50% Done? + Thoughts on science & learning

(reading time: 3 minutes)

We're 50% there!... probably.

In the past two weeks, I finished the rough art for Acts II, III, and IV. I thought it'd just be placeholder stick figures, but I ended up drawing lots of "final-version" art.

For example, here's some art from Act II! (Context: you, the anxiety-wolf, can release a "Special Attack". Instead of telling your human words, you show them an image. Your human just drank some alcohol at the party. These are the three images you can flash into their mind – corresponding to the fears of Being Harmed, Being Alone, and Being a Bad Person)

Question #1: Are these pics are *too* dark? The mood I'm aiming for is serious & jarring, but still absurd & cartoon-ish.

Also, here's some minor characters! (also, the names of our human+wolf duo-tagonists, revealed)

And finally, Shoryuken.

The last time I posted a Progress Update, many of y'all were excited for more updates, but (validly) concerned if "One Update Per 2 Weeks" would take too much time away from, y'know, actually doing work.

So for my next update, I'll try three weeks from now! (June 28th, Friday) These updates do take ~2 hours to write, but I still think it's worth it because:

1) Transparency!

2) It's motivating to share what I've worked on, rather than sit on it in silence 'til it's done. And if I'm not motivated, in the long run, it'll take longer than if I don't share updates.

3) Also helps me realize how fast/slow I'm actually making progress. To be honest, the +10% progress increase since 2 weeks ago is nice... but at 10% per 2 weeks, that predicts I'll be done in 10 weeks, or mid-August. I'm hoping AwA is done by Aug 1st, but, well, we'll see.

4) I can get feedback from you, and/or learn new things from y'all! Speaking of which:

Question #2: What idea/topic/skill have you learnt recently – or are currently learning – that really excites you?

I'll go first! Here's some stuff that's been churning in my mind recently:

• Self-Determination Theory (pdf)
  
  It's a theory of fundamental human needs. (Unlike Maslow's Hierarchy, SDT's been empirically validated) The 3 needs are ARC: Agency, Relationships, and Challenge. (originally named Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence)
  
  SDT seems to have big applications to social change, mental health, and education. Personally, my mental health has improved lots ever since I started tracking how well my ARC needs were met each day!
  
• The Expertise Reversal Effect (pdf)
  
  An ego-humbling finding I learned recently: unstructured "active" learning-by-doing is actually TERRIBLE for novices, compared to reading "passive" worked examples.
  
  Oh no.
  
  But then, another finding: "active" learning-by-doing is GREAT for intermediate/advanced students, and now "passive" learning sucks. What??? This replicated finding, The Expertise Reversal Effect, was mind-blowing to me – and will force me to reconsider how I make & scaffold my explorables in the future.
  
  (I gave a talk at the NYU Game Center about this 3 months ago – the video should be posted later this month, fingers crossed!)
  
• Social Modeling (wikipedia).
  
  People learn from people – even from fictional people! However, most of my past work is written in a textbook-like "omniscient narrator" voice. I rarely use the pronoun "I".
  
  But after learning how Social Modeling helps people learn all kinds of things – math, metacognition, overcoming phobias, self-efficacy, healthy habits – I wonder if I should "put myself as a character" in my work more often (like Vi Hart or CGP Grey) or even put in fictional "student" characters too (like 3Blue1Brown or, uh, Magic School Bus).

Do any of those things whet your curiosity? What else have you been curious in recently? Please let me know! I want us to keep learning & sharing from each other. Keep that fire going.

💖
~ Nicky Case