Gamification of a Course Dr. Stephanie Powers and Nandini Sharma - PDF document

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification of a Course Dr. Stephanie Powers and Nandini Sharma Gamification What is a gamified course? Teaching and Learning Symposium 1

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 What is a gamified course? A gamified course uses “game mechanics, dynamics and frameworks to promote desired behaviors." (McGonigal 2012) Gaming creates: 1) Urgent optimism, a desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle 2) Bonds of trust and cooperation 3) A willingness to work hard all the time, if participants are given the right work 4) Epic meaning – Participants are engaged because they are attached to an awe­inspiring mission A gamified course “drops students into inquiry­based, complex problem spaces that are built to help players understand how they are doing, what they need to work on, and where to go next.” (Tekinbas 2010) What is a gamified course? Utilizes a flipped classroom concept “Students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating the knowledge, perhaps through problem solving, discussion, or debates.” Bloom's Taxonomy, Revised Source: Flipping the Classroom, Vanderbuilt University Center for Teaching Teaching and Learning Symposium 2

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 How does it work? 1. Overarching narrative 2. Daily challenges earn experience points 3. Choice 4. Awards How does it work? 1. Overarching narrative Should Alberta become its Survive the zombie apocalypse own country? strategic planning facility layout Goals of an Money economy project management quality management Monetary Policy Measuring GDP location planning supply chain Fiscal Policy Inflation process design JIT manufacturing Exchange Rates Economic Growth productivity inventory management Trade Unemployment forecasting Aggregate Demand capacity planning and Supply Teaching and Learning Symposium 3

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 How does it work? 2. Daily challenges earn experience points Should Alberta become its own Survive the zombie apocalypse country? [face­to­face] [asynchronous online] Before Class: a. Watch Youtube videos or read textbook a. Watch Youtube videos or read textbook b. Complete worksheet (5XP) b. Complete worksheet (5XP) c. Quiz over theory (10XP) In Class: d. Activity (15XP) c. Current events discussion e. Challenge: Application (30XP) d. Quiz over theory (15XP) f. Side Mission (5XP) e. Class activity to illustrate theory (5XP) f. Challenge: Application (30XP) g. Side Mission: Reflection (5XP) How does it work? 3. Choice Teaching and Learning Symposium 4

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 How does it work? 4. Awards Should Alberta become its own Survive the zombie apocalypse country? [face­to­face] [asynchronous online] Personalized video featuring the instructor, Associate Dean, and Dean Gamification What impact does gamification have on the.... student Teaching and Learning Symposium 5

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification "The whole layout of the course was amazing. I felt like I was learning much more than I normally would in an online class. Having the worksheets to go through all the videos really forced you to pay attention, and then the challenges after really helped solidify the information." The concept of a gamified course that Dr. Powers introduced to me is one of the most innovative things I have experienced. I came into an online course with the notion it wasn't going to be engaging and I would have to learn the material on my own. .. Her ECON 101 class was one of my favorite, solely from the way she had it set up." Impact on Student When I heard this was a gamified course my response was... Teaching and Learning Symposium 6

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Impact on Student I would recommend a gamified course to other students... "I enjoy the class and how it's structured" "I enjoyed it, kept me engaged. Made class fun" Impact on Student A single over­arching narrative, like a zombie apocalypse, is helpful to learning... "Make the narrative useful. Why Zombies? I wish to learn about industries." "Would be nice to apply it to an actual business scenario, however the zombie idea was great." Teaching and Learning Symposium 7

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Impact on Student A single over­arching narrative, like a zombie apocalypse, makes class enjoyable... "Loved the idea of turning the course into a video game scenario! Worked out so well!!" "I enjoyed the game style of learning in this course." Impact on Student Teaching and Learning Symposium 8

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Impact on Student What do students do? Non­Gamified Course Gamified Course "Keep this going. I wish all my classes were like this" Impact on Student The competitive nature, such as competing for rewards and XP, changed my effort... "Gave me a goal to reach for" Teaching and Learning Symposium 9

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Impact on Student The competitive nature, such as competing for rewards and XP, changed my satisfaction.. "Love the badges and pins. Who doesn't like rewards for work well done" Impact on Student Atmosphere was supportive to learning (SFIs) "Having exams and/or papers can be stressful" Teaching and Learning Symposium 10

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Impact on Student Provided a valuable learning experience (SFIs) "This course did a nice job of allowing a little of everyone's strengths to gain points" Impact on Student Summary of Findings Students prefer the gamified learning method Students find gamification helpful to learning Students perform better Slightly higher grades on short answer and multiple choice Substantially more in depth analysis and recommendations Teaching and Learning Symposium 11

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification What impact does gamification have on the.... instructor Gamification Why I gamified... Online Asynchronous Course How do I keep students engaged if we don't interact? Similar asynchronous courses have a 50% completion rate Theory and Definitions are BORING SOOOO TIRED of writing definitions on the board How do I make the class fun for me... spend class time doing activities I can't find class time for application....guest speakers, field trips, and activities Teaching and Learning Symposium 12

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification Why I gamified... Allows for spacing ­ engagement with content is deliberate and stretched over time, which increases memory retention and improves transfer. (Bahrick 1993) Devoting class time to application gives instructors a better opportunity to detect errors in thinking. (7 Things You Should Know About...Flipped Classrooms 2012) Allows for personalization (Bergmann and Sams 2012) Gamification What would I do differently... Teaching and Learning Symposium 13

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification What I did differently the second time... Spend more time at the beginning of the semester explaining how gamification works and how grades are determined "I really struggled with the grading style being in XP and would have preferred it be in regular style grading" Spend more time emphasizing how much time should be spent on this course [5 to 6 hours a week on a class IS reasonable] "I like it. But this was the highest workload of any class I've taken." Gamification What I did differently the second time... Face­to­face: list at the beginning of class what is due for the level Stay on top of the grading "Stephanie did an amazing job setting up this course for us, it probably took her a lot of time to put it together but it was very beneficial for everyone. I learned so much more through this structure than I have in other online classes." Teaching and Learning Symposium 14

Gamification of a Course April 12, 2018 Gamification 7 Things You Should Know About…Flipped Classrooms, Educause Learning Initiative, February 2012, accessed on February 18, 2017, https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7081.pdf. Harry Bahrick et al, Maintenance of Foreign Language Vocabulary and the Spacing Effect, Psychology Science, 4(5), September 1993. Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, International Society for Technology in Education, 2012. Cynthia Brame, Flipping the Classroom, Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, accessed on February 18, 2017, https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides‐sub‐pages/flipping‐the‐classroom/. Jane McGonigal, Gaming Can Make a Better World, Ted Talk (2012), accessed on May 20, 2017, https:// www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world/transcript? language=en#t‐637874. Katie Salen Tekinbas et al, Quest to Learn: Developing the School for Digital Kids, MIT Press, 2010. Teaching and Learning Symposium 15