Gamification, Pointification and… Cadbury Favourites?
There it was. On public display. For all to see.
As he manoeuvred through the labyrinth of limbs, he caught the occasional soundbite above the hum of anxious students: “Yessss, 92!” – “I got 91!” – “Jessica, shut uuuuup, you got 96!”. Well, how grand life must be in the upper 10th percentile, he thought. Then just as the heel of Brad Schoefield’s shoe sank into his toes, there it was. 57%. He couldn’t decide what hurt more. The imminent “thanks for trying, here’s your participation award”, or 110kgs of Brad Schoefield. As the chorus of excited upper 10th percentile’s grew louder… he decided it was the former.
We’ve all been there before: the publicly broadcast leader board.
For a few, it’s a moment of immense pride. For some, it triggers a desire to do better. And for others, it’s simply humiliating.
The use of gamified elements in educational contexts is not a new concept. We’ve been using leader boards, points, gold stars, badges, and giving chocolate bars as rewards for decades. We seldom stop to question their place in the classroom, because, hey… if you’ve got a cheeky Cadbury Favourite coming your way, you’re hardly going to complain right?
However, with the rise of digital media, the use and application of gamified elements to engage and motivate is increasing rapidly. This has been facilitated by the ease with which digital interfaces can be gamified (Bohyn 2015:8).
For example:
Minecraft: Education Edition allows educators to deliver lessons in a digital environment promoting creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Archie Learning allows educators to curate digital platforms and design a gamified one-stop-shop learning experience.
Duolingo allows users to learn new languages at their own pace, through a free, gamified app.
While these programs are having positive effects on student learning, it is important to highlight their construction is informed by user experience, design, and motivational theory experts.
The danger in applying gamification techniques in educational contexts where these resources are not available, is ending up with a crude subsidiary of gamification. This is better known as pointification and has adverse effects on student learning (Van Roy and Zaman 2017:4).
So, does this mean educators should scrap the box of Cadbury Favourites unless they have a PHD in Psychology and Behavioural Science? No. Let’s not do anything drastic here… we love our choccies.
It just means educators need to be strategic in their use of gamification, and adapt their approach when they sense their students are not responding.
Gamification is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. While the upper 10th percentiles might enjoy a Turkish Delight, the 57%ers might prefer a Crunchie…
References:
Bouyon K (2015) ‘The popularity of gamification in the mobile and social era’, Library Technology Reports, 51(2):5-9, accessed 27 April 2021.
Exam Results by Tanya Zerek, 29 April 2021. Made with Canva.
Van Roy R and Zaman B (2017) ‘Why gamification fails in education and how to make it successful: introducing nine gamification heuristics based on self-determination theory’, in Ma M and Oikonomou A (eds) Serious games and edutainment applications, Springer-Verlag, Switzerland.
