GAMIFICATION IN EDUCATION

GAME TIME!

WELCOME o Facilitator name Position at university Contact info

LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this module, you should be able to: o Explain what “gamification” means o Describe several gaming principles used in education

AGENDA 1. Game time! 2. What is gamification? 3. Gaming principles in learning Note: Part of this module is based on the TEDx talk “Neuroscience Pathways From Lab To Classroom” by Dr. Judy Willis.Neuroscience Pathways From Lab To Classroom

WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

WHEN PLAYING GAMES...

…A PLAYER USUALLY o Gets and uses ongoing, immediate feedback to improve performance o Learns from their mistakes o Feels pleasure when achieving a challenge and progressing to the next level o Keeps playing even when the failure rate is 80% o Is motivated by the reward of a more difficult challenge

THE SUCCESS FACTOR

WHY DO WE KEEP PLAYING?

DOPAMINE o Pleasure o Decreased stress o Curiosity o Attention o Motivation

DOPAMINE BOOSTERS o Movement o Humour o Choice o Optimistic thoughts o Intrinsic satisfaction of making a correct prediction

ACTIVITY: MAKING PREDICTIONS

QUESTION 1: PREDICT o Is it more probable that one would get killed by a shark or die from an asteroid or comet? Write SHARK or COMET and hold up your answer

QUESTION 2: ESTIMATE o ESTIMATE the odds of getting killed by a shark and dying from an asteroid or comet Write: o Shark 1 in … o Comet 1 in … Hold up your answer.

ONLINE ASSESSMENT

SOLVING PROBLEMS … o Boosts self-confidence and satisfaction o Improves perseverance and time on task

HERE IT IS! o Odds of getting killed by a shark: 1 in 3.7 million o Odds of dying from an asteroid or comet: between 1 in 3,000 and 1 in 250,000 Source: million-lotto/ million-lotto/

GAMING PRINCIPLES IN LEARNING

o Provide specific, achievable challenges o Incorporate frequent assessment and feedback o Award points for success o Promote awareness of incremental progress o Allow for mistakes without penalty o Individualize learning

GAMING PRINCIPLES IN LEARNING “In every job that must be done, there is an element of FUN! You find the fun, and snap! The job’s a GAME!” Mary Poppins A Spoonful of Sugar (1964)

GAMING PRINCIPLES: ONLINE TEACHING o Let students choose their learning paths and work at their own pace o Create practice problems with immediate, adaptive feedback and tailored suggestions o Provide opportunities for students to practice in a low-stress environment to improve learning

GAMING PRINCIPLES IN LEARNING Video o Applying gaming principles to educational contexts

GROUP DISCUSSION o Do you find that you already use some of the gaming principles in your course design? o If not, would you consider using some of these principles in order to enhance engagement and motivation of your students? Why or why not?

SUMMARY o Gamification involves using the same kinds of thinking and processes that drive games, but in a non-gaming context o The reward for game playing is intrinsic o Applying gaming principles to courses may increase student engagement and motivation

THANK YOU o Questions? o Comments? o Help? Contact information – facilitator’s and departmental

REFERENCES 1. Coppens, A., Hughes, A., Andrews, A. Meredith, A.L., Austin, B., Bowen, J., … Kunkel, V. (n.d.) How gamification reshapes learning: free ebook. Retrieved from gamification-reshapes-learning. 2. TedX Talks. (2011, March 9). Let’s use video to reinvent education. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education. 3. TedX Talks. (2012, April 28). Neuroscience Pathways From Lab To Classroom: TEDx talk by Dr. Judy Willis. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from