This Safety Course for the Children’s Science Center was developed as an engaging elearning module designed to teach students in grades 2 through 5 how to handle animals safely. Created as individual coursework for the Instructional Systems Technology program at Indiana University Bloomington, the project addressed the challenge of making safety guidelines accessible, interactive, and memorable for a young audience. By incorporating multimedia elements, gamification strategies, and feedback from testing phases, the course serves as a scalable, user-friendly learning experience for the Science Center. Professional representatives from the Children’s Science Center Lab provided their insight and expertise throughout the development and testing process.

Objectives 

The primary goals of the Safety Course were to:

• Explain and visualize proper animal handling techniques, fostering safety for both participants and animals at the Children's Science Center.

• Improve young learner engagement at the Lab through interactive multimedia and gamified elements.

• Provide educators at the Children’s Science Center with a reliable and easily accessible training tool.

Audience 

The course was designed for children in grades 2 through 5 who visit the Children’s Science Center Lab for summer camps.

Critical Project Elements

•  Storyboarding: Developed detailed module plans and visual flow diagrams to map out the learning journey and ensure logical progression and engaging content delivery. Adobe XD was employed to prototype key screens and test visual designs.

• Online Learning: Used Articulate Rise to create an interactive and visually appealing course, aligned to the Lab’s brand guidelines.

• Gamification: Incorporated gamified elements such as matching games, drag-and-drop activities, and branching scenario assessments to reinforce key concepts and sustain learner attention.

• Multimedia Integration: Included and edited custom images and videos taken and created by the Science Center Lab.

• Testing and Feedback: Conducted iterative testing phases with users and a Lab educator to refine content and enhance usability based on feedback.

Tools & Skills

• Articulate Rise

• InDesign

• Illustrator

• Adobe XD

• Branding Compliance

Note: At the request of the Children’s Science Center Lab, this project description contains limited images of the finished product. The finished Articulate Rise course contains images of minors (patrons of the Lab) and employees that are legally protected.