Levelling up a Growth Mindset with Game-Based Learning and Makers Empire

Carol Dweck’s mindset research is continuing to attract worldwide attention and letting us in on some of the most powerful secrets for unlocking our students’ potential as successful learners.

We want our students to feel optimistic about themselves as learners and to believe in their own power to improve by applying effort, embracing challenges and viewing failure as an opportunity to get better at something.

In this post, we will look at how Makers Empire has borrowed from the gaming world to encourage the development of a growth mindset as students engage with our 3D design software and learning program.

Makers Empire has introduced a game-like interface where students ‘level up’ and are rewarded for their efforts and perseverance as 3D designers.

The more active students are within the software and the more risks they take by trying new tools and ideas, the more tokens they earn to build up their design tools and repertoires.

Here are our top 10 messages that show why this game-based learning approach can help to build the growth mindsets of our young designers:

1. The more effort I put into my designs, the better they become.
2. My designs are never really finished. I can always go back and improve them.
3. I can have as many tries as it takes to get my designs right.
4. If my design fails, I can go back and think about why. If my design fails, it is a great opportunity to make a better design.
5. The more effort I put in, the more I am rewarded as a designer and a learner.
6. I feel intrinsically motivated to keep growing as a designer and a learner.
7. Design thinking is a process that encourages me to keep improving my designs to meet a purpose or solve a problem.
8. I feel challenged to keep going back and trying something new or doing something in a better way.
9. I can see my levels getting higher. If I haven’t moved up to the next level, I can keep trying and putting in more effort until I do.
10. I am having fun and am engaged as a design thinker- emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Mandi Dimitriadis, DipT. is an experienced classroom teacher who recognises the power of technology to enhance teaching and improve educational outcomes. Mandi has extensive experience with curriculum development and learning, having previously developed programs for the Australian Government’s Department of Education. She is passionate about Design Thinking and how best to prepare today’s students for the future.