Gamification in Composition I USING GAMING CONCEPTS TO CREATE ENHANCED LEARNING BY STEPHEN T. HOLLAND, PHD

A few facts: THREE BILLION HOURS A WEEK ARE CURRENTLY SPENT PLAYING ONLINE GAMES. JANE MCGONIGAL BELIEVES 21 BILLION HOURS OF GAME PLAY WILL HELP US SOLVE PROBLEMS SUCH AS HUNGER, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND OBESITY. WORLD OF WARCRAFT PLAYERS HAVE SPENT 5.93 MILLION YEARS SOLVING THE VIRTUAL PROBLEMS OF THEIR WORLD. THE AVERAGE GAMER WILL HAVE SPENT 10,000 HOURS ONLINE PLAYING GAMES BY AGE 21. THIS IS THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME STUDENTS WILL SPENT IN FIFTH TO TWELFTH GRADES IN SCHOOL IF THEY HAD PERFECT ATTENDANCE. 500 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD SPEND AT LEAST ONE HOUR A DAY PLAYING GAMES. - Jane McGonigal, TedTalks

Question: THE POWER POINT SEEKS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION: HOW CAN ELEMENTS OF GAMING BE USED TO IMPROVE LEARNING?

Alternative title: DEVELOPING A QUIZ THAT PROVIDES NO GRADEBOOK CREDIT IMPROVES LEARNING. THE CONCEPT HERE IS TO DEVELOP NON-SCORING STUDY GUIDES THAT STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE IN ORDER TO BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR AN EXAM OR EXERCISE THAT DOES COUNT IN THE GRADEBOOK. THE STUDY GUIDE CALLS FOR THE STUDENTS TO ACCESS THE LECTURE AND/OR TEXTBOOK CONTENT DIRECTLY. THE STUDY GUIDE SCORE IS SET AT 80 PERCENT OR BETTER. STUDENTS GIVEN UNLIMITED ATTEMPTS TO SCORE THE 80 PERCENT.

Applying gaming: IN THE SUMMER OF 2014, THE USE OF GAMING CONCEPTS WAS PILOTED IN MY COMPOSITION I COURSE. AS ALREADY NOTED, GAMING IS A VERY POPULAR APPROACH TO ONLINE ENGAGEMENT AS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE PLAY GAMES EACH DAY, FROM FARMVILLE TO WORLD OF WARCRAFT. INCLUDING GAMES FOR THE PURPOSE OF HAVING A GOOD TIME IS NOT THE OBJECTIVE. RATHER USING GAMING CONCEPTS THAT HELP STUDENTS TO REACH HIGHER LEVELS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT WAS. USEFUL TERMS TO CONSIDER: LEVEL UP: CALLING UPON STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TO ADVANCE FOR THE SAKE OF ADVANCING. “FRUSTRATING” STUDENTS: FOR SAKE OF MEETING STANDARD, STUDENTS CAN BE “FRUSTRATED” TO REACH HIGHER COMPETENCY LEVEL. IT IS IMPERATIVE, THOUGH, NOT TO “FRUSTRATE” STUDENTS SO MUCH THAT THEY STOP TRYING. DIGITAL BADGE: THE DIGITAL BADGE CONCEPT CAN BE USED TO ELECTRONICALLY SHOW APPROVAL TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE ACHIEVED THE LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT NECESSARY.

Plusses & Minuses: PLUSSES: URGENT OPTIMISM – ONLINE GAMERS ARE SELF-MOTIVATED TO ACT IMMEDIATELY AND BELIEVE THEY CAN HAVE ACCESS TO SUCCESS. SOCIAL FABRIC – THE GAMERS LIKE PEOPLE BETTER IF THEY HAVE PLAYED A GAME WITH THEM, EVEN IF THEY LOSE. BLISSFUL PRODUCTIVITY – FOR GAMERS, PLAYING A GAME IS MORE ENJOYABLE THAN DOING NOTHING. EPIC MEANING – GAMERS LOVE TO BE ATTACHED TO A MEANINGFUL MISSION. NEGATIVE: THE DOWNSIDE FOR THE GAMER IS THAT WHILE HE OR SHE FEELS SUCCESSFUL IN THE ONLINE GAMING EXPERIENCE, GAMERS ARE ESCAPING THE REAL WORLD AND MOVING TO A WORLD WHERE THEY FEEL THEY FIND SUCCESS. - JANE MCGONIGAL

The Process: CHANGES MADE IN MY COMP I COURSE: NON-SCORING UNIT QUIZZES ADDED – CHAPTER LECTURE REVIEWS. PATH-BUILDER TOOL FORCED STUDENTS TO SCORE AT DESIGNATED LEVEL IN NON-SCORING LECTURE REVIEW BEFORE GRADE FOR POINTS OPENED. STUDENTS BECAME ELIGIBLE TO ENTER QUIZ FOR POINTS AFTER EARNING 80 PERCENT OR BETTER ON THE NON-SCORING LECTURE REVIEW. STUDENTS ENCOURAGED RETURN TO LECTURES AFTER MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS COMPLETED. DIGITAL BADGES INTRODUCED. OVERALL GOAL REMAINS INCREASING STUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND ACHIEVEMENT.

Non-scoring units PROBLEM IDENTIFIED: NOT ALL STUDENTS WERE SPENDING SIGNIFICANT TIME IN LECTURES, WHICH WAS SET AT A MINIMUM OF TWO HOURS FOR EFFECTIVE LEARNING. EFFECTIVE LEARNING MEANS THAT CONCEPTS PRESENTED IN LECTURES WERE SEEN (OR NOT SEEN) WITHIN STUDENT ESSAY SUBMISSIONS. PROBLEM ADDRESSED: LECTURE REVIEWS, NON-SCORING UNIT, CREATED. STUDENTS REQUIRED TO SCORE 16 OF 20 ON A QUIZ. THE QUIZ COULD BE TAKEN SEVERAL TIMES. QUESTIONS PRESENTED ONE AT A TIME AT RANDOM FROM A POOL OF QUESTIONS. THE QUIZ COULD BE TAKEN AS MANY TIMES AS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE SCORE. THIS PROVIDED AN 80 PERCENT ACCURACY LEVEL.

Digital Badges: DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF A DIGITAL BADGE: THINK OF A DIGITAL BADGE AS AN ELECTRONIC MERIT BADGE. THE DIGITAL BADGE CERTIFIES THAT STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED A LEARNING OBJECTIVE. STUDENTS SENT A DIGITAL BADGE. SOLUTION APPROACH: IN THE COMP I COURSE, THE STUDENT EARNED A DIGITAL BADGE WHEN SCORING AN 18 OUT OF 20 ON THREE OF FOUR UNIT LECTURE REVIEWS. PUSHES COMPREHENSION TO 90 PERCENT KEPT THE LECTURE CONTENT ACTIVE. STUDENTS SPENT MORE TIME WITH LECTURES. HELPS TO VERIFY THE STUDENTS HAVE ENGAGED AND LEARNED THE CONTENT.

The results: QUIZ SCORES INCREASED: HIGHER QUIZ SCORES THAT COUNTED IN THE GRADEBOOK WERE RECORDED. MORE STUDENTS TOOK THE OPTION TO EARN THE DIGITAL BADGE. TIME IN LECTURES INCREASED: LECTURE REVIEWS CREATED A NEW TIME ELEMENT IN THE COURSE. CONTENT IN LECTURE REVIEWS WERE TIED SPECIFICALLY TO THAT IN THE LECTURE CONTENT, SO STUDENTS HAD TO ENTER THE LECTURES TO FIND SPECIFIC DETAIL COVERED IN THE NON-SCORING LECTURE REVIEW. IN ADDITION, THE LECTURE REVIEW CREATED A NEW ITEM THAT RAISED STUDENT TIME IN COURSE. ESSAY RESULTS IMPROVED:  STUDENTS IMPROVED ESSAY RESULTS AS THEY WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE ENGAGED AND UNDERSTOOD THE LECTURE CONTENT.

Setting up reviews: FEATURES OF NON-SCORING LECTURE REVIEWS: QUIZ QUESTIONS SELECTED FROM POOLS. POOLS FEATURED SEVERAL QUESTIONS FOCUSING ON SAME CONCEPT. COMPUTER SELECTED TEST QUESTIONS AT RANDOM. QUESTIONS ASKED ONE AT A TIME. ANSWERS COULD NOT BE CHANGED. LECTURE REVIEWS SCORES NOT COUNTED IN GRADEBOOK. STUDENTS MUST EARN A 16 OF 20 IN THE NON-SCORING LECTURE CHAPTER REVIEW BEFORE A QUIZ THAT COUNTED IN GRADEBOOK OPENED. DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUESTIONS USED, I.E, MULTIPLE CHOICE, MATCHING, MULTIPLE ANSWERS, SHORT ANSWER. INSTRUCTOR CHANGED CONTENT OF QUESTIONS IN NEXT QUIZ BASED UPON PREVIOUS RESULTS.

Power of “not yet”: FEATURES OF NON-SCORING LECTURE REVIEWS: CAROL DWECK, OF MINDSET, ENCOURAGES INSTRUCTORS TO PRAISE STUDENT PROCESS. THE GAMIFICATION PROCESS DISCUSSED IN THIS LECTURE TAKES THIS APPROACH. DWECK SAYS TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS FOR THEIR EFFORTS, STRATEGIES, FOCUS, PERSEVERANCE, AND IMPROVEMENT. SHE SAYS THAT EVEN USING THE WORDS “NOT YET” ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO REACH HIGHER AND CREATES “HARDY” AND “RESILIENT” STUDENTS. PDF FILE, CAROL DWECK

Website resources OVERVIEW OF DIGITAL BADGES BADGE CREATION SITES OPEN CLIP ART PEARSON BADGE WEBSITE (ACCLAIM)

Website videos VIDEOS CONSULTED : MCGONIGAL, JANE. "THE GAME THAT CAN GIVE YOU 10 EXTRA YEARS OF LIFE." TEDTALKS. TED INSTITUTION, 1 JUNE WEB. 17 SEPT MCGONIGAL, JANE. "GAMING CAN MAKE THE WORLD BETTER." TEDTALKS. TED INSTITUTION, 1 FEB WEB. 17 SEPT DWECK, CAROL: “THE POWER OF BELIEVING THAT YOU CAN IMPROVE,” TEDTALKS. NOVEMBER, THAT_YOU_CAN_IMPROVE#T

Books resources BOOKS CONSULTED MCGONIGAL, JANE. REALITY IS BROKEN. NEW YORK: PENGUIN, PRINT. ZICHERMANN, GABE, AND CHRISTOPHER CUNNINGHAM. GAMIFICATION BY DESIGN. CANADA: O'REILLY, PRINT.