Noah Wilson's Portfolio Page

Return to: ETAP 623 FALL 2015 - Byrne & Zhang section 8550 | Noah's mini-course

About Me

I have been working higher education for 7 years, mostly as a Hall Director. In my current role at SUNY Geneseo I manage a specialty housing area (Writers House) which includes the development of a residential curriculum focused on student interest in writing. I have had the pleasure of teaching First Year Success Seminar courses for first year students but also leadership courses for student leaders on campus. I also am a certified Safe Zone training facilitator, an adviser for a Greek organization, and an adviser for a sexual assault awareness and prevention group on campus. My scholarly interests include, digital rhetoric, identity formation, epistemology, imperialism (specifically its impacts), the epic tradition, and speculative realism (a new favorite) - specific writers of interest include Homer, Dante, William Blake, John Keats, H.P. Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman, Michel Foucault, Julia Kristeva, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Graham Harman.

I embrace my curiosity as much as possible and can often be found geeking out about select TV shows, most films, video games (find me on steam), board/card games, running, P90X and other "extreme" workouts, computer coding, and reading (fiction and non-fiction alike).

My Topic/Purpose

The intent of this course is to show educators how to incorporate gamification principles in their curriculum formation. Topics that will be covered include:

• What is gamification and what are real world examples?
• How can gamification benefit classroom instruction and learners?
• What are gamer types and what are different ways to motivate each?
• What goes into the design of a gamification experience?

Learning Outcomes

Educators will be able to....

• Identify students as one of four gamer types:Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Competitors and explain how to motivate each time.
• Explain Self Determination Theory
• Identify examples of gamification experiences in different contexts (private sector, educational, etc).
• List the steps of the gamification process.
• Develop a gamified course curriculum.

Needs Assessment

Problem

Millennial students are often characterized as independent and autonomous learners benefiting from instructional environments that provide "self-directed learning opportunities, multiple forms of timely feedback, and assignment choices that use different resources to create personally meaningful learning experiences" (Barnes, Marateo, & Ferris, 2007). Traditional classrooms and teaching styles have relied on environments in which students passively received information from instructors, the ubiquity of information technology (computers and cell phones) has certainly made students less motivated and engaged within this educational paradigm.

Competing for students attention, instructors are constantly on the look out for new ways to engage and motivate their students. In order to properly engage their intrinsic motivation, students should be presented with engaging challenges (Cordova & Lepper, 1996) and rapid feedback (Chen, Whittinghill, & Kadlowec, 2010). Moreover, a student-centered learning approach requires frequent active student engagement, a high level of student choice in instruction, and a significant amount of agency for students in the instruction process (O'Neill & McMahon, 2005).

Gamification as an instructional approach offers educators an opportunity to create learner-centered environments that are student centered, conscientious of student's intrinsic motivation, offers students agency and choices in regards to assignments, rapid feedback, and scale-able challenge through the learn-by-failure technique (Huang & Soman, 2013). While not a catch all for every classroom ailment, gamification offers another approach and instructional toolset that can address common issues with focus/attention and engagement that persist with millennial students who have become accustomed to rapid information access in their learning.

What Is To Be Learned?

Educators will learn how to construct a gamified learning environment for students within a binding framework. Participants will learn four primary player types and how best to motivate them through the construction of applicable assignments and assessments that can provide rapid, feedback.

The Learners

Learners include current and future K-12 and/or higher education instructors. While some familiarity with video games can certainly help with comprehension of the framework, participants will discover that many people, unbeknownst to them, have already been exposed to gamification projects already. While primarily geared towards educators, many of the assignments demonstrate principles that can be applied to assignments designed for students.

Instructional Context

Participants will learn content within this mini-course online, in the location of his or her choosing. Delivery of the content will require the use of a computer and a stable Internet connection.

Exploring the Instructional Problem and Solution

Participants will identify their own gamer (learner) type and follow a track designed for this style or one of the other three. Course content will explore how gamification addresses each of the needs for 21st century learners. In aligning with gamification principles, assignments will provide participants with different options for assignments that themselves are different steps in the gamification design process.

Goals

The main goal for this course is for learners to develop a familiarity with gamification concepts and terminology but also a basic framework for designing gamified experiences. Participants will also learn about ways that gamification can address common learning needs of 21st century students but also areas that it is most and least effective. By the end of this course, participants should feel competent enough to design, implement, and adjust gamified courses of their own.

Performance Objectives

Educators will be able to....

• Identify themselves as one of four gamer types:Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Competitors by taking the Bartle Test and then complete the reflection grid, comparing how their gamer type align with their actual preferences.
• Read 2 assigned articles/readings and find 1 outside, peer reviewed source of their own explaining Self Determination Theory; engage in discussion with peers; and self assess their discussion contributions.
• Utilize a rubric to produce 2-3 real life examples of the following: game, gameful design, gamification, and serious game/simulation.
• List the 5 steps of the gamification process by completing a module to module curriculum guide/checklist.
• Develop a gamified course curriculum of their own design which includes a syllabus, a curriculum map, and 3-5 lessons.

Task Analysis

Course Activity Map

Unit 1: Why Gamification?

1. Learners will learn about the different gamertypes and how they are motivated.
2. Learners will determine their gametype by taking the Bartle test and then discover their course responsibilities.
3. Learners will watch a videos and review research on self determination theory and its impact on motivation and learning.
4. Learners will utilize information from the unit to reflect on their own gametype, motivation, and teaching style.

Unit 2: What is Gamification?

1. Learners will explain how gamified experiences pervade reality.
2. Learners will review the differences between games, gameful design, gamification, and serious games/simulations.
3. Learners will seek out, review, and provide examples of games, gameful design, gamification, and serious games/simulations.
4. Learners will reflect on how gamification can used to modify current classroom activities and will describe a lesson using gamification principles.

Unit 3: How do I Gamify?

1. Learners will be able to list the steps in the gamified design process after reviewing relevant research.
2. Learners will design a unit of at least three lessons that include elements of gamified design.

Curriculum Map

Curriculum Map for Gamifying Course Design

References and Resources

Barata, G., Gama, S., Jorge, J., & Gonçalves, D. (2013, October). Improving participation and learning with gamification. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Gameful Design, Research, and Applications (pp. 10-17). ACM.

Barnes, K., Marateo, R. C., & Ferris, S. P. (2007). Teaching and learning with the net generation. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 3(4), 1.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R.R. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (Chapter 6). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Chen, J. C., Whittinghill, D. C., & Kadlowec, J. A. (2010). Classes that click: Fast, rich feedback to enhance student learning and satisfaction. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(2), 159-168.

Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of educational psychology, 88(4), 715.

Dede, C. (2010). Comparing frameworks for 21st century skills. 21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn, 20, 51-76.

Dikli, S. (2003). Assessment at a distance: Traditional vs. Alternative Assessments. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 2(3), 13-19.

Domínguez, A., Saenz-de-Navarrete, J., De-Marcos, L., Fernández-Sanz, L., Pagés, C., & Martínez-Herráiz, J. J. (2013). Gamifying learning experiences: Practical implications and outcomes. Computers & Education, 63, 380-392.

Duffy, P. (2007). Engaging the YouTube Google-eyed generation: Strategies for using Web 2.0 in teaching and learning. In European Conference on ELearning, ECEL (pp. 173-182).

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014, January). Does gamification work?--a literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 3025-3034). IEEE.

Higgins, R., Hartley, P., & Skelton, A. (2002). The conscientious consumer: reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning. Studies in higher education, 27(1), 53-64.

Huang, W. H. Y., & Soman, D. (2013). Gamification of Education. Research Report Series: Behavioural Economics in Action.

Larson, M. & Lockee, B. (2014). Streamlined ID : a practical guide to instructional design. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

McMahon, T., & O'Neill, G. Student-Centered Learning: What Does It Mean for Students and Lecturers?. Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching.

Stiggins, R. J. (2004). Classroom assessment for student learning: doing it right--using it well. Assessment Training Institute.