Many young adults in the United States learn about credit through avenues outside of academia such as from family and friends, word of mouth, and web research. The U.S. credit system serves as a cornerstone to begin understanding more complex financial topics, yet many young adults enter the financial system with little to no understanding of credit leading to uninformed decisions with potential financial repercussions. As a solution, a gamified module on credit was developed for young adults. The module, developed using Genially and Google Sites, employed real-life branching scenarios and was designed using Dick and Carey’s Systems Approach Model to instructional design and Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation. The module presented relevant situations that would capture and sustain the target audience’s interest and motivation to learn about what could be deemed a challenging and complicated topic.
To evaluate the module, a usability study was conducted through synchronous semi-structured interviews (n=3) and an asynchronous learning effectiveness study (n=15). The usability study revealed a need for improvement in parts of the module’s navigation. The module received positive comments from participants regarding the instructional content and overall learning experience, and showed an overall increase in the learning through an average increase of 16% between pre- and post-test assessments. Future work will explore expanding the story within the module to include additional scenarios and hosting a broader range of question types in the assessment.
Jonathan Harwell