Creating a Card-Based Game for Learning Muscles, Origin and Insertion, and Joint Actions

The goal of this creative project was to create a card-based game relevant to a functional anatomy course. This game would facilitate learning of the muscles, their origins and insertions, and the joint actions to which they strongly contribute. In order to create an effective study tool for memorization and retention, we utilized aspects of cognitive load theory, as well as emotional design principles, including gamification. We focused on the three types of cognitive load: (1) intrinsic cognitive load (the inherent complexity of the learning material), (2) germane cognitive load (the capacity of working memory to create cognitive schema), and (3) extraneous cognitive load (aspects of a learning task that do not contribute to the learning goal). Our goals for effective game design were to increase germane load, decrease intrinsic load, and decrease extraneous load. Additionally, emotional design principles and gamification were used to elicit positive emotions regarding the learning material to increase the amount of working memory load dedicated to learning, rather than extraneous processing.