The Teachers’ Guide to Cranky Uncle offers background information and classroom activity ideas for educators interested in using the Cranky Uncle game to teach critical thinking in their classes.
For teachers interested in using the Cranky Uncle game in their classes, here are the steps to get started:
- Register to get a group code. I need a few details about your class in order to email you group code/s.
- Receive your group codes by email. I will get back to you asap with group codes (note that they’re case sensitive).
- Download the game. There are three ways that your students can access the game:
- iPhone: https://sks.to/crankyiphone
- Android: https://sks.to/crankyandroid
- Browser: https://app.crankyuncle.info
- Research instructions. Student can voluntarily take part in research – this helps us assess the effectiveness of the game. No identifying info is collected so it is completely anonymous. To participate:
- If your students are younger than 18, distribute this Research Information Sheet to your students’ parents (it informs the parents of the research and that the students can opt out any time they like).
- Students check the two consent boxes when the game first starts, then select YES when asked if they want to take part in the research.
- They then fill out a 10-question survey before the game starts.
- Once they’ve completed all the denial techniques, they’ll be asked to fill out another 10-question survey. Once that’s completed, that’s it!
- Note that students can opt-out of the research at any point – they can edit their consent settings via the About screen.
I’m keen to hear from teachers who have used the game in their classes. I’ve already been impressed by the creative ways that critical thinking is being taught in the classroom, hence the Teachers’ Guide already has a number of suggested activities. Keen to hear about other creative approaches and how your students responded to the game…
SARAH LATIMER
hey, I just gave out my Earth Science code to an honors freshmen bio class. (sorry- just the sort of thing which makes us as teachers want to scream at our students). I was in the middle of a lab, and I saw the code and didn’t think that it was just for one class.
1. may I have another code for my Earth Science Class?
2. Details on class which has code are: freshmen biology, honors level
PS: freshmen were engaged, thought it was funny, were competing to get on a higher level, loved reporting the descriptors of the uncle’s mood.
John Cook
Technically, it’s ok to share the code between different classes so long as students aren’t using the same device. If one student plays the game with a group code on – say a school computer – then another student comes into the same room and logs in with the same group code, then they’ll pick up from where the last student left it. But if two students use the same group code on different devices, it works fine.
However, we are interested in tracking how effective the game is across different subjects. Do Earth Science students respond better than biology students? From that perspective, it would be better to have a bio code for the biology class and an earth science code for the earth science class. But from your perspective, it actually doesn’t concern you – that’s more a behind-the-scenes analytics thing for us trying to understand and improve the game. Will follow up by email about the code.
Great to hear your freshmen enjoyed the class!
Alex P
Hello –
Thanks for the program – it looks great. I’m just looking through the teacher’s guide.
It looks like if the code is used, the cranky uncle researchers will be able to track that cohort of users and see how they perform / progress. However, there is no interface for the teacher to monitor their students’ progress.
The students would need to share screenshots in order to share their progress with the teacher.
Is that correct?
Thanks!
John Cook
Yes, that’s correct. Our plan is to down the track develop a dashboard for teachers so they can monitor student progress but we’re not there yet. In the meantime, the only way is for students to share screenshots – I did exactly that for a grad class I taught at George Mason University.
Jose Fernando Fuertes-Bucheli
Estimado Cook, por favor comuníquese conmigo tan pronto sea posible, desde el Semillero de Microbiología y Salud Pública de la Universidad Icesi en Colombia, nos gustaría evaluar la efectividad de su programa en español en una comunidad de Latinoamérica con problemas de desinformación.