Mastery Badges?

[Steve Wright]

My girls have knocked out seven badges worth of projects in the last two weeks, but they are being very targeted about it, seeking quantity of badges over depth of understanding.  Mastery of a skill (six different projects) shows on the app, but doesn't seem to change anything, or offer any visible indication.

One thing I thought of was if there was visible swag to indicate they'd done more.  Maybe a Master series of badges, with a different color border or something, to indicate that they've hit the next level?  I suppose we could do that at home, maybe stitch some shiny silver thread on around the edge of the badge, but it would be nice to have an official product for that.

Anyone have any ideas for encouraging the kids to go deeper than "one badge worth" into the skills?  

[Zach Klein]

This is at the top of our mind. We're thinking of giving skill masters special responsibilities in the community once they reach this level. A physical token is a good idea, too.

Do you think skills are too easy to earn?

[Megan Leppla]

We're working on special features to recognize mastery of a skill. I like the idea of doing some special stitching at home to acknowledge this on your own, and I'd love to hear some ideas from others too!

[Steve Wright]

I think the skills are at an appropriate level, actually.  Any kid (based on what their parents have shown them, what is cool with their friends, whether Grandma is a biologist, etc.) will have a set of skills that is more within reach, easier for them to knock out a few projects and earn a badge.  And any game designer will tell you to make the first rewards easy to get and then start ramping up the difficulty.  We've hit that stage, and if they want more badges, they're going to have to start working harder for them.

My comment was more lamenting that they seem to be very focused on earning the badge, and without anything deeper, they aren't going further.

Speaking of gamification, any plan to have unlockable achievements?  10, 25, 50, 100 projects, 3 badges, 10 badges, up to all the badges.  All the biology badges, all the cooking, etc.

[Valerie Donelian]

That would really be awesome (having unlockable achievements) and would totally work to further motivate kids.

[Megan Leppla]

We've gone back and forth with the unlocking achievements idea. Personally, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. In a way, we'll be unlocking achievements by providing more features for those DIYers who have put more effort into a certain Skill, but that's still a ways off. 

[Oratia DIY]

My girls are doing the same - focusing on those badges that they can achieve quickly and easily. I would like to encourage depth of knowledge as well.

I think a mastery badge is a great idea - expressing the commitment you have given to learning a skill to your club or group. It encourages kids who may enjoy what they have done during a session with their club to maybe go home and further this skill. Some of the PRO challenges are fantastic and I'd love to encourage my kids to go for them.

I think it would also expand the longevity of the site with the kids, as they get older instead of casting it aside when they have whipped through the easy levels, they can hone their mastery skills, showing off their impressive achievements with some flashy badges! It would be nice for their time using DIY to really equate to something, something that they will look back on as really impacting their lives. Which I think  is the intention but the initial badge achievements are (exactly as they should be) quick rewards, fun and easy. I think to make it have lasting impact and acheive the "anyone can become anything just by trying" you need to encourage the kids into the harder levels of mastery.

I also agree that an official product would be best, a gold toned badge, same embroidered pattern but all in bronze, silver or gold?

[Michele W.]

This is a bulk reply to this thread. 

One of my kids suggested rewarding for the number of likes one has. He felt this would encourage quality over quantity. I would not reward for number of projects as that has a quantity focus. 

He also suggested makers being allowed to enter multiple projects for the same challenge. Not that it would count toward a skill patch, but because he likes to try different ways to do things and improve the process. It would be nice if all projects that would fit a certain challenge showed up under that challenge. It would help by giving other kids more projects to gain inspiration from. Also with diy.org being around for awhile now, there has been a lot of growth in skill level with the makers from their first project to their most recent. Many of the challenges can be repeated as their skill level grows and them still learn from the experience. 

With regard to the indication of skill mastery, we have a couple of ideas. The first is you know how when you click on followers,  you can switch over to those you are following? How about doing the same under skills, having a tab that switched it over to show the skills you have mastered?

In addition to that, would it be possible to have a 1/8" platinum sticky back frame to put around the skill patch you've already earned, but have now mastered. The maker's skill area has that hexagon spacing, so this concept would work nicely there too. 

The other thing is to be able to proudly display skills. It would be really cool if the kids could select which skills showed up on their name banner on their project page. This way they can display those that best describe their interests and more easily find like minded makers. 

As far as encouraging kids to go deeper into the skills, there may be many things going on. Not all kids have the time and supplies for making. Some adults do not consider making as valuable of a skill as athletics or traditional academics. They may be new to the making culture and not used to having a community that is non competitive and is honored when someone else forks their idea. Renewing one's own inner creativity is a journey and takes time. My advice would be to continue to give the kids time, listen for what they would like to do, and help them find the resources to accomplish that. It will happen. :)

[Bret Park]

My daughter and I tackle difficult challenges together.  We also look at the challenges and try to imagine how our experiences together might satisfy a challenge.  We've found a lot of those.  As we exhaust these easy opportunities, she has begun looking for challenges that she can accomplish on her own.  I appreciate that there are some really easy ones.  It builds her confidence.  I'm sure that as she gets older, she'll feel that she can strive to accomplish more.

My son has recently become interested in his sister's DIY activities.  She'll let him 'help' with easy challenges.  I'm sure he'll join as soon as he can read.  It will be terrific for him to have some low-hanging fruit to reach in the beginning.

[Scott Couchman]

So I'm just getting into DIY.org, and on day one, my kids are both chomping at the bit to get started. (The older one's in a bit of trouble at the moment with grades, so he's a little too busy to start this weekend).  They both really want the patches. 

For the master level: I want the older one to get really into it and challenge himself, so I'm looking at Cloisonné Pins of the badges. I just haven't found a vendor that will let me do one offs, yet: they all want something like $100 for the setting, then order in lots of 100.

[Min]

I'm concerned with this as well, although I love that my daughter wants to try new things due to DIY. How about a Hall of Fame board to recognize those who have proven their mastery level? Kind of like the ribbons but permanent display where kids can emulate masters' skills? And perhaps, tips on how to get there, kind of like a road map.

I think a virtual Hall of Fame board would be enough to motivate. And actual Hall of Fame board on site might be extra bonus if the kids want to visit the office and see it for themselves. But this way, you don't need to send out extra badges which probably is a lot of work as is.

Just my 2 cents,

Min

[Min]

DiYers Hall of Fame

Master Chefs                  Master Artists           Master Musicians     Master Engineers  

Ninja35                           Crookedtree              Boozooka86             Duckbillplatypus

Tooksam     

So, then they click on the names, they can be directed to the projects that have accomplished mastery level and have received ribbons. Maybe for the final project to become as Master in each skill, they have to present a how-to video teaching a specific skill in their area of expertise. 

By the way, you all are doing a wonderful job at DIY!

Min                                                      

[rlla.p...@gmail.com]

This thread is amazing, and I love the fact that the kids ideas are so interesting