Jared's Contribution

14. Regime of Competence Principle -- This principle deals with the idea that video game players or learners in school are playing or learning at a level that is at the edge of what they are capable of. Many times, advanced students coast in school because what the are asked to do is so within what they are capable of that it requires no effort. Other times, students are asked to perform at a level that is so beyond what they can do at the time that they fail. In both cases minimal learning takes place. This principle is about being challenged, but still being able to succeed. In good video games this happens and the players enjoy the challenge and learning through discovery that takes place.

32. Cultural Models about Semiotic Domains Principle -- This principle is that in video games and in learning our cultural models with respect to a certain semiotic domain can be challenged or questioned without making us feel bad about our beliefs or abilities. As a result, we can consider different cultural models outside our own.

Chapter 6 -- Principle 32 comes from this chapter in the book. This chapter deals with cultural models. Remember the quiz we took in class where we made the distinction between a group model and a more general model? The chapter talks about a kid playing Sonic and when he is the dark, bad Sonic, named Shadow, that character becomes the good guy to the player. That is an example of a group model because you are working on the side of Shadow and the bad guys and you feel good when you are successful for that group. It is not about general principles of good and bad. The chapter also talks about video games where you are a young mobster and are trying to earn your status within that group. Although crime is generally bad, for that group it is good.

This chapter also discusses cultural models, which are how we look at the world. Cultural models are based on things and experiences out in the world. They are not just in our heads. They are based off of the different groups we are a part of, like church, school, family, socioeconomic class, country, culture, and profession. They are not right or wrong. We can be exposed to them and even adopt them in games without having to adopt them in real life. They can be good because they allow us to interact with the world, but they can be bad if they cause us to denigrate ourselves when we otherwise wouldn't. An example of this is an working class American who believes in the American Dream and since he is not wealthy believes that he is not working hard enough or is not smart enough. In another cultural model, he may not feel this way.

This chapter also talks about how schools use cultural models. In science, we are taught that in ideal circumstances an object will not move or it will move at a constant speed. However, the world is not ideal. It has friction and gravity, resulting in objects that do not keep to this ideal. the same thing happens in economics when we make models showing what will happen assuming consumers act rationally. However, consumers do not always behave rationally and as a result modifications have to be made to these models.

That's the point. These ideal models serve as a starting point and then we can make modifications to them. Our cultural models also serve as a starting point for the way we look at the world an then they can be challenged by the models of others and we can decide whether or not to modify our own model. This is the basis of principle 32 -- that our models can be challenged in a non-threatening way in both video games and learning.