H: Ethical Considerations

Introduction:

User centered design requires a discussion of the ethical concerns and implications of a project. An analysis of different ethical concerns is needed to adjust a design so that it fits the real-world implementation of the project. Our team critically analyzed our mission statement and project definition in order to identify and highlight five important ethical concerns that may negatively impact our users, stakeholders, and other people interacting with our project. After identifying the major ethical dilemmas, our team brainstormed and committed to several plans of action to minimize these concerns and improve our overall design.

Ethics Statement:

The five primary ethical concerns in our design are (1) screen and technology use in classrooms, (2) copyright and creative infringement, (3) incorporation of “correct science”, (4) accessibility in low income districts, and (5) accessibility for students with differing abilities. These ethical concerns were identified using the criteria of legality, magnitude of impact on direct users, and magnitude of direct connection to our project.

Detailed Description of Primary Ethical Concerns:

Screen and Technology Use in Classrooms

Several studies conducted over the past decade have identified an inverse correlation between the duration of time spent using screens and the composite academic scores of children and adolescents. These studies have suggested that increased screen time may be a primary cause of distractibility, lower attention span, and poor academic performance in a classroom setting. Our awareness of this potential correlation presents a question for our team: Is it ethical to introduce a virtual game as a teaching tool into a classroom environment? Our design is meant to help young students learn about atoms and elements in an fun, unconventional manner but may not justify introducing a major source of distraction into the students’ atmosphere. As a result, our team has to weigh the potentially negative consequences of using a virtual game for our design.

Copyright and Creative Infringement

Game design is both a creative process and an established industry, and thus our team needs to take care to avoid infringing on the patents and copyrights of other artists and companies. This is an especially relevant issue if we decide to base the style of our game after a pre-existing game, such as Pokémon, Uno, or Scrabble. Our team must guarantee that our game is sufficiently distinct from current games in order to avoid legal ramifications as well as the ethical issue of replicating another artist’s work and passing it off as an original idea.

Incorporating "Correct Science"

Although our design is a game that incorporates chemistry knowledge rather than a chemistry assessment that incorporates some gameplay mechanics, it is essential that the content included in our game is scientifically accurate. The game is meant to provide a foundation for students, and including incorrect information may hurt the students in the future when they take a formal chemistry class. In addition, passing off incorrect information as accurately can lead to widespread misinformation. As the game is intended for use as a supplementary teaching tool, it is extremely important to critically examine the scientific content that is included.

Accessibility for Lower Income School Districts

One ethical issue that our team must consider is the accessibility of our game for students and teachers in lower income school districts. School districts in areas of lower income might not be able to spend additional funds on fun, yet unnecessary purchases like our chemistry game. In addition, this issue becomes more nuanced for a virtual game, as some schools may not have enough screens for each classroom, much less each student.

Accessibility for Students with Differing Abilities

Another ethical issue that our team must consider is the accessibility of our game for students and other users with differing physical and mental abilities. Some students may experience colorblindness, and thus may not be able to differentiate between the characters and objects depicted in the final design. Additionally, some users may need multiple channels of communication (captions, sounds, etc) to fully interact with the game. Finally, users may need the option to customize the interface of the game through changing text, volume, or other features in order to prevent sensory overload.

Approaches to Ethical Concerns:

Screen and Technology Use in Classrooms

If we decide to create a virtual game, we will attempt to address the ethical issue of screen use in classrooms by creating our game such that it is meant to be played in small chunks of time. For example, a world exploration and battle, which would be considered to be a significant interaction with a virtual game, must be completed in a time period of twenty minutes. If the game is designed to be played in this manner, teachers will have more freedom to implement the game as a supplementary teaching tool for only short periods of time, which will hopefully minimize the negative effects of screen use on the students. We will also do further secondary research to gain more context on risk factors for technology and distractibility in classrooms.

Copyright and Creative Infringement

To address the issue of infringing on the creative work of other people, we have prioritized doing secondary research into current competitive products, especially games that have a science or chemistry focus. We have already implemented this practice into our initial brainstorming process, as we conducted an interview with Genius Games, a science-based board game company. This research into competitive products will allow our team to keep our ideas creatively distinct from those of other people. Before developing our final design, we will do research into current patents and copyrights directly connected to our game through Northwestern’s resources.

Incorporating "Correct Science"

We will check the accuracy of our content about atoms and elements by bringing in outside chemistry experts (such as high school chemistry teachers) to discuss the accuracy of our content and play-test our game at various points in the design process. In addition, one of our final deliverables will be a supplementary instruction pamphlet that will highlight the parts of our game that are scientifically accurate as well as explaining the basic concepts that we did not include. This supplementary pamphlet idea is inspired by our interview with Genius Games.

Accessibility for Lower Income School Districts

To address the issue of affordability, our team will strive to create games that are low cost to produce and free or nearly free to play. Hopefully, removing the cost barrier will make the game more universally accessible for all school districts. Although we cannot provide more devices for students in low income districts, we will also guarantee that a virtual game is playable on a variety of different computers (Mac, PC, etc), which make the game accessible to a wider range of users.

Accessibility for Students with Differing Abilities

To address the issue of accessibility, our team will conduct additional background research to determine features that should be added to the game to promote inclusivity. For example, we have found a non-profit called AbleGamers Charity that publishes design patterns that suggest various aspects to consider for different accessibility concerns, such as the "Multiple Channels" or "Clear Text" design patterns. Additionally, our team plans to run all of the game graphics through different color filters. This process will allow us to determine whether the characters and items within the game are visibly distinct for students with different versions of colorblindness.

Peer Feedback Session:

Summary:

As a class assignment, our group published an initial ethical statement that highlighted screen time, patent infringement, and the need for accurate information as our three primary ethical concerns. We received positive feedback on these ideas as our peers thought that these three ethical concerns were insightful and relevant. Several students wanted more context and details on the technology in classrooms ethical concern. For example, both Serena and Huma wanted more information about the length of time our game requires for play, as well as how our team plans to find a balance between the benefits and drawbacks of screen time in classrooms. Concerning the same topic, Jack suggested that we incorporate blocks into our design that will eliminate unwanted screen time activities, such as assessing the internet or preventing communication between the students. Two students, Huma and James, also raised another ethical issue that our team had not yet considered. They both encouraged our team to look into the affordability of our design, as different school districts might have varying levels of success incorporating our design. Needing additional funds for screens and virtual games might gatekeeper our game from districts with lower income levels.

Analysis and Next Steps

As a result of the peer feedback session, our team decided to add accessibility in lower income school districts to our list of primary ethical concerns. Huma and James highlighted the fact that our game may not be accessible to schools without the funds to support multiple screens for students or a subscription to a gaming software. In order to make our game universally accessible, we must address this concern in our final design iteration. One piece of advice that our team decided to discard was Jack’s suggestion that we should use online blockers for a virtual design. Although factors like access to the internet do pose a threat of distractibility, incorporating blockers would probably require very sophisticated, expensive software which would hurt our attempts for the design to be affordable and easy to use. In this case, our design requirements of affordability and ease of use took priority over this aspect of an ethical concern.