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Version 2:
"Kyle's Adventure 1.0"

2023 Sep - Dec

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This design explores both branching and linear digital storytelling. We assess student effectiveness and gather interview responses for comprehensive analysis, aiming to refine educational storytelling techniques and understand their impact on learning outcomes.

Demonstrating Kyle's Adventure path choosing and choosing Path Y the Explorer Track

Background

Building on previous feedback collection from Version 1, the next design phase will focus on enhancing personalization and adaptability:
 

  • Personalization: Incorporate choices within the storytelling to allow students to influence the narrative direction.
     

  • Adaptivity: Design the system to adjust its difficulty and pacing based on individual student responses and progress.

Design

  • Cohen’s Story Elements Updated:

    • Character: Kyle, a master's student transitioning to an instructional designer at Design Everyday, narrates his journey from intern to professional.

    • Plot: Follow Kyle's adventures and the real-world challenges he faces,  blending academic theories of computational thinking and course design with practical application in his role.

    • Setting: The dynamic environments of both daily life settings and a bustling instructional design firm.

    • Moral: Emphasizes the importance of adaptability and continuous learning in professional growth.
       

  • Adaptive Gamification:

    • Paths: We continue with tailored learning paths—Achievers and Explorers—to cater to diverse learning preferences and drive engagement.

    • Goal: Maintain a clear objective to ensure at least 75% of students successfully achieve the desired outcomes through these personalized pathways
       

  • GAFCC-F framework to enhance the educational experience through gamification:

    • Goal: Students aim to navigate through Kyle's progression from a student to a professional instructional designer, advancing through various levels on the Moodle platform to complete his adventure.

    • Access: Access to new modules or stages is controlled via Moodle's conditional release features, which unlock content based on the completion of previous tasks, ensuring a structured learning path.

    • Feedback: The system provides instant feedback through automated grading and comments for each task completed, offering students clear guidance on their performance and quick insights into how they can improve.

    • Challenge: The course is structured to include a series of individual tasks that increase in difficulty. These tasks are designed to simulate real-life challenges that Kyle faces in his career, requiring students to apply theoretical knowledge in practical, scenario-based tasks.

    • Collaboration: There are no collaborative tasks in this version; all challenges are designed for individual completion to focus on personal skill development and self-paced learning.

    • Fantasy: "Kyle's Adventures" embeds the coursework within a narrative where students help Kyle address and solve instructional design challenges. This story element aims to make the learning process more engaging and relatable by framing educational content within an ongoing adventure.
       

This design evolution is aimed at deepening student immersion and improving educational efficacy by connecting the theoretical knowledge of a master’s program with the hands-on challenges of a professional environment.

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Learner Experience Flow and Unlocking Scheme of Kyle's Adventure 1.0. Click to View on Miro

Demonstrating Kyle's Adventure making a new choice for Path X Achiever Quest and failing the challenging path leading to resetting of Path X to Path Y

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Bartle's Player Types - We have chosen to adapt our designs for Achievers and Explorers

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Result

The intervention was assessed using various metrics, revealing significant impacts on student engagement and learning:

  • Intrinsic Motivation: Measured through the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory survey, students showed enhanced motivation.

  • Learning Performance: A pre-and post-test indicated noticeable improvement.

  • Behavioral Engagement: Analysis of Moodle log files demonstrated increased completion of tasks.


At the end of the semester, semi-structured interviews revealed participants' positive attitudes towards the gamified learning experience in "Kyle's Adventure 1.0", highlighting its effectiveness in enhancing engagement and motivation.

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  • Initial Impressions and Engagement:

    • Participants were initially attracted by the novel approach, particularly the integration of comics and real-world scenarios, which made the content engaging and understandable.

  • Adaptive Learning Experience:

    • The adaptability of the course to individual learning styles was highly appreciated. Students valued the ability to choose different paths, enhancing their learning experience by aligning with personal preferences and class materials.

  • Problem-Solving Skills:

    • Feedback on problem-solving skills was mixed. While some students reported improved computational thinking and problem-solving abilities, others suggested that real-world scenarios could be more challenging.

  • Personal Growth and Professional Development:

    • Many participants reported increased confidence in tackling real-world problems, attributing this growth to the practical application of concepts learned during the course.
       

The second iteration of the course design, featuring character development with Kyle and an engaging plot about his journey in instructional design, has effectively enhanced student engagement and learning outcomes, while also pinpointing areas for further enhancement in future versions.

Suggestions

For the next design phase, focus on refining real-world scenarios, enhancing course clarity and progress tracking, and improving assessment methods.

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