What do you make?

I've dabbled with different approaches to having students introduce themselves. In my game design classes, I've generally asked students to share their last great play experiences. This allows us to share some lighthearted stories and start discussing the relationship between "play" and "game." In my HCI class the last two semesters, I've asked students what they want to learn. Last semester's experience with this was not very interesting, since most students said some variation on "how to design interfaces." It's not a bad answer, but it's also not surprising.

This semester, I decided to take a hint from my good friend Easel Monster, as explained in the first minute of this video:

Easel recommends that when you meet someone, you should ask what they make. I did this in both of my regular courses this semester. In the game studio course, which includes a multidisciplinary undergraduate teams, a lot of students gave games-related answers: video games, stories, fictional settings for tabletop roleplaying games, music. This was about what I expected since I recruited these students specifically to produce a video game: of course they would be makers at heart.

My other class is Human-Computer Interaction, an elective for Computer Science majors and minors. I have been out of teaching the prerequisite course (CS222) for several semesters. Where I used to recognize half or more of the students coming into my upper-level elective courses, this time I only knew a handful. That means only a handful knew me as well, although I do wonder if they thought they knew me through my reputation. In any case, on the first day, I took my customary mugshots, having each student hold up a sheet of paper with their name written on it. Having these photos makes it much easier for me to learn which names and faces go together. As they stood in front of the room, I asked them to give their name, where they are from (as broadly as they wish to answer), and to answer the question, "What do you make?" Some of them answered that they made Web pages or software, one in particular referencing software made at his job. Others said they made stories or, again, fictional worlds for tabletop roleplaying. Three specific answers jumped out at me as being especially interesting. One student answered that he makes sandwiches. That's a great thing to make! Someone in the class asked if he made special sandwiches, and he said he made a mean PB&J. Another answered that he made friends. You could practically hear the smiles break out among his classmates—is there anything better to make? Finally, one student said, "I don't know what I make, but I'm trying to figure that out." There's a curious one. On one hand, I say he's in the right place, so higher education can help him sort it all out. On the other hand, I wonder if it should be an entry exam to ask, "What do you make?" to help students think about it.

Thanks, Easel Monster!