Promoting Active Learning through “Gamification” in the Classroom.

Getting students to take responsibility for their learning and participation in classes is a challenge. Millennial students are often engaged in digital activities that immerse them with deep interaction. The objective of this work has been to use the student's desire for deep interaction to drive participation and learning in the turfgrass science and management curriculum at the University of Tennessee. The strategies for accomplishing this objective include, a flipped classroom model, voluntary 'challenges' instead of requiring homework, opportunities to repeat missed information so that students can achieve success, and an achievement/level based grading scale that recognizes more than one path to success. Taken together, each of these strategies use ‘game dynamics’ or processes which are often used in games to drive players to accomplish certain objectives. When these tools are used in the non-game world, it is often called ‘gamification’. The theoretical framework for much of this approach resides in Daniel Kahneman’s and Amos Tversky’s Prospect Theory which describes that people will generally avoid risk when they have something to lose (domain of gains), and be risk seeking when they have little to lose (domain of losses). Students traditionally are on a grading scale where everyone has the maximum points to begin and through losses (domain of gains) of points on tests, quizzes, and assignments, students earn their grade. This system makes them less likely to take risky courses or 'put themselves out there' as a result of how the system is structured. Through gamification of the classroom, a reversal of this mindset has been possible. All opportunities to achieve points are made to be voluntary, positive with allowances for multiple attempts, and these dynamics place students in a domain of losses (i.e. nothing to lose) because they only gain points towards their ultimate grade during a given class. The result of this subtle shift in approach has been an increase in attendance, class participation, and perhaps most importantly, responsibility for the student's own learning. Additionally, increases in personal job satisfaction and reduction in stress as a result of teaching load has also been noted due to the efficiencies achieved using the flipped classroom model.

See more from this Division: C05 Turfgrass Science
See more from this Session: Symposium--Contemporary Approaches to Student Learning & Extension Education

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