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Corey Eng
ETD 624
Abstract
Student engagement and motivation may be the single most difficult task facing education today.
The attention span and motivation of students today is simply a fraction of what it was just a few
years ago, which leads to difficulties in behavior management. Unfortunately, these may also be
the most important aspects of education in determining student success. How do we motivate the
21st century learner and keep them engaged in their education? Gamification is a hot topic in the
field of education because of its potential to completely change the formula for educating our
youth. The following article will summarize the effects of gamification in the classroom and how
management system
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Table of Contents
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Research …………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………. 10
References ………………………………………………………………………………… 11
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Literature Review
What is Gamification?
The idea of adapting the traditional classroom experience in order to meet the needs of
today’s students is a very pressing need. Gamification is a learning management system that is
gaining intrigue within the last couple of years. Gamification is the process of using gaming
According to Zicherman in his textbook Gamification by Design - Gamification was “the process
of game-thinking and game mechanics to engage users and solve problems.” It was not about
developing full-on games, but rather it was about using gaming attributes to drive engagement,
strengthen skills, or behavior changes. Learning was not made into a game; the features of games
(curiosity, collecting, exploration, and domination to name a few) which enticed players to
engage were used to draw in learners (Arnold, 2014). Gamification sought to incorporate game
elements into the classroom in which students earn coins, badges, trophies, etc., for academic or
behavioral achievements and use those rewards they had earned to level up their avatar or
purchase items.
Gamification in Education
As daunting as it might have seemed to gamify the entire classroom experience, it was
important to understand that many things around us had been gamified for quite some time. For
loyalty to a particular airline by repeated business was rewarded with miles which act as a form
of gamified currency to be used for air travel, upgrades, priority booking, or other related
services (Wiggins, 2016). This motivated customers to continue to fly and made customers eager
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to purchase more in order to receive certain rewards. This philosophy was used in many
Within the classroom, gamification worked the same way. Students became motivated to
participate in class, follow directions, or complete an assignment accurately because they wanted
the rewards, badges, etc. One such gamification software called Classcraft was quite popular.
Classcraft was a program that brought education to life as it immersed students in a world where
they sought to level up their character, purchase items or gear, and complete quests. The students
earned rewards, in the form of virtual gold, for positive behavior within the classroom and saved
that gold to purchase items and upgrades within the game. Students also have negative
consequences for poor behavior that affect them negatively in the game. Classcraft offered
educators and parents alike data regarding student success and student achievement. Classcraft,
unfortunately, was not free, but was very highly recommended by teachers across the country.
This motivation for the game within the classroom naturally led to some students
performing better in the classroom. The ultimate goal being that the student’s motivation towards
the game transitioned to intrinsic motivation towards performing well in school. After students
began to be successful because of their motivation towards the game they could get a taste of
success. Students could realize that they are suddenly quite successful at school and they would
hopefully want to retain that success. Sometimes students did not know what it was like to be
successful in school and thus, were not motivated to be successful. An extrinsic motivator like
gamification led to students altering their efforts at school without them really realizing it
because they were so focused on the game and the reward. Although it would have been better
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for the student to be motivated to learn and achieve at school naturally, it was better for a student
Gamification Rewards
Rewards within a gamified classroom could be broken down into two main categories:
self-motivators and social-motivators. Self-motivators were rewards that enticed the student to
compete against oneself. By obtaining rewards the student was trying to “level up” and gain a
higher status than previously attained. The second category, social-motivators, were motivational
factors that helped the student compete against other students. For example, students might try to
gain more rewards than their friends. Here are some possible rewards within a gamified
classroom:
-Badges: Badges were earned within the gamified learning management system and
displayed student success. Badges gave students an opportunity to show their achievements
in an effort to receive social recognition. Students earned badges for completing objectives,
-Feedback: Within the gamified classroom, students received a plethora of feedback from
their teacher(s) related to their behavioral or academic achievement. This feedback motivated
students and gave them a sense of pride. Who would not like to receive positive feedback?
-Levels: Within the game people could be motivated by milestones. In a gamified classroom
students sought to “level up” their character by achieving certain tasks or by accumulating
rewards. This motivational factor, as simple as it was, led to student engagement in the
classroom.
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success and triumphs. The leaderboard allowed students to achieve recognition from their
-Avatars: Within the gamification programs students received gear, armor, or other physical
modifications to their avatar. This sense of attaining new items was quite motivating for
students.
Research
inconclusive. Studies and surveys showed that students enjoyed the implementation of
gamification but it was unknown exactly how well it effected the students directly and their
motivation in the classroom. To that end, it was specifically difficult to narrow down which
aspects of gamification were truly the most beneficial. Some research, provided hereafter, made
some connections to specific aspects of gamification and how they related to an increase in
found in game design proved to be more consistently successful than others when applied to
learning environments, these were: freedom to fail, rapid feedback, progression, and storytelling
(Stott, 2013).
Freedom to fail implied that users within a gamified environment felt that mistakes could
be made and risks could be taken without any real threat of danger. Due to receiving multiple
lives or the ability to start again, students felt more comfortable and thus more opportunities for
learning were available. Creating a learning environment in which students were not afraid to
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take risks was a proven benefit for students. Students felt more apt to try something new or do
something out of their comfort zone when they knew that there was no irreparable damage that
could be done such as in receiving a poor grade on an assessment or a project. If students were
encouraged to take risks and experiment, the focus was taken away from final results and re-
Rapid feedback within gamification gave students a constant awareness of their success
again, helped students take risks, and eliminated the fear of the unknown. Feedback was given
moment by moment, and often summarily at the end of a level or in boss battles, which required
players to integrate many of the separate skills they had picked up in prior battles with lesser
instruction within a traditional learning environment (Stott, 2013). Students received consistent
updates towards their progress and continually were faced with challenges and benchmarks to
reach. With progression, a logical sequence of learning objectives could be created smoothly as
well. Beginning with incorporating lower order thinking skills into the first stages (identifying,
(analyzing, evaluating, critiquing, summarizing) and finally arriving at the highest order thinking
skills in the final levels (composing, creating, designing, planning, inventing) (Stott, 2013).
young students. When a set of learning objectives appeared to be in the linear pattern of a
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narrative, it became more enticing for a young student to be motivated and excited about
learning.
These game dynamics of the Freedom to Fail, Rapid Feedback, Progression, and
Storytelling were elements that an educator interested in harnessing the effectiveness of games
would be smart to focus on as they were shown to be grounded in proven pedagogical practices
(Stott, 2013).
Professor Clifford Lampe was an Assistant Professor at the School of Information at the
University of Michigan. Lampe utilized gamification principles in his 200-student lecture class
titled UMSI 110 - Introduction to Information Studies. Lampe identified four elements of gaming
in particular as being effective in his classes: Choice (Freedom to Fail), Rapid Feedback,
Professor Lampe argued that one of the most effective aspects of gamification was the
freedom of choice. He integrated this feature into his class by allowing students options for how
to play out their assignments. At the beginning of the semester, students created a 'quest log’ in
which they identified learning objectives that they would partake in. Students were able to drop
quests that they were not interested in. Also, the assignments were leveled by Lampe, in which
higher level assignments were not available until they were “unlocked” by the student (Stott,
2013).
Lampe identified that the rigors of providing rapid feedback to students created an
increased work load for himself as the professor. To combat this, Lampe used one of his teaching
assistants to be the “grades master” in charge of providing consistent feedback to students. The
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10
“guilds” and guild quests for students to explore. This certainly appealed to certain students and
Lampe integrated Live Action Role Play into the curriculum. He went so far as to have
students dress up as a character of their choice and 'battle' in class against one another,
showcasing their knowledge of different concepts covered in the course. The 'head-to-head'
nature of this role play element relied on competition as a key motivator. It also provided
students with a valuable alternative way to showcase their comprehension (Stott, 2013).
Conclusions
form some sense of ownership over their learning. Gamification hasn't truly been proven to
create student success, to increase motivation or engagement because truly gamifying the entire
classroom may not be a one size fits all method. It is important to understand that many teachers
use elements of gamification all the time and have been for some time.
It would be suggested, within this review of the literature, to implement and highlight the
Storytelling.
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11
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