Gammification in the Classroom Part 1

Engagement in the Classroom

How is it that my students can be so motivated to struggle through the learning curve of a new video game just to get to the next level?  They will remain steadfast in the face of certain death and plow through their frustrations giving it all they have to get to the next level.  There is no monetary reward. Other than bragging rights, nothing more is offered for their achievement, yet they will try and try again for hours to make it to the next level until the end of the game.  

So what do they get out of it? 

Fullagar and Kelloway (2009) describe what it feels like to be in a state of optimal experience, a state they call the "flow'." How they describe what it feels like to be in a state of flow, seems very close to how it must feel for kids as they play video games. They loose their awareness of self and get lost in what they are doing. The feeling that this flow creates in the player is what becomes the reward (Fullagar & Kelloway, 2009) and is what keeps students wanting to return to the game.

Now imagine if you could get your students to feel this way about math, or writing an essay. Imagine students working through their frustrations wanting to do their very best to get through the lessons to get to the next level, wanting to return to learning because they want to feel that flow again.

What if we can piggy back, that is capitalize, on this euphoria they feel for games by making learning feel like the games they play? Gamification is the answer to that question.  Not just playing a game, but capturing all of what they can do and experience in a video game. 

References

Fullagar, C. J., & Kelloway, E. K. (2009a). Flow at work: An experience sampling approach. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(3), 595–615. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908x357903