Project Title
Challenge
Tools
My Role
Project Time
UniTN Life 101 Orientation Mastery: Navigating UniTN Life
Create a course in Moodle that incorporates three teaching aids and one serious game to support learning objectives as defined by audience needs
GSuite, Moodle, Learning Designer, Animator, GDevelop 5, Typeform, Canva, Veed.io, Dall-e, DreamStudio, Ableton Live + VST Plugins, HuggingFace RVC, Lunacy, Chatgpt
Product Manager, Animator, Game Designer, Editor
1 month
Ideation
As a team of international students from diverse backgrounds, we quickly discovered shared challenges and experiences during our initial days at the university. Reflecting on our shared experiences, we identified the need for an introductory course that goes beyond administrative necessities. We imagined that such a course should provide an overview to newcomers covering practical aspects of navigating legal procedures and the university grading system, as well as Italian lifestyle and cultural aspects.
Currently this information is shared informally between established students and the incoming cohort. We saw an opportunity to codify our collective knowledge and share it with new students prior to their arrival in country, thus empowering them with the essentials that we wish we had and to reduce stress of daily life allowing them to focus on their studies.
Development
Audience
The audience for this course are English-speaking non-EU international students entering the MHCI program at the University of Trento. Students are most likely unaware of what to expect but may have assumptions based on their previous experiences.
Incoming students will have access to this course after they have completed pre-enrollment at the University of Trento. This course will be taken as a requirement for the degree program but not for credit. Students will have access to the course for the duration of their educational experience at University of Trento should then need/want to revisit specific topics.
Organization
This course is problem-based and also has a discussion forum for an interactive component. The course is facilitated by a teacher and a teaching assistant, who is a previous international student familiar with the material and can serve as a mentor to current students.
All sections, except the first, are initially locked. Students can unlock them by achieving a passing grade in interactive elements like games or quizzes. Upon completion, students receive a digital badge from the teacher.
Video overview of Moodle e-learning environment
Content
Content was developed from the personal experience of the team and captures a small portion of topics that were ideated at the beginning of the project. This course is comprised of ten sections or 'topics' in Moodle, seven of these sections involve course content, while the remaining three encompass a feedback form, a concluding message with additional resources, and a frequently asked questions section.
Topics
General Discussion Forum
For general discussion, we have a dedicated forum located at the beginning of the welcome section in the first segment. Here, students are encouraged to ask questions, share insights, and connect with their peers on various course topics. All students are automatically subscribed to this forum.
Welcome Song
The song is a bit comedic and is to act as an ice breaker for new students. It includes visualization of sound waves and closed captions to assist in understanding the song.
Associated activity: Create new Welcome Song verse
Original Welcome Song
Legal Requirements
Information that new students need about the Italian Permesso di Soggiorno (Stay Permit) Application with the aid of a cartoon that identifies the process and a written guide to reinforce and identify required documentation.
Associated activity: Typeform Quiz to test student knowledge
Health Insurance Application in for form of a written guide provided by the university.
Associated activity: Paragraph Rearrangement to test comprehension
Permesso di Soggiorno Process Overview
La Lingua Italiana
A glossary of Italian words and phrases along with the direct translation and significance is included. Additional language resources are identified.
Associated activity: Crossword to test knowledge of important words & a Missing Words (Google Sheet) is available for new students to suggest important terms for new students.
Navigating Trentino
An interactive Google Map of Trento's Points of Interest that specific to student needs. Map is only accessible to those with university credentials.
Transportation in Trentino guide using screenshots to aid in understanding the use of the Free Circulation Pass within Trentino.
Associated activity: Trentino Exploration Assignment
Navigating UniTn Life Google Map
Emergency!
Pictorial guide of local Emergency Numbers and emergency meeting point imagery with brief translations for non-Italian speakers.
Associated activity: Fill in the Blanks Quiz on Emergency Numbers
Discovering Italy
Italian Holidays Infographic that covers national holidays.
Associated activity: Regional Flags Flashcards & Serious Game (Canerderli Chronicles)
Canerderli Chronicles Game Walk Through
The University System
A visual matrix of typical grading scales and criteria with the University of Trento system
Conclusion & Additional Resources
Evaluation & Feedback
Associated activity: Google Form
FAQs
Conclusions
Bias
This course was built from our personal experiences and needs both at the start and throughout our time in Trento. While our personal experience made for a good starting point, to provide the best user experience external data should inform the course content.
Collaboration
While this was a group project, the tools used to create all aspects were not made for collaboration and required strategies and planned co-working sessions to complete all aspects.
Updates
One ongoing issue encountered before the completion of this project is that the information will need consistent updating to be relevant for future students. This issue was highlighted by a sudden change in Italian law that impacted the cost and management of healthcare directly impacting students.
Future Improvements
As the first iteration of this course was completed not all planned topics were covered. In a future implementation the addition of: housing, banking, employment, and bringing a spouse should be added to better support students. Furthermore, each topic would be improved with more details included and updated.
Game improvements include creating a grocery store that has similar interior to one found in Trento instead of collecting food items in the cityscape. This change would provide more cohesion within the game.
User testing is needed to validate the site functionality for this material and the order of information. Following research, there should be further iterations and releases of new topics and activities.