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Diffusion Simulation and Reflection

Ana Alfaro-Garcia

Dr. Sarah Evanick and Dr. Laura Otero

California State University Monterey Bay

School of Computing and Design

October 1, 2023
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Diffusion Simulation and Reflection

Experience

I had a positive experience after playing the game three different times. This game is unlike

anything I have experienced in the past, both in real life and through the screen. I enjoyed their

being a game with these types of scenarios because I have not had the experience in real life.

I believe that my lack of real life experience did affect my decisions at first because I did not

know where to start. At first, I was a bit confused about the different diffusion activities, their

impact, and feedback but, I figured it out quickly

Strategies

Going into the first gameplay, I did not have a strategy. It took me a total of an hour and a half to

finish the first gameplay. I started by talking to all the staff members first; this is where I realized

I had to talk to and ask the secretary for help before talking to the principal. I took note of the

feedback given to me, especially which teachers had more interest. I had the teachers who were

most interested “help me” and gave the prints to less motivated teachers. After this, I had the

teachers who were less motivated visit one of the adopters’ classrooms for a demonstration. To

add more adopters, I hosted both a training workshop and a local mass media action. I did gain

15 adopters but started to panic once there were 5 weeks left and decided to do a compulsion

where I lost adopters.

For the second gameplay, I decided to start by gathering all personal information and unlocking

all three diagrams. I took note of the teachers who said they were not believers in peer tutoring

and focused on talking more to the principal. I asked teachers who were interested in helping and

gained 2 adopters after talking. I talked to all the teachers again to start filling in the interest bar.

I helped with a presentation, a demonstration with an adopter teacher, a training workshop, and a
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material workshop. I talked to the teachers who were still on the fence and focused on mass

media. From there, I did a site visit with teachers who had a high interest but were not adopters. I

finished with a pilot test and got 19 adopters.

My approach for the last gameplay was almost the same as the second. I only decided to change

the amount of conversations I had with teachers to do other activities such as pilot testing,

presentations, demonstrations, and site visits. I went with this change because I noticed that the

attitudes and interests of some staff members changed compared to the previous rounds. It was

the first time I noticed a change but glad it happened because staff members’ interests changed

and I should not always expect the same answer.

Worked and Didn’t

For all of the gameplays, talking to all the staff members first to hear their opinions and take note

of their feedback worked. Additionally, unlocking the diagrams helped me see the connections

between different coworkers and how I can use one connection to influence another. Moreover,

asking the staff members who were interested in helping worked in my favor to build a stronger

relationship and make their opinions heard. The only thing that did not work for me was

approaching the principal. After building a relationship with the principal, I was left to my own

devices because they offered no help it did take me a couple of tries to make them an adopter.

Adopters

After the first game-play, I was left with 9 adopters. This occurred because I chose the action of

compulsion and I was knocked from 15 adopters to 9. For both the second and third gameplay, I

was left with 18 adopters.