LOCAL WINNER
Beginner Awards: Social impact
Study Sprouts
Solution details
The app aims to use collectable gamification strategies to persuade students to develop skills through developing a multisensory avatar/soundscape. It will give them a record of the skills they have developed over time. Items can be collected through engaging with various aspects of University life both physically and online.
Tweet / Slogan
Introducing our prototype app for students! A fun, inclusive tool to build confidence & essential skills through gamified nudges & challenges. Accessible for all, it features multisensory avatars and soundscapes & rewards from Uni activities. Skills + growth = 🎉
Coventry Sprouts
Context
Students arrive at university with a multitude of options and avenues for their own personal development. We are seeking to develop a simple gamified item collection and reward game that will aim to promote certain activities and behaviors whilst maintaining the optionality that exists within the different opportunities available.
Rewards can be developed by the various centers withing the University including Student Union, Library, Gym, course based, virtual learning environment etc. Students receive items by taking part in productive activities such as collaborative activities, making use of library resources etc. These help to build a library that can be used to develop an avatar both visually and in terms of an appealing soundscape.
The gamified activity will aim to provide options that will appeal to and be accessible to as broader range of individuals as possible giving them the ability to tailor their own development whilst also giving tutors the ability to nudge and reward positive behaviors.
By offering the ability to develop both soundscape options and visual outcomes we hope to make the activity rewarding to a broad range of people. The application itself will also make use of tools that enhance accessibility by making the best use of optional mechanisms of interaction and simple navigation options.
Who Benefits?
We have developed a prototype for an application aimed at students in higher education which offers a fun way to receive nudges and challenges to help them develop confidence and essential skills throughout their studies. It is aimed at undergraduates who are likely to be in their first year but who will continue to use the app during later years. An important aim is to make the application inclusive for people with both visual or audio impairments as well as keeping options and tools easily navigable with clear cues and accessible input methods. The application aims to be as general as possible in terms of subjects, skills or types, building diverse skills that are applicable to all.
The application also aims to appeal to those who are less game-centric and who would rather simply focus on the nudges and tasks with screens that focus on these details rather than the game element. Key persona elements in this group include:
Growing in maturity
Time short
Potentially english as a second language
Potentially requirements around hearing, sight and neurodiversity and dexterity
Impact
This solution helps to encourage students to interact in their courses and the wider university by rewarding engagement through micro-learning.
Catalysing educational engagement and ownership
Supporting diverse and inclusive learning needs
Promoting sustainable practices and digital Minimalism
Fostering a collaborative campus culture
Improving student engagement data for faculty
Encouraging lifelong learning and professional skills
Team work
Ashley Rowley, Learning Designer & Maintenance specialist
Sophie Rowson, Content Coordinator & Technology specialist
Barry Hall, Digital Media Producer & Audio specialist
Ambrose Cole, Senior Learning Designer & Platform and tech specialist
Hilary Wray, PhD Student & Product Design / UX specialist
Celine Llewellyn-Jones, LD & Chair of Disabled Staff Network
Michael Swift, Digital Media Producer & Accessibility Specialist
Innovativeness
This application aims to innovate beyond traditional collection-based games by focusing more on the multisensory potential that is possible by including audio soundscapes alongside the more traditional visual collectables. It also aims to innovate in the higher education sector by developing a game based solution to the issue of engagement and development of skills that are not necessarily associated directly with activities that apply directly to achieving a degree but which are acknowledged as highly important in the growth of individuals in the complex world which they are entering.
Transferability
The application can easily be tailored to cater for the various different campuses which Coventry University covers including thew online space. This includes the ability to use different languages as it deliberately minimizes language use in it’s design. It can also off nudges and rewards that are bespoke to each campus.
The tool itself can also be tailored in a similar manner to different academic levels including school and further education by modifying the rewards given without significant modification to the underlying app.
Sustainability
I order to develop the application further we would seek to develop integrations with the current University architecture that is available at Coventry University in order to develop mechanisms for recording achievements linked to students. In future this would also include architecture used in other Universities to increase useability.
Future developments will also include the ability for external businesses to offer physical rewards such as coffee, lunches etc for achievements.
Extensive work will also be needed through interactions with target users to ensure that the avatars and items are attractive. Work will also be necessary to ensure that the application leverages accessibility features that are built into mobile phones to ensure that the application maximizes its potential for accessibility.