What is a Leaderboard, How are Points and scores assigned and calculated, How to create, edit, and configure leaderboards in your Mindmarker program and Group?

What are leaderboards?

Leaderboards are dynamic display boards that rank participants based on their achievements in Mindmarker programs. They foster a sense of friendly competition, encouraging learners to push their limits and strive to achieve their best.

Fundamentals of Leaderboards

Leaderboards can be a motivating tool for users since humans often have a natural desire for competition and recognition.

Motivation and Engagement

The learning process through leaderboards can motivate learners to actively engage with the program. Recognizing the top performers or those making significant progress can drive others to participate more and try to achieve a higher rank.

Healthy Competition

Leaderboards can foster a sense of competition among learners. This competitive spirit can push individuals to study harder, participate more actively, and engage more deeply with reinforcement modules.

Objective Measurement of Progress

For a learning company, leaderboards can provide an objective measure of a learner’s progress. This can be particularly useful for courses that are self-paced, giving learners a sense of where they stand compared to others.

Feedback Mechanism

Leaderboards can serve as a feedback mechanism for learners, providing them with real-time information about their strengths and areas that need improvement.

Retention and Loyalty

When learners are invested in their progress and rank on the leaderboard, they’re more likely to stick with the platform and continue their learning journey, leading to increased customer loyalty.

Gather valuable data

Analyze leaderboard data to gain insights into learning patterns and optimize program design for future iterations.

Points, Score, and the Leaderboard

Points are the fuel that drives participant engagement in Mindmarker programs. They act as a reward system, incentivizing participants to actively engage and complete their assigned Mindmarkers.

Why do we use Points?

Points serve as a tangible reward for completing Mindmarkers, creating a sense of accomplishment and encouraging learners to keep moving forward. They also provide a structured way to track progress, allowing participants to visualize their journey and understand their standing within the program.

How does it work?

• Mindmarker weight: Each Mindmarker is assigned a weight (1-10) based on its importance within the program. Higher weight assignments signify a greater impact on a participant’s overall score.
• Rewarding completion: Participants earn points for completing Mindmarkers, with higher scores awarded for faster and more accurate completion.
• Timely participation: To encourage prompt engagement, points may be deducted for delayed completion of Mindmarkers. The definition of “timely” can be customized by the instructional designer based on program goals.

Note that Participants can see the number of points earned and their total score on the dashboard.

Mindmarker Weighting: Mastering the Impact Scale

Mindmarker weight is a crucial element in configuring the point system and ultimately determining participant scores. It assigns varying degrees of importance to different Mindmarkers based on their significance within your learning program.

 Weighting Scale:

• Range: Each Mindmarker can be assigned a weight ranging from 1 (minimal impact) to 10 (maximum impact) on participant scores.
• Customization: You can adjust the default weight assigned to each Mindmarker at any time, providing flexibility to fine-tune the scoring system.

Strategic Weight Assignment:

• Learning Objectives: Consider the learning objectives associated with each Mindmarker. Assign higher weights to Mindmarkers that address critical knowledge or skills.
• Depth of Comprehension: Weight heavier those Mindmarkers that require deeper analysis or application of knowledge compared to those focused on basic recall.
• Program Flow: Analyze the program flow and ensure that the weight distribution balances the difficulty and importance of different Mindmarkers.

Weighting Examples:

• Welcome Mindmarker (Weight 1): Introduces the program and sets expectations. A lower weight reflects its introductory nature.
• Self-Evaluation Mindmarker (Weight 6): Assesses progress and identifies areas for improvement. A higher weight signifies its critical role in learning.
• Challenge Mindmarker (Weight 10): Tests participants’ understanding through complex tasks and real-world application. The highest weight emphasizes its importance in achieving learning goals.

By strategically assigning weights to your Mindmarkers, you can effectively shape the point system and guide participants toward prioritizing key learning objectives.

Weight Formulas

Here’s how your participants’ efforts and responses translate into points. Note that this does not include penalties incurred when not completing them in a timely manner.

Time Matters: Penalty System for Timely Completion

While accurate responses are rewarded, Mindmarker completion timeliness also plays a crucial role in the scoring equation. Penalties come into play to ensure participants stay engaged and on track with the program.

Note that time-based penalties only apply to scheduled programs.  They do not apply to Standalone or Assessment programs.

Default Penalty System:

• Perfect Completion: Answering all questions correctly and completing the Mindmarker within the program’s designated timeframe (e.g., 7 days) earns the participant the maximum score.
• Delayed Completion: Exceeding the timeframe triggers a penalty, reducing the participant’s score by 50%.

Customized Penalty System:

• Flexible Control: You have the power to tailor the penalty system to your specific program goals and desired level of rigor.
• Scaling Factor: Define the penalty percentage and the time frame for its application using the scaling factor.
• Custom Timeframes: Specify various time tears from the time that they receive their Mindmarkers and the percent deduction for each tier.

By leveraging the penalty system effectively, you can encourage prompt participation, reinforce the importance of time management, and ultimately enhance the learning experience for your participants.

Deep dive into Mindmarker score and penalty calculations?

Let’s look at a detailed example and how it applies to various different types of Mindmarkers.

Example

Assume that you want to:

• Award 100% of the points to a participant who completes Mindmarkers within 72 hours of receiving it,
• Award 90% of the points If the participant takes between 72 hours to 96 hours to complete it, and
• Award 50% if they take longer than 96 hours to complete.

In the Program creation or Program edit pages you would configure it like this:

Remember that each Mindmarker type has different base points available based on the weight you gave them and the type of Mindmarker type.  This will be the total “Available points” for each Mindmarker. The “Available points” are those available before penalties.   

Here is a table, based on the example above, of all the different types of Mindmarkers with weights after applying penalties.

Note: To see how to configure these in a program, check out the link for “How to configure the Leaderboard with Program?”