Digital Influence & Psychological Agency

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band C.

I describe what the product does but do not use any persuasive-design vocabulary.

I attempt persuasive-design vocabulary but apply terms loosely or to the wrong feature.

I can identify one specific persuasive-design feature in a chosen digital product using correct vocabulary.

I identify a specific persuasive-design feature using correct vocabulary and distinguish it from features that look similar but are not the same mechanism.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band C.

I say the feature works because 'people like it' without referencing a specific mechanism.

I reference a mechanism (dopamine, reward, habit loop) but my description of how it works is inaccurate or generic.

I can describe one reason a persuasive-design feature works on people, drawing on dopamine, reward, or habit-loop mechanism.

I describe how the mechanism works on people with enough specificity to predict when the feature would be more or less effective.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band C.

I say the product affects me 'a lot' or 'a little' without naming a specific effect.

I name an effect but without enough specificity to tell whether the product caused it or only correlated with it.

I can explain one specific effect a chosen digital product has had on me in time, mood, or behaviour.

I explain a specific effect with concrete examples and note where I can tell the product caused the effect versus where I am inferring.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band D.

I identify one persuasive-design feature in isolation, without recognising interaction.

I identify two features but treat them as independent additions rather than as interacting mechanisms.

I can identify at least two interacting persuasive-design features in a chosen digital product using correct vocabulary.

I identify multiple interacting features and show how one feature amplifies or depends on another (for example, notifications amplifying variable reward).

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band D.

I describe features without analysing which element of attention, emotion, or behaviour each one shapes.

I analyse one element (usually attention) but miss how the features also shape emotion or behaviour.

I can analyse how each persuasive-design feature shapes attention, emotion, or behaviour in the product.

I analyse how each feature shapes specific elements of the attention/emotion/behaviour system and identify which effect is primary and which is secondary.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band D.

I state a general effect on me without naming whether it falls on thinking, mood, or time.

I name a specific effect but I do not ground it in examples from my actual use.

I can explain one specific effect a chosen digital product has had on my own thinking, mood, or time.

I explain a specific effect with grounded examples and reflect on where the effect has spilled into domains outside the product itself.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band E.

I describe what I see on the platform but do not distinguish the curation from the content.

I claim curation is happening but rely on general assumptions rather than evidence from my own observation or documentation.

I can evaluate how a chosen digital platform algorithmically curates what I see, with evidence from my own observation or documentation.

I evaluate curation with specific evidence (observations across time, comparisons between accounts, documented experiments) and identify patterns the algorithm seems to favour and suppress.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band E.

I explain platform decisions as if they were neutral user-service choices, naming no incentives.

I name one incentive (usually advertising revenue) but miss interacting psychological or economic incentives.

I can explain at least two psychological or economic incentives driving a digital platform's design decisions.

I explain multiple incentives and show how they reinforce each other (for example, engagement metrics driving ad revenue while exploiting intermittent reinforcement).

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band E.

I propose using the platform less without naming the mechanism I am targeting.

I propose a change that addresses a symptom (time on app) rather than a mechanism (the feature driving the time).

I can justify one specific change I will make to my use of a digital platform, showing why the change addresses the mechanism rather than the symptom.

I propose a change that directly targets a named mechanism, and I state how I will tell whether the change is actually disrupting the mechanism or just shifting the symptom elsewhere.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band F.

I evaluate effects in general terms without evidence from a sustained period of my own use.

I evaluate effects on one domain (usually attention) but miss effects on relationships or identity.

I can evaluate the cumulative effect of persuasive design across a sustained period on my attention, relationships, and identity, drawing on my own evidence.

I evaluate cumulative effects across attention, relationships, and identity with evidence collected over a sustained period, including cases where the effect on one domain offset or amplified the effect on another.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band F.

I cite research that agrees with me and ignore research that contests me.

I cite research on both sides but engage only with the side I already agree with.

I can compare my analysis against at least two recognised pieces of research on digital wellbeing, including at least one that contests a claim I find sympathetic.

I compare my analysis against multiple pieces of research including contesting research, and I engage seriously with where the contesting work might be correct and my intuition wrong.

The student has not produced work that demonstrates any aspect of this learning target at Band F.

I state a position without grading the evidence or specifying where the position applies.

I state a position with some graded evidence but my account treats all the evidence as roughly the same strength.

I can articulate a reasoned personal position specifying where I will and will not allow these systems to operate on me, acknowledging what the evidence supports strongly, weakly, and where it remains uncertain.

I articulate a position with specific boundaries on where I will and will not allow these systems to operate, and I grade the underlying evidence at each point of the position.