Semester 1 - Weeks 8 & 9

Building Foundations: Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Models

These couple of weeks were dedicated to conducting deeper research and refining our ideas on our product in order to be well prepared for our mentor presentations, A significant part of our focus was understanding how to create intrinsic motivation and meaningful activities that align with the child’s natural learning process.

We revisited our user scenario, and the four-step flow we had developed, ensuring that they aligned with our findings on how to create intrinsic motivation. This revision helped us create a more intuitive and engaging structure that supports growth and autonomy. By understanding the stages of learning and how children progress through tasks, we built the flow to be more effective and enjoyable for them.

To enhance our understanding of intrinsic motivation, we read more about what drives children to engage in meaningful activities for their own sake.  LEGO, for instance, exemplifies how structured play can provide both freedom and challenge, fostering creativity and persistence. This model helped us envision how our product could offer similarly meaningful activities that encourage exploration, problem-solving, and a sense of accomplishment.

Our research this week has been instrumental in shaping the foundation for our product. Moving forward, we plan to integrate these insights into the next iteration of our concept, ensuring that it not only supports intrinsic motivation but also provides a meaningful and rewarding learning experience.