Setting the scene for the IRDL summer workshop: Badges

[Edited 8/15/2025 to include the costs of the snacks]

Part of a series of reflections on some of the affective components of the IRDL program, things I put in place to make the Scholars feel welcomed and delighted in the learning environment.

Badges (in person)

IRDL Advisory Board member Jennifer Masunaga (a librarian employed at LMU at the time) suggested to me that she could design and make some buttons for me to give out during the workshop, as motivators for the attendees. The library had just purchased a button machine, and we were finding a lot of creative inspiration with the tool. I welcomed the idea and created a list of workshop achievements that could be matched with a button.

I broke the list into three categories: completion; competition; for fun. I made sure to consider how many people could win each badge, so that everyone left the workshop with at least a few.

During the first year the badge design included an icon to represent the achievement and in subsequent years we added the four-digit year underneath the icon to distinguish them as belonging to that year’s cohort. These were the badges Jenn created for us in the first three years of IRDL:

Completion badges

1. Human subjects training is complete: Everyone was awarded this badge, as completing training at their institution ahead of the workshop was a requirement.
2. Research question is complete: Everyone could win this badge when they determined that their research question was in its final form.
3. Methods section is complete: Everyone could win this badge when they determined that their data collection strategy was solid.
4. Focus group expert: Everyone was awarded this badge, at the end of the focus group hands-on exercise in which the entire cohort practiced writing a focus group interview guide, leading a focus group, participating in a focus group, and notetaking in a focus group.
5. Completed IRDL: Everyone was awarded this badge on the last day of the workshop.

Competitive badges

1. Best sampling demonstration: Each person in the group that won the sampling competition was awarded this badge, as well as a group prize.
2. Most number of words in application proposal: One person was awarded this badge after putting into a shared Google document the total number of words in their IRDL research proposal, the person using the most words as winner.
3. Largest number of tweets: We encouraged social media participation on the most robust platform at the time, Twitter, using the hashtag #IRDL. The two people who posted the most tweets during the workshop won this badge.
4. Best oral presentation: On the last day of the workshop, each Scholar had to present to the rest of the group for seven minutes about the current state of their research project. The two best presenters (as judged by their peers) were awarded this badge.

For-fun badges

1. Ate at In-n-Out (available only on Wednesday): Everyone could win this badge if they went to the California-famous chain restaurant, In-n-Out, and brought back a receipt or a photograph. We normally would provide a dinner at the campus dining facility for each Scholar, but Wednesday afternoon was a day off to explore Los Angeles and try dining on their own.
2. Went in the ocean: Everyone could win this badge if the dipped at least one toe into the Pacific Ocean, providing photographic proof.
3. Saw a celebrity: Everyone could win this badge if they reported a sighting of a famous person during their time in Los Angeles.
4. Traveled the farthest to be at IRDL: Using Google Maps to determine the number of miles from the Scholar’s house to the address from LMU, if driving, the one person who “traveled” the farthest to attend the workshop was awarded this badge.
5. In 2019, the west side of Los Angeles, where LMU is situated, was especially impacted by the weather phenomenon called June Gloom, during which the mornings were heavily fogged, with a break for sun in the afternoon. To commemorate this, I made a “Survived June Gloom” button that was awarded to everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scholars developed clever ways to display the badges they had won, affixing them to a cardigan or their backpack/computer bag. We noticed during our monthly video check-in sessions with the Scholars after the workshop that some had made sashes to display their badges on or put them on a corkboard behind their computer workstations.

The library already had both the button machine and bulk materials so the cost for making the badges was minimal; no grant funds were spent on this.

Badges (online)

When we moved to an online environment it was clear that I would not be able to award physical badges during the workshop and so created virtual badges instead. To facilitate the awarding process, the library’s student designer in the Outreach and Engagement department created a custom Zoom background that the Scholars could use during the workshop.

The Scholars started the workshop with this custom – but empty- Zoom background. As they won badges, I updated the empty background by adding an image of the badge. The Scholar would then use their updated background. To facilitate this during the workshop, I created an image file named for each Scholar and in Photoshop added each new badge as a layer, flattening the resulting image to send to the Scholar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was clear that some of the previous in-person badges would not apply and offered an opportunity to design some new ones. I removed these three since they were LA-situated: ate at In-n-Out; went in the ocean; saw a celebrity.

I changed the traveled the farthest to be at IRDL to virtually travelled the farthest and the person who from their house address to LMU’s address (using Google Maps, driving route) had the greatest number of miles won the badge (one badge awarded).

I introduced four new badges to account for the new video software environment delivery of the workshop, via Zoom. Each Scholar was assigned to meet with the program team several times during the workshop, for personalized consultations about their research protocol. When the Scholar had met at least once with all five members of the team, they were awarded the met with all research experts badge.

During the in-person workshop the Scholars would often share stories and pictures of their loved ones back home, tagging posts of photos of them on twitter with the hashtag #IRDLkids and #IRDLpets. The Zoom environment allowed us to meet those loved ones in a live setting. To encourage the Scholars to bring their kids and pets into the frame of the video screen with them, I created a Zoom-crashed! badge, that was awarded to anyone who introduced us to their pet, child, roommate, or coworker. A creative Scholar who wanted to earn the badge but did not have a pet drew one and shared the drawing over the screen.

I wanted to keep a tie to LMU even though the Scholars were not on our campus for the workshop. I created an Iggy badge, for any Scholar whose Zoom background image included LMU’s mascot, Iggy, for at least one day.

To keep another tie to Los Angeles, instead of asking the Scholars to go in the ocean, we changed the entire theme of the first Friday of the workshop to “Beach Day.” In the online instruction portal, we pointed to several live beach cameras in the Los Angeles area, so they could experience the Pacific Ocean from wherever they were situated. To further the fun for that first Friday, when we thought the Scholars might be weary after five days of instruction via Zoom, we encouraged them to wear beach-themed outfits. The fidgets we sent them for that day were drink umbrellas and plastic sunglasses. Scholars were awarded the Beach badge if they changed their Zoom background on that day to a photograph of any beach. Their beach photographs provided a lot of conversation about desired vacation spots and stories about growing up or visiting those beaches.

To keep things fun for the instruction team and Zoom assistant, I created customized Zoom backgrounds for them to use on that day, with drawings of palm trees on the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the badges used in the online workshop, from 2022 to 2024:

Completion badges

1. Human subjects training is complete
2. Research question is complete
3. Methods section is complete
4. Focus group expert
5. Consulted with all 5 research experts
6. Completed IRDL

Competitive badges

1. Best sampling demonstration (group award)
2. Most number of words in application proposal
3. Most tweets (used from 2022-2023)
4. Best oral presentation (as judged by your peers)

For-fun badges

1. (Virtually) traveled the farthest to be at IRDL
2. Zoom background photo includes LMU’s mascot, Iggy, for at least 1 day
3. Best beach-themed Zoom background
4. Zoom-crashed! (interrupted by a pet, kid, roommate, coworker)

The cost for producing the online badges was in personnel time, for the student designer to create the Zoom background and for me to produce the digitized versions of each badge. No grant funds were used for the badges.