Three years ago, my motivation to clock in steps and go for runs waned despite setting goals.  When I discovered a fitness app called Strava, my motivation increased as the app would  reward me with medals and badges if my performance showed improvement or if I achieved  any of my goals. Exercising no longer became a chore. This, my friend, illustrates the power of gamification.

What is Gamification? 

Gamification is a term coined by Nick Pelling. It is the application of game-design elements  in non-game contexts to enhance user engagement and motivation (Grabner-Hagen & Kingsley, 2023). In education, gamification can be used as a tool to make learning more  interactive and enjoyable, and encourage students to immerse themselves in their studies as  they would in a game. 

What are some gamification elements?

Game elements like creating quests may enhance students’ learning. Quests, in learning  context, may refer to tasks or missions that students must complete in order to get further in  the game and/or receive badges. This adds a narrative element to learning and makes it more  engaging, as students must pay attention to instructions and details to participate in the games  (Grabner-Hagen & Kingsley, 2023). For example, I once observed a fellow colleague plan a treasure hunt as a review activity of a previously learned concept. The students were expected  to solve a riddle before finding words with “–ck” around the classroom. I thought that was a  fun and brilliant idea!

If you have a reward system already in place, that is an element of gamification too! Kudos to  you! Offering rewards, virtual or tangible, is a form of incentivising students to actively  participate in learning activities (Grabner-Hagen & Kingsley, 2023). 

Lastly, a very common element in games such as Kahoot! and Blooket is leaderboards. A  leaderboard, which is essentially a scoreboard that shows the ranked names and current  scores of leading participants, provides recognition to participants with the best  performances. As such, having leaderboards can promote competition and motivate students  to increase their performance. It can be fun to occasionally have some friendly competition in  class, but it may turn into a double-edged sword especially when you have students who are  still learning to accept defeat. Hence, proceed with caution. How, you may ask? By being clear with your instructions and expectations from the get-go. For example, you may inform the class, “Winning and losing are part and parcel of playing a game. How you react to  winning or losing in a game will determine whether you are a good sport. So, I would like to  see if you are a good sport. Ready?”  

Why should we gamify our lessons? 

Other than increased engagement, enhanced motivation and fostering collaboration,  gamification encourages students to seek insights from their mistakes and avoid repeating  them as they may be driven by their desire to earn more badges and achieve higher rankings  on the leaderboard (Grabner-Hagen & Kingsley, 2023). Additionally, we often remember  things better when we are in a happier and more positive mood, right? So what is there to  lose? 

Gamification has the potential to create a dynamic and interactive learning environment that  not only fosters love for learning, but it may also potentially help students achieve better  academic outcomes (Dicheva et al., 2015). The increased engagement with the learning  material and immediate feedback provided can help students learn from their mistakes.  Ultimately, we need to understand the type of students in our class to better utilise the  elements of gamification that suit them best (Jaskari & Syrjala, 2022, as cited in Solekhah,  Kutni & Pamungkas, 2023). This way, we can give our students that game changing learning  experience! 

Have fun!

Article written by:
Zakiyyah Binti Masri
Senior Educational Therapist
RETA Associate Fellow

References

Dicheva, D., Dichev, C., Agre, G., Angelova, G. (2015) ‘Gamification in Education: A Systematic Mapping Study’, Educational Technology & Society, 18(3), pp. 75–88.

Grabner-Hagen, M.M. and Kingsley, T. (2023) ‘From badges to boss challenges: Gamification through need-supporting scaffolded design to instruct and motivate elementary learners’, Computers and Education Open, 4, p. 100131.
doi:10.1016/j.caeo.2023.100131.

Jaskari, M.-M., & Syrjälä, H. (2022). A mixed-methods study of marketing students’ game playing motivations and gamification elements. Journal of Marketing Education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/02734753221083220

Solekhah, H., Kutni, I.D. and Pamungkas, A.B. (2023) ‘Student’s engagement and perception of gamification in Mathematics’, Education Policy and Development, 1(2), pp. 1–13. doi:10.31098/epd.v1i2.1779.