James McNamara's Portfolio Page
Navigation links: ETAP 623 Fall 2021 (Zhang) | Gamifying the Classroom
About Me
Hi! I'm Jimmy and I'm a 4th grade ICT teacher in White Plains, NY. I graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 2016 and have experience teaching in grades 1, 3, 4, and 6. Some of my interests and hobbies are playing and watching sports, cooking, playing guitar, and critiquing movies. Being an elementary school teacher has been the most rewarding experience of my life and I really love working with my students every day. I was driven to the CDIT graduate program at Albany because of how much I enjoy using technology with my students in the classroom, as well as experimenting and trying new instructional strategies as the digital world continues to impact what should be taught in school and how we are teaching it. I believe that teachers now have the responsibility to ensure that our students are media literate and confident in utilizing technology as the powerful tool that it is.
My Topic
Gamification is defined as "process of using game design, thinking, and mechanics to engage an audience and solve problems." (Zichermann, 2019). Within the context of education, gamification can be a powerful tool in engaging and motivating students by utilizing game mechanics that students are familiar with and enjoy outside of school. The true power in gamification is its ability to change the way students approach school and their learning; by students becoming more active, self-regulated learners, motivated by the elements of game design, that students have only experienced within the context of "play" outside the classroom.
Intent of Project
The wide variety of games that students have prior knowledge about (sports, video games, card games, game shows, board games, etc.) creates multiple access points for students to engage with a new topic by appealing to their prior experiences with games. With effective application, game design elements such as badges, points, and leaderboards can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways. This intent of this mini-course is to provide teachers with an understanding of how to use game design elements in the classroom to support engagement and provide behavioral interventions. More specifically, this course will cover:
- How elements of game design in the classroom can increase engagement and motivation
- How point systems create a sense of purpose and meaning
- How badges can be used as a rewards system for positive behaviors or academic accomplishments
- How to utilize leaderboards and game-chats to help develop classroom community
Needs Assessment
1. Instructional problem: The need for elementary students to be motivated and engaged by the work they are completing in school.
2. The nature of what is to be learned: Engagement and motivation are terms that every teacher is very familiar with, but many classrooms today are structured in a way that do not allow for students to fully immerse themselves in their learning, which in turn creates problems with engagement and motivation. The traditional models of education rely too heavily on a teacher's ability to transfer knowledge through the means of instruction. By introducing elements of game design in the classroom that students have prior knowledge of engaging with outside of school, teachers can increase engagement and intrinsic motivation by appealing to student interests within the context of games. When engagement and motivation are increased while learning a new topic or skill, a more student centered environment can be fostered, allowing for the teacher to focus their attention and scaffold support to students with the highest needs.
3. About the learners: Participants are grades K-6 educators or prospective educators. These participants wish to improve their understanding of how to create a supportive student centered classroom, with high levels of engagement and intrinsic motivation by implementing elements of game design in the classroom.
4. Instructional content: The course will be divided into four units. The first unit will define what gamification is and the game-design elements that will be covered in the following units of study. The second unit will cover how the game mechanic of XP or point systems can be used to give students meaning and a sense of progression when learning a new topic. The third unit will cover how the game mechanic badges to reward academic accomplishments or positive behaviors. The final unit will cover how leaderboards and game-chats can be used to help foster a sense of community in the classroom.
Analysis of the Learner and Context
This course is designed for elementary educators to develop their understanding of gamification and consider how these elements and mechanics of game design can be utilized in the classroom to increase engagement and motivation. While gamification can be applied in other educational settings and contexts, such as a high school social studies class or a behavioral center, this course will focus on the application of game design elements in elementary (K-6) classrooms. The use of points, badges and leaderboards may differ slightly in their effective applications between elementary grade level due to age and independence, this course is rooted within the context of Elementary Education.
Performance-Based Objectives
Learners will be able to...
- define gamification and consider its applications in education
- demonstrate their understanding of how games can be used to increase motivation and engagement in school
- demonstrate their understanding of game mechanics by classifying badges, points and leaderboards prior to the end of the course
- create badges to effectively reward positive behaviors and academic achievement to increase engagement and motivation given the resources from this course
- construct an XP point system that aligns with academic tasks within any lesson or subject area given the resources of this course
- create a "leaderboard" to share student achievement and future goals to foster classroom community and relationships given the resources of this course
Task Analysis
Unit 1: Games and Learning
Targeted objectives
- SWBT define gamification
- SWBT demonstrate their understanding of how games can be used to increase motivation and engagement in school
Support objectives/skills
- Define "gamification"
- Define "motivation" and why its important in school
- Define "game mechanic"
- Explore examples of game mechanics used within education
- Consider how elements of game design can be applied in each learner's unique context
Unit 2: Game Mechanics and Classroom Dynamics
Targeted objective
- SWBT demonstrate their understanding of game mechanics by classifying badges, points, and leaderboards prior to the end of the course
Support objectives/skills
- Define "badge" within the context of games
- Define "experience points" within the context of games
- Define a "leaderboard" or "discussion board" within the context of games
- Explore examples of badges, XP systems, and boards and how they are used in games for play
- Explore examples of badges, XP systems, and boards used in educational settings
- Consider the changes in classroom dynamics that an badges, experience point systems, and boards can introduce (classroom power structures/ rewarding success rather than punishment for lack of understanding)
Unit 3: Start Gamifying your Classroom
Targeted Objective
- SWBT create badges to effectively reward positive behaviors and/or academic achievement to increase engagement and motivation given the resources from this course
- SWBT construct an XP point system that aligns with academic tasks within any lesson or subject area given the resources of this course
- SWBT create a "leaderboard" to share student achievement and future goals to foster classroom community and relationships given the resources of this course
Support Objectives/Skills
- Consider how badges can be utilized within each learners' classroom context
- Consider how leaderboards can be applied within each learners' classroom context
- Consider alignment of experience points with curricula based tasks, within each learners' classroom context
Curriculum Map
*I revised my curriculum map towards the end of my course design process in order to align my course more with the concepts of project based learning and KB model we studied at the end of our course. Instead of my units focusing on just exploring and learning about gamification and game mechanics over 4 units, my final course has my students learning about gamification and game mechanics (XP, badges, and boards which are also modeled within the mini course as well) in the first two units, before taking on the authentic project of creating their own education based game mechanics to be implemented in their given educational context.