Prototype

Zikora and Devin

Brief Project Intro: 

As neurobiology students, we have both experienced some of the most demanding and conceptually challenging courses that UVIC and university has to offer. Despite our similarity in academic interest and the material we study, our individual strategies differ in how we approach note taking, information retention, and practicing. The similarity of path, yet contrast in strategy inspired us to explore the science of effective study habits as the focus of our Open Educational Resource (OER), with the overall goal of helping students understand and improve how they learn. 

POV statement:

A university student who struggles or wants to improve managing time effectively and retaining complex information needs clear, engaging, and scientifically backed guidance on effective study habits to improve overall academic performance. 

Context and Audience: 

Our Open Educational Resource (OER) focuses on improving study habits for university students primarily who are seeking practical and research-based ways to learn more effectively and efficiently. University life can be demanding, as students must balance courses, labs, exams, social life and other extracurriculars, while simultaneously remaining motivated and focused. This especially applies to STEM students such as ourselves in rigorous programs, where retaining and understanding complex information requires high levels of effort and effective strategies. The primary audience of our OER are undergraduate students, particularly those in first and second years who are still developing their own habits and learning routines. This resource will also benefit any learner interested in improving their academic performance whether they are in high school or grad school as well. 

The typical users of our resource will be motivated students who want to perform well but feel overwhelmed by the amount of material received and academic pressure. Extreme cases may involve students who face learning barriers such as poor time management, text anxiety, and those who have ineffective note taking strategies. We also want our OER to be both inclusive and accessible to students with learning limitations such as those who struggle with attention, executive functioning, language barriers, or have cognitive disabilities that hinder their learning. Taking into account these types of students we want our OER to have clear visuals, concise language, and interactive media. 

We want to provide a variety of techniques, including those that have proved effective for us and those that have not. This allows learners using our resource to reflect and personalize their own approaches to studying. This resource will also explain why the techniques that we present work, drawing on the psychology and neuroscience of studying. We want to help students understand the science behind studying, teaching them processes such as memory encoding, active retrieval, repetition, and the importance of rest. Our aim with this OER is to make studying more intentional and strategic, allowing students to take control of their learning leading to overall academic success. 

Looking at our project through a psychographic lens, our target audience values self-improvement, achievement, and efficiency. Many students today have a preference for multimedia learning involving short, engaging, and easily digestible content, compared to long text-heavy formats. We recognize that attention spans are shorter than they have ever been, and that students often turn to digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok to learn new skills. The aim of our OER is to present information in a way that respects these learning preferences, focusing on delivering scientifically backed strategies in an appealing, time-conscious manner. Through this combination of educational theory and practical examples, our goal is to help students become more confident in their study habits. This is not only necessary to to better on exams, but to become more effective learners in all facets of life.     

Learning objectives  

• Understand the science of effective study habits 

 Learners will learn different tools to study like retrieval practice, active recall and spaced repetition 

• Reflect and find what study methods work best for themselves

• Develop structured and realistic study plan using time management 

• Recognize the role of mental health and lifestyle in learning 

• Recognize the role of mental health and style habits in learning

Sub objectives 

• Develop self awareness and adaptability to effectively learn
• Promote Intrinsic Motivation 
• Enhance self efficacy 

Ideation 

• Our brainstorming process began with us just speaking on the phone trying to find ideas that we both connected without ruling anything out. We then met in person to try to narrow down what ideas worked best.  Our first idea was around sports because we both love soccer and we looked at the idea of explain the rules of soccer or how to become a better soccer player.
• However we wanted a new topic  that could apply to our academic side and that we could share with friends. We then landed on study habits which from there we expanded to study habits + how to be a better learner. 

( Need media)

Storyboard 

Webpage 1 

How does studying work in the brain?

• Go through the science and the pathways in the brain that help them learn

Webpage 2

Different techniques to study 

• Go over different techniques to study like active recall, spaced repetition 

Webpage 3 

How to study effectively

• How to manage time and organization to learn 

Webpage 4

How to make your body and brain prepared to learn

• Healthy daily habits like sleep, drinking water and staying in a positive mindset 

Webpage 5

• Cited sources

Principles applied 

Segmenting principle

By using several webpages we will be able to break down the overall idea into small chunks that the reader will be able to digest and build upon the more they read. This reduces exogenous cognitive load and increases the effectiveness of our resources. 

Dual coding theory

The use of images and writing will be used in a balanced manor to reach different pathways in the brain to give multiple channels to process information.

Redundancy principle + Coherence principle 

It is very easy to go overboard on a webpage with images and text all over but we are going to create a balanced page that does not overload the user with so much information they don’t know where to start. This includes only adding vital relevant information that helps get the knowledge to the user and smoothly transition to the next webpage.

ADDIE model

This model is going to be used to design the webpage to make sure that it is an effective resource that can be used. The good thing about the ADDIE model is that it is not a one time a one time cyle it can be used over and over to re evaluate, change something, test it out then reflect on what works and what does not work.