Gamification and Active Learning

Active learning consists of a short course-related individual or small-group activities that all students in a class are called upon to do, alternating with instructor-led intervals in which student responses are processed and new information is presented.
Using active learning strategies does not require abandoning the lecture format. Rather, adding small active learning strategies can make lecturing more effective for student learning. These activities give students just a minute or two to check their understanding of recent material, practice a skill or highlight gaps in their knowledge before giving an explanation.

Figure 1: Making Time for Active Learning

There are many examples of the active learning concept in practice such as:

• Project-based learning
• Inquiry learning
• Authentic pedagogy
• Progressive education
• New learning/transformative learning
• Participatory learning
• Research-based learning

But, what I found very interesting, and I wrote about it in my master's thesis is Gamification. Gamification refers to the application of game design elements to non-game activities and has been applied to a variety of contexts including education. Various elements have been used in gamification to increase user engagement, for example:

• points
• badges
• leaderboards
• and storyline 

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to gamifying learning. If you're trying to make your next lesson more fun, consider what games and game features are best suited for your unique situation. But, you can try some of this:
Create classroom avatars
Award badges
Turn learning into class quests
Connect classic games to school subjects

References:
- Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2009). Active learning: An introduction. ASQ higher education brief, 2(4), 1-5.

-Nah, F. F. H., Zeng, Q., Telaprolu, V. R., Ayyappa, A. P., & Eschenbrenner, B. (2014). Gamification of education: a review of literature. In HCI in Business: First International Conference, HCIB 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, June 22-27, 2014. Proceedings 1 (pp. 401-409). Springer International Publishing.

- https://cei.umn.edu/teaching-resources/active-learning

-https://www.hmhco.com/blog/what-is-gamification-in-education#:~:text=Gamification%20in%20education%20means%20that,%2C%20The%20Sims%2C%20and%20tag.