For our free inquiry project, my group decided to research the impacts of game-based learning. Specifically, we want to know if the use of gamification improves knowledge retention in online courses. We want to know how whether the use of gamification elements, such as badges, milestones, and leaderboards, actually boost user engagement and retention in online learning.

Another possible perspective we may look into is if gamification is beneficial, how do we ensure that it aligns with learning outcomes?

This is a diagram I found to demonstrate how gamification is justified as a helpful tool in learning. These techniques may make learning more exciting for students, and may even generate better retention.

Myself, Jayla, and Sydney (our learning pod) completed our proposal to lay the groundwork for the completion of our project. Since then, we have called/texted to determine specifics regarding our topic. This included the creation of a document via Google Docs to outline our research findings and notes.

After coming up with some subtopics and headings that we wanted to address, we brainstormed possible presentation methods. Ultimately, we decided on using Canva to create an infographic to display our findings. This way, we can use elements related to multimedia (such as the incorporation of images and diagrams alongside text) to enhance comprehension.

We plan on each researching a few components to optimize workflow and efficiency. Over the next week, our goal is to begin adding information to the document to kickstart deeper learning and research.

After that, we will look into choosing our infographic template, calling (or meeting in person) to work on the project, and communicating our plan with Colin to gain some feedback (to ensure we are on the right track).

I am looking forward to see where this project takes us to deeper our understanding of gamification in online learning!