Mad Maxine: Research Warrior

[Stacey Larner]

Like Leena, I picked up that Belinda needed a boost in confidence; she is a capable student but her lack of technological and research skills are a barrier that have made her experience a lot harder than it could be. Added to that she has chosen to make sure she is always available to her children when they need her, and to not study when they are around, so needs flexible help that can be accessed at any time, from anywhere.

I had a few ideas about that (skype reference service was one that I mentioned last week in the comments of my reflection) but I went with an interactive game based on the university library website. In IFN612 last semester we learnt about gamification, and how it can make the experience of learning more enjoyable, as well as increasing the amount of information retained through the learning experience.

The game would be called “Mad Maxine: Research Warrior” (unless that’s too close for copyright haha), and the idea is to enter your course code so the game is tailored to the kinds of research you might be doing in your course (so you can be introduced to databases suited for your information needs rather than irrelevant ones), and then select your level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). You are given a scenario (all centred around helping a person in a context relevant to your degree) and have to navigate the library website to find the information needed. There would be mini-tutorials as you progress, and rewards, as well as traps and pitfalls. At the end you earn the title Research Warrior and ride off into the sunset feeling a warm glow of satisfaction that you have succeeded. Each level gets progressively harder until you are comfortable with the website and your ability to research.

*I had massive issues with the thought of posting this, because I am a big dag haha.

[Katherine Lee]

What a great idea Stacey! I love that you have combined learning research skills through using the library website with a game. I think this would be a really great way to get people to feel more confident using the library’s resources. I can see so much potential for this game! Maybe lecturers could even include it as part of their course, it could be incorporated as a research tasks for preparing for assignments. Would it be available through the library website?

[Sarah Ross]

Could you please make this into reality now – I could really use it.  Great idea and something that can get slotted into the day when she has time providing she can access it and library stuff from anywhere?

[Stacey Larner]

Yep the idea was that it could either be installed as an app or accessed through the Library website (maybe a nice big visual on the homepage, Mad Maxine beckoning). So easily accessible and not time-restricted.

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