3/25: Aiding Memory Retention
How to we help what is learned from our experience extend and remain beyond the time of learning?
How Does Memory Play Into Financial Literacy?
In learning about the other groups’ projects, I think that our topic of financial literacy poses it’s own set of unique challenges in the sense that, while the content to teach is more straightforward and concrete than some of the other topics, our difficulties lie in creating an experience that is as engaging as it is memorable. I think that motivation largely influences memory, as motivation tends to drive attention which is very closely tied to memory, but framed in a longer term. Because our content tends to be applicable for a lifetime of financial skills, encouraging long-term encoding and storage of this information is crucial for it to truly be helpful.
While it is unrealistic to assume that our learners will retain all of the information we teach them, I think setting them up for success by optimizing our experiences for long-term usage will be the most effective. The central goal we have for our learners is to inspire confidence in their skills — this means that if we can have them remember long-term the positive experiences that had with personal finance through our designed intervention and their ability to be successful in a difficult field, I think that would be a success. This goal of our experience has been the driving factor of its form, pursuing a more gamified, personalized approach to teaching finance as opposed to a more dry, conventional method.
Memory Through the Lens of Dirksen
One of the things that stuck out the most to me from the Dirksen reading was the notion of chunking as a memory device, as the way in which our informational structure is formed is a crucial element of our experience. In the example of renting an apartment, we discussed the idea of chunking the information chronologically with regard to the learner, starting with what they need to do before touring a place (figure out their values, budget, what they’re looking for, etc.) what they should do during a tour (ask what is included in the rent price, check the water pressure, etc.) and what they should do after touring their houses (find out what they value and prioritize most, weigh the pros and cons, reach out to the landlord, etc.) By centering it on the user themselves, we help ease the amount of mental energy needed to absorb this information by clearly showing what is relevant and how this information is applied.
Another important point with personal finance is that it can often suffer from monotonous stimuli — looking over lease after lease, credit card after credit card, all using the same language in different forms in often long documents can severely decrease attention and therefore memory. One idea our group had to alleviate this problem actually took inspiration from TSA workers, where they were having the issue of baggage checks being so monotonous that employees would let some contraband slip due to their attention no longer being sustained, being fixed by including random contraband silhouettes superimposed onto baggage screening monitors to keep workers more alert while gauging when someone may need to switch off for a break. Following this format, we would like to entertain the idea of certain legal documents containing hidden clauses and terms that are critically detrimental to a player’s financial game so that they must read and comprehend each part of it to ensure they choose wisely.
Memory Through the Lens of Ambrose
The largest point in the Ambrose reading was on they way in which we organize information and how that shapes our memory later on. I think that this is a really important next step for our team, as we have general idea about the experience we would like them to have but have not been able to put it into more concrete terms of what exactly is learned when and how it builds upon itself for a sense of progression.
One idea that I had to help resolve some of this tension was for there to be a sort of overall achievement tree in the game that could remember your various play styles across different runs of the game and showcase what new skills and experiences you have unlocked as a result. I think that this would be a great way for our group to have learners see the structure and connections between what they are learning in a very explicit way while not ruining the immersion of the magic circle, as well as an overarching goal for them to be motivated to unlock all of the content and material that the game has to offer by seeing how many sections they have not yet gone through. I think that this method, combined with the smaller organizational methods of the individual components like finding the lease, will help to appeal to a wide variety of learners.
Next Steps
Overall, I think that learning about memory has been very helpful in putting our experience into perspective in regards to what we hops others will gain immediately after playing as well as what they hand onto much longer from now. By diving deeper into each section to prioritize what information is most crucial for a student to learn, I think some of the specifics of our game and mini-games will become more salient and will be detailed enough to grasp the overall narrative as well as the smaller stories and chapters within the game as a whole.
