15-20 minutes, it took them 25-45 minutes. I hope that when they're working in groups and have staff members all over the building to direct them that things will go better.

Here are some of the issues we ran into:

1. Some had issues lining up the transparencies with places in the library. We're going to add some masking tape squares on the ground for optimal viewing areas.
2. Terminology on the maps and instructions don't match. Unfortunately, it's too late to change the maps, so the instructions must change to some degree, even if some things aren't ideally labeled on the maps.
3. Some places need a little more detail in the instructions.
4. The fourth floor OPAC computer wasn't working.
5. We tell them to find a book called Secret Empire and there are actually two different books with that title, but only one has the clue.
6. They didn't realize that letters needed to be used more than once to complete the ransom note.
7. Some were confused about our use of an equals sign when we say "Letter 3=Z" and just want us to change it to "is." BTW, there is no letter Z in our ransom note.
8. The biggest suggestion, and one that should be easy to fix, is not making it clear what the point of this is. So we're adding a one or two-sentence statement in the introduction that this game will help them get to know where things are in the library, and when they get to the place that has the dog, there's a closure activity that reviews what is on what floor. The activity "unlocks" the dog, and while I'm not thrilled with it graphically, it works great and fits into the game well without adding much to what is required by time.

Overall, the idea was popular, but the mechanics need some work. They really like the "physical-ness" of the game. They kept using the word "physical." That's what Big Games are all about, so I like this description.

The head football coach is probably willing to lend us some of his non-freshmen football players to test it out during football camp. We're meeting to discuss that next week. We can hopefully get a few students in next week when we've done some polishing up with our feedback from yesterday.