Games in the Classroom
Gamification, as defined by Lee and Hammer, is the incorporation of game elements into non-game settings (p. 1). As I reflect on my use of gamification within my teaching, I am guilty as charged, I was a “non-believer” of the benefits and purpose of allowing students to play games, even if they were educational and content-related. My belief was similar to that of Gros’s (2007) findings in the 2005 study by Egenfeldt-Nielsen, “students were not capable of connecting the two modes of playing and learning” (p. 35). However, that does not mean I have not used games in the classroom because I have. I used games as an opportunity to reward students because they were always begging me to use games when reviewing for tests such as Kahoot or Quizlet Live. I have also discovered that gamification does not have to be actual games played in the classroom, but that a few resources I have used in the past as a math teacher could qualify as gamification. Such resources include the math programs called Aleks and IXL. Each program gives students points, percentages, and badges as they answer problems and master topics. After reading the compelling research presented in Gros’s 2007 journal article, Digital Games in Education, my perspective for games within the classroom has changed. As a Science teacher, one of the standards we must teach at the beginning and throughout the entire year is to have our students use science and engineering practices to develop understandings of science content. This standard requires that students be able to generate hypotheses, develop and use models, manipulate variables, and many other essential skills necessary to establish and demonstrate understanding. According to research, video games can assist in the development of such skills through demonstration. There is an online program, USA TestPrep, that I have occasionally used in the past as “busy work.” However, after learning what I have thus far on Gamification the use of this program has now become a valuable resource. USA TestPrep has nearly an unlimited amount of resources available for teachers to assign their students including bell-ringers, quizzes, tests, performance tasks (such as matching, labeling, and ordering), flashcards, videos, class activities, competitive whole-group games, and individual games. This year I plan to implement USA TestPrep for more than just busy work, but as an essential resource for increasing my student’s understanding and practice of the science content.
Works Cited
Digital Games in Education: The Design of Game-Based Learning Environments, Begona GrosGros, B. (n.d). Digital games in education: The design of game-based learning environments. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9403/b205dbc60967483fcdc7e5ae834aa9e2a712.pdf
Gamification in Education: What, How, and Why Bother, Lee & HammerLee, J. (n.d.). Gamification in education: What, how, why bother? Retrieved August 10, 2017, from https://www.academia.edu/570970/Gamification_in_Education_What_How_Why_Bother