A land lost in time
Veluws College
High school students are faced with scheduling their own homework for the first time in their lives. But they often fail to get that homework done on time, or even at all. It is often suggested that this is purely a motivation problem, but is this actually the case?
We researched the situation and came up with a design that can help improve planning skills among the target group.
Research
During our literature research, we have found that the prefrontal cortex of children aged 11 to 16 is still developing. This is the case until the age of about 25.
As a result, concentration, segmentation and prioritization are not within the capabilities of most of the target group. All are skills needed to plan effectively. So the assuption that they should be able to do this themselves, or even with the help of parents is wrong.
When asked the target group tells us the current help and resources given from school is lacking, they indicate that it is often not clear when something is due, where to find information about the homework, and teachers have only little time to provide individualized support.
In addition, the workload is not evenly distributed. Where one week the agenda is full of homework, the next week it is nothing at all.
Finally, students find it difficult to talk openly for help because they are afraid of being seen as stupid. Students assume that they should just be able to do the planning. But in practice, only 50% of homework is put in their agenda.
Design
We designed a serious game in which the student is intrinsically stimulated to actively work on their weekly schedule. To achieve this, we used storytelling, ownership, empowerment and loss aversion.
Through storytelling, the player is introduced to an island where archaeological excavations are taking place. The professor (in game mentor) explains that the island has had rich flora and fauna and he could use your help in unraveling this history. During this introduction, the player learns all the mechanics of the environment and thus steps they need to plan effectively.
Completed tasks yield different pieces of archaeological findings, which the player can put on display in the museum (collection log). In addition, the player can dress up the island to their own liking with their discovered flora, fauna, history and artifacts.
Gameplay loop
1. Scheduling and Segmentation.
To schedule a task, the player walks to the desired day and answers some questions here, such as what subject do you want to schedule here? How long do you think this task will take? What form of homework is it (exam, homework exercise, etc.)?
2. Start and finish the scheduled task.
When the scheduled task is due then the student gets a notification and the excavation can begin! During this the phone keeps showing the progress of the excavation and the time how long the player has been working. The player cannot use the phone again until the excavation is completed or stopped early.
3. Realize and reflect.
After completing the excavation/performing the task, time is taken to reflect on the activity. Here the player answers a few short questions such as "How did the task go?", "Was the planned time correct or did you need more time?", "Did you stop early because the task was already completed, or did something not quite work out?" and the player is given the opportunity to record the experience in the player journal.
4. Eliminating the threshold.
The player journal can later be used by teachers to quickly and effectively see how the student is progressing, removing the threshold for the student to make an immediate request for help themselves.
5. Ownership
After a successful dig, the player receives an archaeological find related to the topic of the task. For example, biology provides fosils of the animals that lived on the island and languages unlock scrolls that tell something about stories of previous inhabitants.
6. Expression
The finds can be displayed in the museum. Over active time, these items cause the island to flourish and the ancient animals to come back to life. The player chooses how they wants their island to look.