EMILY MACLEAN
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • About
  • Connect
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • About
  • Connect

Games Based Learning and Gamification

11/10/2015

0 Comments

 
It is no secret that video games capture the attention of young and old for hours upon hours. They are engaging, motivating and above all fun. When an activity or task is turned into a game, there seems to be this instant motivation to want to play. Judy Willis argues the importance of using the principles of video games in the classroom as a way to increase the motivation of students as well as resiliency when they receive feedback. 

Games are always goal oriented whether it is to complete a level or end up with the most money at the end of the game. There is always something you are aiming to achieve. This idea of achievement motivates the player to continue until they are successful. Games provide a low rate of failure as they allow the player to try repeatedly until successful. Games are always providing feedback to the player. Sometimes the feedback is not being able to make it past a certain point in the game until the player figures out a new strategy. 

This past year, our Year 5 classes created a gamified unit of mathematics called the Battle 4 Chatz. Our goal was to make the entire geometry unit one big game where each class ('gang' or 'team') had to battle the other 2 classes in order to win over the various sections of the school. This unit was played as a mixed learning environment both online and in person components. It had a narrative of a MR. ME character taunting the students to get better at math so they could capture each other and defeat the other teams only to have things change drastically in the final boss level. Along the way, there were also many sidequests for the students to participate in. Motivation and participation in mathematics was at an all-time high as students were completing work at home and in class with enthusiasm to work towards badges and help their team achieve their goals. 

Breaking it down by Willis' main ideas, you will see that we took the principles of video games to create a positive experience for our students: 

- Motivation: Gain more points than the other two teams through completing individual activities, which would then allow students to capture different areas of the school. 

- Incremental Goal Progress: Students rewarded when a number of activities completed. A class could capture a portion of the school at the end of each level if they had the most points. 

- Individual Achievable Challenge: There were 2-3 activities per level that were mandatory based on the grade expectations with tutorials for support. Students had to complete tasks individually in order to help their team. If they completed the mandatory tasks (main storyline), they could challenge themselves by doing sidequests for bonus points to add to their teams total. 

- Feedback: Students received immediate feedback every time they completed an individual activity on their progress. As a class, their point totals were seen on the game site and updated in real time. 
​

If you are interested in learning about the theory and reasoning behind the game, feel free to check out the link here: https://sites.google.com/a/chatsworth.com.sg/battle4chatzsite/ 
​

You can also access the game site itself here: https://sites.google.com/a/chatsworth.com.sg/math-turf-wars/ 

References
Willis, J. (2011) A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/neurologist-makes-case-video-game-model-learning-tool
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    21CenturyLearning
    ACARA
    Accountabilitty
    Action
    Assessment
    AUP
    Beliefs
    Capacity
    Caring
    Challenge
    Change
    Classroom Management
    Coaching
    Code Of Conduct
    Collaboration
    Communciation
    Community
    Connections
    Connectivism
    Constructivism
    Creating
    Creative Commons
    Curriculum
    Design
    Digital
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Literacy
    Distance Education
    Documentation
    EdLeaders
    Education
    EMT503
    EMT504
    ERR501
    ESA501
    ESA513
    ESC515
    ESC516
    Excursion
    Game Based Learning
    Gamification
    Gender
    Global Connections
    Google
    Gratitude
    #gratitude #positiveeducation
    Growth
    Growth Mindset
    Holistic
    Innovation
    Inquiry
    Inspiration
    IWB
    Labels
    Leadership
    Learning
    Literacy
    Mandarin
    Mathematics
    Mindfulness
    Mistakes
    Motivation
    Music
    Online
    Parents
    Passion
    Pastoral
    Pedagogy
    Perserverence
    Perspective
    Plagarism
    PLN
    Portfolios
    Positive Education
    Positive Leadership
    Presenting
    Privilege
    Professional Development
    Professional Learning
    Provocation
    Public Speaking
    PYP
    Reflect
    Reflection
    Relationships
    Research
    Responsibility
    Risktaker
    SAMR
    Sharing
    Skills
    Social Media
    Student Agency
    Teaching
    Technology
    TPACK
    Transformation
    Typing
    Values
    Websites
    Wellbeing
    Writing

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @msemilymaclean
© COPYRIGHT 2021  EMILY MACLEAN.​ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.