Rage-Quit - Learn to Play: Designing Tutorials for Video Games - page 69

the player doesn't know what's going on. While this may not be the
case, if the player doesn't fail at things, he or she will never see the tip
again. On the other hand, the more the player fails, the more often
(and longer) the player sees the tip. Like its namesake, instructional
scaffolding refers to assistance in the building process. When scaf-
folding a building, we build parts that allow us access to higher levels
without the actual building's structure being in place. In education,
we offer help to students to reach higher or more difficult portions of
the instruction. As the building is raised, the scaffolds are removed.
In education, this means removing tips, tutorials, or pop-ups as the
player or student gains mastery in the topic. When we blend instruc-
tional scaffolding with something known as modeling , mimicking the
behavior of a master or adept, we come up with something known in
education as cognitive apprenticeship .
Cognitive Apprenticeship
Cognitive apprenticeship is a method of teaching that borrows from
traditional forms of apprenticeship; a master illustrates good form to
his apprentices and students. Unlike in a traditional apprenticeship,
however, cognitive masters lend some of their advanced schema to
their students to lessen cognitive load. Let me explain further: sup-
pose you have trouble with the quadratic equation. Someone who
has expert-level knowledge in this area can demonstrate a problem
to you, chunk the equation into smaller pieces, and then aid you
through problems. They will gradually remove their assistance until
your schema adapts to fit theirs. Thus, through a combination of
modeling—imitating a master-level practitioner of a skill—and scaf-
folding, we form a kind of apprenticeship with our teachers. How
does this relate to game design?
Numerous games give us expert players after which we must model
our own behavior. Egoraptor * shows us how Mega Man X creates an
apprenticeship relationship through the NPC Zero ™, who is much
stronger and more capable than the protagonist, creating a feeling of
emulation and constant improvement. I would say, however, that the
* “Sequelitis: Mega Man X.” Link at time of writing: http://www.youtube.com/user/
egoraptor.