(574) HOW TO GAMIFY THE CLASS LEVELS, QUESTS AWARDS

摘要

Traditional methods are out of favor for the 21st century's classroom. Students are spending moretime in games than ever, and with the information readily available at their fingertips, their interest andinvolvement in classes are decreasing. As the students change, education needs to evolve as well.Enriching the way of teaching have now become essential. The facts of increased student time spentin games have caused the idea of gaming in education to emerge. Games have already invaded theworld; why can they not invade the classes as well? As stated by Lee, J. J. & Hammer, J. (2011),gamification can help schools do better.The first documented use of the term “gamification” was in 2008 (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke2011). Zicherman and Cunningham (2011) defines gamification as the use of game thinking and gamemechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems. Gamification can change therules, but it can also affect students' emotional experience. Many researchers comment about theassociation of gaming and problem solving skills such as the powers of deduction, spatial thinking (inaddition to linear thinking), and evidence based decision making (Kapp, 2012). As suggested byLeblanc (2006), gamification can motivate students to participate more deeply and even to changetheir self-concept as learners.The aim of this study is to inquire the research problem ' Does Gamification motivate students better?'and the purpose of the study is to investigate how gamification affects mathematics classes.The study was conducted on 46 seventh grade students during a year grading period at Metu privateschool in Ankara,Turkey. The groups used in the study were two seventh grade classes, each havingan enrollment of 23 students. Both classes were taught mathematics by gamifying at the same rateand by using the same rules and methods.Educational gamification proposes the use of game-like rule systems, player experiences and culturalroles to shape learners' behavior and understandings. To understand the potential of gamificationhowever, we must consider how these techniques can best be deployed in practice.In these gamified classes; students are progressing towards levels of mastery, as one does in games.Some of the points covered in the study are:- Utilizing the idea that students are motivated by points and tangible rewards like badges,students get points for their class participation and overall behavior in class. Thesepoints are then translated to titles as 'director' and badges.- There simply are not enough hours in the day for teachers so learning has to continue after thebell rings. In support of this view, gamifying homework is helpful for encouraging informallearning. In the study, students get points for completing homeworks on time and correctly,which add up to levels. In game terms, by how much they have accomplished their quests. Theaccumulated levels will finally have a direct effect on Oral grades at the end of each semester.- The use of games generally removes the fear in failure and allows students to persevere andeventually overcome the problem. Instantaneous feedback and small rewards (or big ones, likewinning) are external motivators that work. In this study, lots of current-topic-relevant games areintegrated into the curriculum. With these games, classes could also be flipped.- Team work is very important for learning. In this study, a quest and rewards system is inplace where students complete tasks and achieve rewards as a team. That way, studentsare working to master the material together instead of competing.As explained briefly above, gamification creates an alternate well-defined fun path for the student tofollow in the mathematics classes, with things to achieve along the way. Games and gamificationcannot be used to replace pedagogy, but can be used to enhance the overall learning experience.