2016-2017 Undergraduate Research Award Co-Recipient "Gamification of Cardiovascular Disease Education"
I received research funding to create board games to teach cardiovascular health in Baltimore. Currently, my team is piloting the board games in a clinic, and we hope to test in additional locations. The intention of this project is to understand the effectiveness of board games in classrooms and clinic settings to teach about cardiovascular disease. Results of this project will be presented at URCAD 2017 and a potential publication.
This experience connects to my selected Grand Challenge, because a board game version is intentionally tailored towards student strengths and abilities - a facet of personalized learning.
Personal Reflection: Through this project, I learned about the time-intensive process of research. I was in consistent communication with team members and stakeholders (basically took over my life). There was a delayed gratification to get our first professional prototype; but, it was worth it. I liked the process of research and execution.
Program-Wide Learning Objectives:
Realistic Vision - Minimal Viable Prototype
Persistence - getting IRB approval
Teamwork - working with multi-disciplinary team
Flexibility - adjusting to study sites/locations
Research Learning Objectives
Express ideas in an organized, clear, concise, and accurate manner. - URCAD
Write clearly and effectively in discipline-specific formats. - URA
Demonstrate the ability to formulate questions and hypotheses within their discipline. - URA
Show understanding of the way practitioners think within the discipline and view the world around them. - Minimal Viable Prototype development
Predict, recognize, and weigh the risks and benefits of the project for others. - IRB application approval
Recognize discipline-specific problems and challenges established thinking when appropriate - recognized issue with educational games that are too educational. I was challenged to think of ways to embed the learning experience.