The Rise of the Gamer Educator

Transcription

1 The Rise of the Gamer Educator July 9, 2015 LearningHouse.com (502)

2 State of Play Gamification adaptive learning personalized learning serious games gameful design direct assessment inspired teaching

3 State of Play the issues There is a clear societal desire to increase completion of academic qualifications at all levels. Current institutions cannot support the scale of growth needed to attain these targets. There needs to be an uptick in online classes. These classes struggle to engage all students. They particularly could struggle to engage those whose motivation is low (or who even have many disincentives to persist). The changing demographics in the US suggest that these issues are likely to get more challenging, especially for institutions unfamiliar to these demographics. Technology has evolved to a place where we can all experiment. Space Invaders came out in 1978.

4 University of New Hampshire Microeconomics: Dr. Neil Niman

5 University of Waterloo Business Ethics: Dr. Greg Andres

6 University of South Florida The Fairy Tale MOOC: Dr. Kevin Yee

7 Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Phil 101: Dr. Gerol Petruzella

8 Why does gameful design engage students? Are there elements common to adaptive / personalized gamified / gameful design / CBE / direct assessment that can accentuate student engagement? What are the principles / intrinsic motivators?: What elements can be teased out to accentuate student engagement? Engagement or time on task as studies show, is the best (available) proxy for likely learning and retention of materials (Kuh, 2009; DOE, 2010) Schell (2010) has referred to this concept of increasing user stickiness or propensity to stay on page as the psychology of engagement

9 Flow

10 Learning something new

11 Vs. Using a pattern you already know

12 Most classes are biking straight uphill

13 Games, on the other hand

14 Remember

15 The Intrinsic Motivator 1) Tasks have clear goals and parameters / achievement is tangible yet achievable. 2) Rules exist that are clearly stated. 3) Concentration is required (by the student). 4) There are possibilities for conflict, competition and/or cooperation among participating students. 5) Time is stressed as a limiting factor (to encourage focus). 6) Reward structures are inherent to the system and clear to the students. 7) Immediate & Continual Feedback is provided. 8) A sense of progressing through levels is apparent. 9) Storytelling narrative is involved or can be. 10) Curve of Interest the journey through the materials evolves. 11) Aesthetics the courseware is attractive and designed intentionally to be so. 12) Fear of failure is reduced, as it is clear in the system that replays or do-overs are available. 13) Student has clear control over her or his actions. 14) The student participates with effortless involvement it is clear what is expected from the moment of engagement.

16 Great teachers do many of these: 1) Tasks have clear goals and parameters / achievement is tangible yet achievable. 2) Rules exist that are clearly stated. 3) Concentration is required (by the student) - appropriate level of challenge 4) There are possibilities for conflict, competition and/or cooperation among participating students. 5) Time is stressed as a limiting factor (to encourage focus) 6) Reward structures are inherent to the system and clear to the students. 7) Immediate & Continual Feedback is provided. 8) A sense of progressing through levels is apparent. 9) Storytelling narrative is involved or can be. 10) Curve of Interest the journey through the materials evolves. 11) Aesthetics the courseware is attractive and designed intentionally to be so. 12) Fear of failure is reduced, as it is clear in the system that replays or do-overs are available. 13) Student has clear control over her or his actions. 14) The student participates with effortless involvement it is clear what is expected from the moment of engagement.

17 Great games can: 1) Tasks have clear goals and parameters / achievement is tangible yet achievable. 2) Rules exist that are clearly stated. 3) Concentration is required (by the student). - appropriate level of challenge 4) There are possibilities for conflict, competition and/or cooperation among participating students. 5) Time is stressed as a limiting factor (to encourage focus). 6) Reward structures are inherent to the system and clear to the students. 7) Immediate & Continual Feedback is provided. 8) A sense of progressing through levels is apparent. 9) Storytelling narrative is involved or can be. 10) Curve of Interest the journey through the materials evolves. 11) Aesthetics the courseware is attractive and designed intentionally to be so. 12) Fear of failure is reduced, as it is clear in the system that replays or do-overs are available. 13) Student has clear control over her or his actions. 14) The student participates with effortless involvement it is clear what is expected from the moment of engagement.

18 Technology / gameful design can help: 1) Tasks have clear goals and parameters / achievement is tangible yet achievable. 2) Rules exist that are clearly stated. (or are immediately obvious) 3) Concentration is required (by the student). - appropriate level of challenge 4) There are possibilities for conflict, competition and/or cooperation among participating students. 5) Time is stressed as a limiting factor (to encourage focus). 6) Reward structures are inherent to the system and clear to the students. 7) Immediate & Continual Feedback is provided. 8) A sense of progressing through levels is apparent. 9) Storytelling narrative is involved or can be. 10) Curve of Interest the journey through the materials evolves. 11) Aesthetics the courseware is attractive and designed intentionally to be so. 12) Fear of failure is reduced, as it is clear in the system that replays or do-overs are available. 13) Student has clear control over her/his actions. 14) The student participates with effortless involvement it is clear what is expected from the moment of engagement.

19 The succinct list: 1) Clear expectations students need to be able to understand what they have to do quickly (human beings) 2) Appropriate level of challenge dopamine release activated and available to promote, sustain, or repeat some mental or physical effort when the outcome is not assured. If there is no risk, there is no reward (50% -> maximum release) 3) Immediate, corrective feedback (CTA Mayer / Clark) 4) Sense of progress / journey or narrative (addictive learning) 5) Aesthetics / narrative?

20 It s SIMPLE Student Intrinsic Motivators for Persistence in Learning Environments

21 References: Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3 7. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper Press. Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer/ASTD. Kuh, G. D. (2009). The national survey of student engagement: Conceptual and empirical foundations. New Directions for Institutional Research,141, Schell, J. (2010). Design outside the box. Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Conference. Siemens, G.,Gasevic, D., & Dawson, S. (2015) Preparing for the Digital University: a review of the history and current state of distance, blended, and online learning. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation / Athabasca University U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. (2010). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. Washington D.C.

22 Questions etc. Kevin Bell Executive Director of Curriculum Development and Deployment Senior Fellow / Lecturer for the Lowell Institute College of Professional Studies Northeastern University k.bell@neu.edu Skype kbell14_neu Twitter kbell14