Reply To: Module 4- Engaging Students

[Rachelle Allen-McFarlane]

The response I’m making in this post is largely based on my analysis of a paper entitled “ Gamification and learning: A review of issues and Research” by Faiella et al. 2015.The term gamification was only coined in 2002 and it seems more research needs to be done to get a clearer understanding of its impact on the teaching and learning process .It is known that in terms of intrinsic motivation of students gamification can have a negative impact when rewards such as badges and coins as well as the encouraging of competition and social comparison via digital leaderboards is used. One research involving students of an e-learning course showed the negative effects of social comparison on motivation. It proved especially that gamification is not an important motivating factor for all students because some students do not like to compete with their classmates. There are studies however that have shown that gamification increases student engagement and participation in class and online settings. Engagement, however, tends to decrease with time as novelty wears off. In terms of learning outcomes gamification can increase/develop the problem-solving skills of students when the activity is design to have concrete challenges that increase in difficulty as the student’s skills expand. Additionally, feedback from gamification can increase some student’s motivation and their results. Where teaching is concerned, teachers/ instructional designers need to look carefully at the pros and cons of the particular gamification tools they intend to select, ensuring they are effective in actualizing the educational objectives and desired outcomes of the learning process.