Learner should be prompted about gender during initial loading of site

[mjslee]

Learners should be prompted about their gender while the media files are loading.

This will require three avatars:

1. male
2. female
3. gender-neutral

These images will only be used if the learner happens to be assigned to the experimental condition. In either condition, the learners' response will be captured and saved as demographic data.

[amyjko]

To be precise, they should be asked about their gender. Sex is anatomy, gender is identity.

[mjslee]

Yes, thanks for catching that. I did not mean to use the terms interchangeably. I guess I've been hanging out too much with my med school friends who only talk about gross anatomy lab :P

[mjslee]

I propose an alternative to asking specifically about gender at the beginning of the task. Instead, if we detect they are in the experimental condition, we ask them to choose one of three avatars to represent themselves.

Rationale:

1. If we ask for gender in the beginning, it can break the flow of the intro movie and subsequent gidget mission statement.
2. It might not be entirely clear to the learner why we are asking for gender, especially for the control group who would see no difference in their avatar.
3. Having learners choose their own avatar not only makes it clear that the avatar is a representation of themselves, but also connects them to it more since they chose it.
4. Asking about gender in the post-survey goes along with the other demographic questions we ask.

[mjslee]

Added "Choose Avatar" pane and selection for new games set at experimental condition.

Todo: Fix timing issue. Currently, it appears under the loading bar, and then under the intro movie. It should (probably) appear after the intro, but before gidget begins to speak.

[amyjko]

If the control condition doesn't get the avatar selection pane, how will we know their gender?

[mjslee]

Sorry I wasn't more clear about this:

1. The post-quit survey still asks the learner for their gender in both conditions.
2. Asking the user to pick their avatar in the beginning of the experimental condition does not serve to inform of us their gender. Instead it serves to clarify to the learner that the avatar represents them, and it gives them some investment (though minute) towards their character.

[amyjko]

Gotcha.

[mjslee]

Resolved. On load, it checked if we're in the exp condition and if an avatar has been selected yet. If not, it shows the Selection Pane after the movie (or if the movie has been played once before for some reason, it shows immediately after load bar disappears).