Gamification is where you take learning to a gaming level, so to speak. It is intended to increase motivation and engagement by “incorporating game design elements in educational environments.” (Https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5) While Gamification is a new concept in the past 5 or so years, the idea of this method is not. I will explain.

To start, in my opinion, this concept likely came about from a dedicated teacher who wanted to reach his or her students. Gamification itself, likely came from more and more children responding to electronics and ‘gaming,’ so why not incorporate that into teaching. This process of educating has been extremely popular for certain student, namely, those that identify with gaming, as opposed to those that do not.

So, what is Gamification? According to Edutopia.org (https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gamification-in-education-vicki-davis), there are six elements and concerns that make up and address Gamification. They are:

1. Game mechanics - This is part of the game theory. This is not handing out badges or points, but the actual mechanics of the game and how the game will engage and motivate the learner.
2. Bartle test of gamer psychology - This is a Psychological evaluation that will tell you which of the 4 game-player types that you are. Obviously, the coder of the game will want to take this into consideration.
3. Gamification is a process - Stating that seems obvious, but many don’t realize that the process it thorough and must be thought out.
4. Serious games can be used anywhere - Gaming corporations have joined in with teachers and have started donating their hardware, such as Xboxes, PS3s, and Wii systems, to help with the learning process.
5. Serious game can tackle serious issues - Teachers are able to present to the learners; serious topics and it allows the learner to ‘experience’ the topic in a safe environment and still be able to understand that experience. This is not a viable option for real life experience through a classroom.
6. Inability to trust app stores to curate games - The teacher must be aware that not all games that claim to be educating, are truly educating games. You can create a rubric, or use someone else’s such as the one at https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=TXA3BBC&sp=yes&, that will allow you to evaluate if the game will adequately work, for the lesson(s) you are teaching.

The underlying idea of this method has been occurring for decades, if not centuries. Both of my parents were high school teachers and they used games or role play type activities to teach their students. One of the lessons my mom taught her speech class, I still use today when I have to present to a group of people. My dad taught my Campfire Girls troop critical thinking skills through science experiments, which we took those skills back to school with us and benefitted greatly from them.

I’ve seen other educators, or teachers, do the same. One teacher that I’ve come across works with at risk kids. While she technically teaches 1st grade, her students range in age from 6-11. These are students that are on the Autism Spectrum, have learning disabilities, or were held back due to any number of reasons. She incorporates an overall subject each month to teach the kids in all subject areas of the class. For example, one month was Native American culture and history month. She let them role play what members of one of the local tribes would have done in a day, including letting them plant vegetables to take home. She was able to cover social studies, science, languages (yes, she taught them basic words in the local tribe’s native language, as well as English), and Math. For Math, at the end of the month, the kids helped her make Fry Bread, so they learned about measurements, and chemistry of ingredients that work together and such. So, I see the method as being around for some time; Gamification takes it to a new level.

So, how does this relate to higher education, or adult education? I viewed a Ted Talk, which you can find at https://youtu.be/d8s3kZz1yQ4. This professor used the example of an Escape Room to teach his medical students about different pharmaceuticals that they have to learn about. This professor and colleagues and students did an experiment, which involved figuring out the patterns of the medication that they had to learn about. The students were given 60 minutes to escape. The average was 54 minutes, which is pretty good. He points out that Gamification is not always easy and it’s not always fun. But I feel that the Gamification of a topic that is being taught does still engage the students more, and motivates them to learn.