Mastermind Reflection
1. If the leader is nature, which group of people do the students represent in the game?
The scientists trying to decipher the laws that apply to nature.
2. What does the leader's (nature's) hidden code represent?
The code represent the theories that scientists are trying to find and confirm through experimentation.
3. What does each sequence of four color or letters represent?
The hypothesis that are formulated by the scientists in order to be tested against nature's secret code.
4. What do the black-and-white circle responses to each line of four colors or letters represent?
The data that is gathered from experimentation. The data can either be wrong or correct, something that also is represented in the context of the game by the dots.
5. What is the role of the hypothesis in the game?
To help decipher the code. They are first formulated and contrasted against the unknown code, and then data is gathered from that. Based on that data collected, another new possibly more accurate hypothesis needs to be created. Hence, hypothesis serve as a try-and-check mechanism to figure out the answer.
6. What is the role of theory in the game?
Theory in this case would be the final answer, once the code is deciphered fully. The theory is formulated from numerous hypothesis that have been disproven, improved and confirmed.
7. In what sense is the meaning of black and white circles theory-dependent?
That they always mean the same thing. Black will always mean that the color is part of the sequence and that it is in the correct spot, and white, that the color is in the sequence. Furthermore, they are the data that is contrasted against the theory. That data holds value because it is contrasted against reality. Without the theory, the data would be independent of reality and would thus hold no true value to scientists.
8. What did you notice about the social interactions of the students during the game? In what sense is this realistic?
There was a sense of superiority from the leaders as they already knew the answer whilst the players had to be more focused in order to formulate accurate hypothesis. Usually, nevertheless, this hierarchy of power (information is power) is not necessarily realistic as theories are only proven by working together, not necessarily one against the other.
9. What WOKs were involved in playing the game? Were you using your imagination or emotion to guide your play?
I was using a mixture of imagination and reason, trying to use logic and a variety of methods to try to narrow down the options of the colors and their order based on previous hypotheses.
10. Were there any moments when you felt you were using your intuition to guide your play?
Yes, there were moments when I was struggling to analyze the data I was gathering properly and at points, I was just deciding to go with my intuition.
11. In what way did the game illustrate the fact that scientific research is a group effort?
For those teams that were working in groups, it could seen that working together was essential in order to decipher more logical or at least, better structured hypothesis. It is important to be comparing our own hypothesis against those formulated by others because this can decrease the level of bias in the experiment. This creates more objective hypothesis, blocking out the subjectivity and thus leading to more accurate and valuable data.
The scientists trying to decipher the laws that apply to nature.
2. What does the leader's (nature's) hidden code represent?
The code represent the theories that scientists are trying to find and confirm through experimentation.
3. What does each sequence of four color or letters represent?
The hypothesis that are formulated by the scientists in order to be tested against nature's secret code.
4. What do the black-and-white circle responses to each line of four colors or letters represent?
The data that is gathered from experimentation. The data can either be wrong or correct, something that also is represented in the context of the game by the dots.
5. What is the role of the hypothesis in the game?
To help decipher the code. They are first formulated and contrasted against the unknown code, and then data is gathered from that. Based on that data collected, another new possibly more accurate hypothesis needs to be created. Hence, hypothesis serve as a try-and-check mechanism to figure out the answer.
6. What is the role of theory in the game?
Theory in this case would be the final answer, once the code is deciphered fully. The theory is formulated from numerous hypothesis that have been disproven, improved and confirmed.
7. In what sense is the meaning of black and white circles theory-dependent?
That they always mean the same thing. Black will always mean that the color is part of the sequence and that it is in the correct spot, and white, that the color is in the sequence. Furthermore, they are the data that is contrasted against the theory. That data holds value because it is contrasted against reality. Without the theory, the data would be independent of reality and would thus hold no true value to scientists.
8. What did you notice about the social interactions of the students during the game? In what sense is this realistic?
There was a sense of superiority from the leaders as they already knew the answer whilst the players had to be more focused in order to formulate accurate hypothesis. Usually, nevertheless, this hierarchy of power (information is power) is not necessarily realistic as theories are only proven by working together, not necessarily one against the other.
9. What WOKs were involved in playing the game? Were you using your imagination or emotion to guide your play?
I was using a mixture of imagination and reason, trying to use logic and a variety of methods to try to narrow down the options of the colors and their order based on previous hypotheses.
10. Were there any moments when you felt you were using your intuition to guide your play?
Yes, there were moments when I was struggling to analyze the data I was gathering properly and at points, I was just deciding to go with my intuition.
11. In what way did the game illustrate the fact that scientific research is a group effort?
For those teams that were working in groups, it could seen that working together was essential in order to decipher more logical or at least, better structured hypothesis. It is important to be comparing our own hypothesis against those formulated by others because this can decrease the level of bias in the experiment. This creates more objective hypothesis, blocking out the subjectivity and thus leading to more accurate and valuable data.
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