B1- Design Specification

When designing a Scratch-based system (such as simple games or digital stories) to help 5th graders learn Chinese, a clear design specification will guide your development. 

• 1. Project Purpose

Core Goal: Clearly state the learning objective (e.g., "Help 5th graders master 30 common Chinese characters," "Improve understanding of Chinese festivals through stories" 

• 2. Content Focus (Chinese Learning Elements)

Define the specific Chinese knowledge/skills to teach. 

• 汉字演变（甲骨文）、

• 书法艺术（某位书法家(颜真卿、柳公权、欧阳询、赵孟頫)； 某个书法作品(《千字文》《兰亭序》)； 《三国演义》中的歇后语；“某”姓的历史和现状；关于复姓的历史和现状）

• 字谜解析（文字迷、画谜、故事猜谜）

• 汉字歇后语、成语

• 节日（例：春节-不同地区）

• 文化和习俗

• 四大名著

• 神话

• 我在（）朝的一天 -（朝代）

• 3. Format: Game vs. Digital Story

• If it’s a game:

• Game type (e.g., "matching game" – match characters to pinyin; "adventure game" – collect character cards to progress; "quiz game" – answer questions to unlock levels).

• Rules: How to win/lose (e.g., "Answer 5 character questions correctly to pass the level"; "Avoid wrong answers to keep your score").

• If it’s a digital story:

• Plot: A simple, relatable story 

• Interaction: Embed pauses for learning (e.g., "Click on the word ‘书包’ to hear its pronunciation" or "Answer: What does ‘铅笔’ mean?").

• 4. Technical Design (Scratch-Specific)

• Characters: Use friendly sprites (e.g., a cartoon student, a talking panda) to guide learning.

• Backgrounds: Relevant to content (e.g., a classroom for school vocabulary, a festival scene for cultural stories).

• Interactions: How users interact (e.g., click sprites, press arrow keys, type answers in a text box).

• Feedback: Immediate responses (e.g., "Correct!" with a star animation; "Try again!" with a hint like pinyin).

• Sound: Include pinyin pronunciation, simple music, or character stroke order audio (e.g., "Listen: 山 (shān) – click to hear again").

• How to Measure It Works🚀

Expert appraisal

Performance test

User trial

User observation

Testing Method：

Expert appraisal 专家咨询： feedback from your design teacher or another design specialist.

Field test 田野调查: put the product in the environment and see if it 'works"

Performance test 性能检测: put the product in the environment and test how it is used to enhance something for someone.

User trial 用户测评: you could send a survey out to the users (teachers and or students) of the environment to gather their feedback.

User obseration 观察用户：Selecting representative users, using methods like contextual inquiry to record their behaviors and feedback, then analyzing pain points to improve design.

（Contextual inquiry is a user research method where researchers observe and interact with users in their real-life scenarios (e.g., homes, workplaces) to understand how they actually use products/services, capturing true needs and pain points.）

Changing specifications during a unit of work

Students can revise their design specifications until B4

Students may have opportunities to develop their specification further as they continue through the unit of work（Until B4）. The final version of the specification should be incorporated into the assessment of students’ performance.

Changes in a specification should be justified through additional research that students may need to conduct as a result of finding that an aspect of a specification is not appropriate.

Padlet Link （Students Working Examples ）🧰