Conceptually, game-based learning covers a gambit of pedagogical approaches, from employing game play to gamification.
Dr. Francesco Crocco says while game-based learning can include those elements, it starts with a course design approach that gives students three elements:
- Autonomy.
- Mastery.
- Sense of Purpose.
By designing with these elements in mind, instructors can feed students小蝌蚪APP intrinsic motivation, making learning their goal instead of a letter grade.
Plugging in
Crocco was teaching remedial writing at City 小蝌蚪APP of New York when he began looking for a new way to connect students with their course content.
小蝌蚪APP淭hey小蝌蚪APP檙e paying for a course that gives them no credit, that basically tells them they小蝌蚪APP檙e bad writers,小蝌蚪APP Crocco says. 小蝌蚪APP淪o the whole thing is working against me, and I had to figure out how to engage the students.小蝌蚪APP
Initially, Crocco took a straightforward approach by gamifying the syllabus, introducing points and levels. As he began to explore the concept more deeply, however, Crocco considered how to improve his assignment design to spark active learning, to empower students through choice, and facilitate collaboration.
小蝌蚪APP淚n the game world, they小蝌蚪APP檒l call that a quest,小蝌蚪APP Crocco says. 小蝌蚪APP淵ou have all these different quests you can choose 小蝌蚪APP different assignments 小蝌蚪APP to earn whatever number of points you need to pass the course.小蝌蚪APP
Crocco says the key to game-based learning is applying principles of good game design to the classroom.
Changing the Game
Dr. James Paul Gee小蝌蚪APP檚 book, 小蝌蚪APP淲hat Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy,小蝌蚪APP identifies 36 learning principles embodied in successful, commercial video games, including active learning, distributed knowledge, feedback, and failing forward.
小蝌蚪APP淭he idea is not to create everything so high stakes that you punish failure but that you understand that failing is learning, and you reward that,小蝌蚪APP Crocco says. 小蝌蚪APP淚f you've ever played a video game, you know what I mean. You've got to play it a million times before you can beat it."
The elements that make well-designed games engaging are familiar to anyone who小蝌蚪APP檚 spent time designing online courses 小蝌蚪APP feedback, challenge setting to prevent both frustration and boredom, and learning through failure.
It小蝌蚪APP檚 a system that encourages people to become immersed in the task at hand, instead of being preoccupied with the result. That experience is most like our state of mind at play.
Play is voluntary, absorbing, and undertaken for its own sake. Crocco says when instructors create courses that mirror those attributes, learners approach the content with a different mindset.
"What the research shows is that when you introduce an extrinsic motivator, like grades, you can end up destroying their intrinsic desire to do something. That小蝌蚪APP檚 not what we want to do when it comes to learning,小蝌蚪APP says Crocco. 小蝌蚪APP淚s learning about grades, or is it about learning? Sometimes the systems we create to motivate the activity we want to see, or the behavior we want to see, ends up undermining that behavior.小蝌蚪APP
Learn more about how to take a systematically different approach to your courses during our April 8 webinar, Level-up Your Course with Game-based Learning. Register at .