Rewarding deliberate practice with digital badges: design, implementation, and limitations

In the discipline of audio production, significant deliberate practice is required to achieve learning outcomes that are mapped to industry skills. However, these learning outcomes may not be directly assessed, as their... [ view full abstract ]

In the discipline of audio production, significant deliberate practice is required to achieve learning outcomes that are mapped to industry skills. However, these learning outcomes may not be directly assessed, as their realisation is necessary to complete assignments. The absence of a tangible reward for the mastery of these skills reduces their perceived importance to the student. To address this issue, a digital badge was offered to reward deliberate practice resulting in the mastery of ‘studio signal flow’.

This presentation discusses the design and implementation of the digital badge whilst identifying and discussing the limitations of the approach. Design focused on the development of a task with sufficient motivational qualities to encourage deliberate practice. Consideration was given to the reported characteristics of digital native students, avoiding de-motivation, badge labelling, the provision of objective metrics, and managing the perceived value of the badge. Implementation required the creation of a digital artefact to evidence the learning, facilitating badge visibility across multiple platforms, and managing badge delivery. The limitations of using digital badges as a reward for deliberate practice will be discussed and adjustments to the approach will be proposed.