Germaine Tan's profile

Motivation Contagion in Online Learning

Germaine Tan
•
A Social Presence Network for Online Learning
berry-like-jumbo is a tabletop object that captures your friends' desk activity. It aims to engineer motivation contagion by recreating the classroom experience. 

A year-long thesis under NUS Division of Industrial Design
Supervised by Dr. Yen Ching Chiuan
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
PROBLEM
In 2020, 76% of undergraduates identified the lack of motivation as the biggest obstacle for online learning. What's more, Covid-19 has set a trajectory for the future of higher education - a likely hybrid of online and in-person classes. 

University of Minnesota
_____________________________________________________________________________
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
RESEARCH I 
The Community of Inquiry (COI) model highlights the necessary dimensions in creating meaningful online learning experiences. It emphasises the importance of social presence, which has proven instrumental in sustaining academic interest and reducing dropout rates. Also, students who felt connected to peers attained higher grades and enjoyed greater emotional satisfaction. How then, can we recreate social presence in online learning?

Oblinger (2014)
_____________________________________________________________________________
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
RESEARCH II
Did you know? Motivation is contagious. Imagine being in the library at night, feeling tired from a long day of work. You feel restless and ready to call it a day. At this point, you look up and see the person sitting opposite you in deep focus, nowhere ready to give up. In that instant, you involuntarily 'catch' his perseverant attitude and feel driven to push on for a little longer. Such occurrences are known as motivation contagion, which often occurs at unconscious levels. How then, can we engineer motivation contagion when students are physically separated?
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
FINAL DESIGN 
berry-like-jumbo is an IoT social presence device. It captures your friends' desk activity with 2 PIR motion sensors, which are translated into simple visuals on an e-ink display.
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
HOW IT WORKS
Each user, including yourself, is characterized by a circle which morphs throughout the passing of a day. When users arrive at their desk, the motion sensor senses movement and a coloured circle belonging to them shows up. 

1. Circles fade into an outline whenever users leave their desk.
2. Mini dots sum up the times users left their desk.
3. Circles grow in size with prolonged desk presence. 
4. Tapping on others' circle sends a real time nudge.
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
COMPONENTS
2x Grove PIR Motion Sensors, 1x Arduino Nano 33 IoT, 1x Lithium-ion Battery, 1x Coloured E-ink Display
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
CONCEPT VIDEO
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
USABILITY TESTING I*
IoT Simulation Device : Participants found this real time presence indication reminiscent of a study companion, which proved useful in getting them to start and follow through with work.

*6 participants, 48 hours
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
USABILITY TESTING II*
Web-based prototype : To assess the effectiveness of bi-directional interactions -- half of them proved superfluous and did little to enhance motivation. Hence, I stripped away the frills and reverted to the initial concept, where the focus was on social presence.

*11 participants, 48 hours
Quantitative Validation 
​​​​​​​The General Procrastination Scale for Students (1986)​​​ was used to assess the effectiveness of berry-like-jumbo among 11 participants. Overall, there was a significant decrease in procrastination levels, with some aspects logging up to a 50% drop*.

*Questions 2, 4, 8 and 9 are scored in reverse (%Δ tabulated differently)
behaviour design Interaction design nudge design tangible user interface motivation contagion online learning social network Social Presence industrial design product design
Qualitative Validation 
In addition, users said berry-like-jumbo made them more conscious of their productivity and gave them the right pressure to work hard. They found it interesting to observe their friends' study patterns throughout the day and felt comforted knowing others stayed up with them. Many could foresee themselves using berry-like-jumbo in the long run.
ending note
Setting out to do a behaviour design project was an exciting albeit challenging journey, a huge thank you to everyone that helped me along the way - professors, friends, seniors, juniors and my family. 
Motivation Contagion in Online Learning
Published: