‘Gamification’ - the use of game elements in non-game contexts - has rapidly become one of the current hottest trends. This presentation presents an overview of what gamification is and isn’t, and reports on the author’s experiences using this approach in a graduate level education class as well as the early results of a comparison between gamified and non-gamified sections of a freshman introduction to computers course. In the current course, the non-gamified sections employ a fairly standard structure that includes various assignments spread out throughout the term, various in-class activities, and both a midterm and final exam. The gamified section organizes all student work into various quests worth from 10 to 200 ‘experience points’ (XP), most of which have no set deadlines. While the quests are effectively equivalent in grade weight to the assignments of the more traditional sections, students in the gamified section start off with a score of zero (0) and every quest they submit contributes to their final grade cumulatively. A final score of 1000 is equivalent to 100%, but the total number of possible XP is 1435. All quests were made available to students at the beginning of term; some could be repeated for XP and included a variety of ‘guild’ (group) quests and ‘solo’ quests; and many quests could be repeated to earn additional XP. The presentation will provide some background on gamification, detail the course structure, highlight early successes and failures, and conclude with strategies for incorporating meaningful gamification in other courses.

1. SoTL 2013
Is Gamification A Game
Changer ?
Comparing Gamified and n0ngamified aPProaches
Early Returns and Initial
Findings of Work in Progress
Fri. 10-11
Katrin Becker &
Patrick Perri
© K.Becker

2. SoTL 2013
Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What am I playing now?
What is Gamification?
An Inadvertent Con?
Formal Learning is already a Game.
What IS New?
The 1st 2 Iterations
The Current Experiment
Jumping the Gun - Early Conclusions
Resources
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Gamification Game Changer
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3. SoTL 2013
Who Am I?
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20/01/201
Katrin
Becker,
GamificationPhD Changer
Game
3
3
© K.Becker

4. SoTL 2013
What am I Playing?
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© K.Becker

5. SoTL 2013
What is Gamification?
The use of game elements
in non-game contexts.
Deterding, S. (2012). 9.5 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Gamification. Microsoft Research. [Microsoft
Research Video] Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/dl.aspx?id=174677&l=i on 12 October
2012.
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6. SoTL 2013
Game Elements?
System
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Elements
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7. SoTL 2013
Gaming
(Serious)
Games
Gamification
System
Elements
Playful
Design
(Serious)
Toys
Playing
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Gamification Game Changer
Deterding, S. (2012). 9.5 Theses on the Power and
Efficacy of Gamification. Microsoft Research. [Microsoft
Research Video] Retrieved from
http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/dl.aspx?id=
174677&l=i on 12 October 2012.
7
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8. SoTL 2013
A Con?
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9. SoTL 2013
Is Gamification Evil?
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10. SoTL 2013
Gamification is Not New - PBL
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11. SoTL 2013
What about School?
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12. SoTL 2013
Formal Learning is
already a game.
course requirements
policies / regulations
assignments
grades
passing course
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=
=
=
=
=
game objectives
game rules
quests
XP
winning the game
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

13. SoTL 2013
What IS New?
Chris Haskell, The Game-Based Curriculum:
Directing Learning with Quests, Badges, Achievements,
& Truly Personalized Learning, EdWeb Webinar, May
2013
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14. SoTL 2013
Flexible Path
1.
2.
Must earn 'N' XP.
Here are 'M' things

3.
4.
totalling >N XP (*important*)
Must do at LEAST these: ____
The rest is up to you.
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15. SoTL 2013
Accumulative Grades
Welcome to COMP 1103….
…..you all have ZERO
Everything the learner does for points ADDS
to the total.
 NOTHING the learner does can lower their
grade.
 What if they blow an assignment quest?
 How to control submissions?

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16. SoTL 2013
The 1st 2 Iterations
Background:
 Master's level education course (U of C)
 Proposed, designed, implemented 2005
 Also taught 2006, 2007
 All F2F
 Previous report on original course (BJET)

Traditional design
Readings, discussion
 Project (design a game or lesson that uses a
game)
 Research paper

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17. SoTL 2013
Original DGBL Course
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18. SoTL 2013
Gamified Course, V1

20% Gamified:






470
231
Range:


The DGBL Game
Class Ave:


20%
Total possible XP:


25%
Lesson Design
15%
Peer Review of
Lesson Design
25%
High Concept
Game Design
15%
Peer Review of High
Concept Game Design
134 – 333
% over 100%

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32% (7/22, + 3 near 100%)
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

19. SoTL 2013
Gamified Course, V2

50% Gamified:

25%
Lesson Design
25%
High Concept
Game Design

50%


The DGBL Game
Total XP possible:

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1000
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

20. SoTL 2013
Gamified Course, V2

50% Gamified:

25%
25%
Design
Lesson Design
High Concept Game

50%
The DGBL Game





Total XP possible:

Class Ave:
Range:

1000

537
380 - 650
% over 100%:

70% (9/13)
XP Req'd
for
Perfect
Score:
500
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© K.Becker

21. SoTL 2013
Player Stats
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© K.Becker

22. SoTL 2013
Keeping Score
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23. SoTL 2013
Assessment of Individual Quests
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© K.Becker

24. SoTL 2013
Assessment of Individual Quests
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25. SoTL 2013
Course Orientation
Typical
Course
Schedule
Introduction to Game
Based Learning
The Current State of
Games and Gamers
Game Studies
Reading
Response 1
Games and Pedagogy
What Can Games Do?
Games are
Simulations
Reading
Response 2
Reading
Response 3
Examining Games
ID for Games
Making Games
Discussion
Paper
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Prototype
Lesson
Design
Reading
Response 4
Assessing Games for
Learning
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

26. SoTL 2013
My Adaptation

Can’t go completely flexible
courses still progress linearly
 there are practical reasons to try and have all students in more
or less the same place at the same time W.R.T. Topics


Could think of the topic outline as the narrative


Course schedule vs game-based



if it were a story; how would it best be told?
various topics & quests
some are tied to various topics and others are not
Just like in a game
P learn new things and skills as time progresses
 some things have pre-reqs
 others can be attempted at any time


Game-based course is mapped out like a storyboard or
concept map rather than linearly as most typical courses are
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© K.Becker

27. SoTL 2013
Designing a Game
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© K.Becker

28. SoTL 2013
Gamified
Course
Concept
Map
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Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

29. SoTL 2013
Game-Based Course Design

Gives up on the lock-step lessons notion

Was never a reality anyways


People are at different stages
PROBLEM
Cannot go completely over to individualized
learning
 Simply impractical in many situations


Each node is like a gamescreen or
location


Relationships (paths) between nodes are
determined by content rather than time
There are quests, items, associated with
each node
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© K.Becker

30. SoTL 2013
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Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

31. SoTL 2013
The Big Challenges
Instructor:
 Up-Front Design
 Ensuring objectives
are addressed.
 CompetencyBased Assessment*
 Scoring
 Records keeping
 Marking Load
20/01/2014
Learner:
 Taking Ownership
of Learning
 Motivation
 Time Management
 Strategizing

Taking Ownership
of Learning
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

32. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
COMP 1103: Introduction to Computers
non-majors; 1st year course
required for some programs
science option
broad range of backgrounds
"Traditional"
 student experience:





55% first year
25% second year
13% third year
7% fourth
student interest:




20/01/2014
"Gamified"
 student experience:





55% open studies
15% business
10% science
rest is various arts
programs or diplomas
55% first year
25% second year
15% third year
5% fourth
student interest:




Gamification Game Changer
30% open studies
30% business
20% science
rest is various arts
programs or diplomas
32
© K.Becker

33. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment




"Traditional" Delivery
Lecture from ppts,
Ppts released at the beginning of the week,
One chapter per week expected reading,
Every two week's there is an activity for marks

(Usually in class: quiz, answer a question, group
impromptu research or
Consensus writing, OR a blog based on lecture/reading
question)
 Midterm




(multiple choice, short answer, long answer)
Final exam
4 assignments

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(one a group project)
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© K.Becker

34. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment




"Gamified" Delivery
Lecture from ppts, inquiry-driven, quest-driven
PPTs released at the beginning of the week or sooner
All instructor materials made available to students
Read chapters as relevant



Final exam (Boss Battle, 250 XP)
Quests:






1 Epic Quest (200 XP, Guild)
4 Achievement Quests (50 XP, Small Guild or Solo)
13 classes of Mini-Quests (10-25 XP, repeatable, Solo)
Most Quests released on 1st day of class
Most Quests have no deadline


plus news items, articles shared on class forum
guidelines provided for order and schedule of completion
1000 XP = 100% (follows MRU letter grade mapping)
Total XP possible = 1450
20/01/2014
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© K.Becker

35. SoTL 2013
The Current
Experiment
Step 1:
Design
Meaningful
Evidence of
Competence
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Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

36. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
Step 1:
Design
Meaningful
Evidence of
Competence
20/01/2014
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

37. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
Step 1:
Design
Meaningful
Evidence of
Competence
20/01/2014
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37
© K.Becker

38. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
GRADE & GPA Table
(Used to calculate student grades on the Gradebook sheet)
Score
XP
Level
0 - 19
F
0.00
0 - 199
0
20 - 39
F
0.00
200 - 399
1
40 - 49
F
0.00
400 - 499
2
50 - 54
D
1.00
500 - 549
3
55 - 59
D+
1.70
550 - 599
4
60 - 62
C-
1.70
600 - 629
5
63 - 66
C
2.00
630 - 669
6
67 - 69
C+
2.30
670 - 699
7
70 - 72
B-
2.70
700 - 729
8
73 - 76
B
3.00
730 - 769
9
B+
3.30
770 - 799
10
80 - 84
A-
3.70
800 - 849
11
85 - 94
A
4.00
850 - 949
12
95 - 100
A+
4.00
950 - 1000
13
101+
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GPA
77 - 79
Step 2:
Map
Scores  XP
Grades  Levels
Letter Grade
A+
4.00
1001+
14
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

39. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
Step 3 & 4:
 Assign XP values
to Quests
 Decide on:
options
 flexibility
 achievement
path

20/01/2014
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© K.Becker

40. SoTL 2013
The Current Experiment
Step 5:
 Set up
Scoring
Mechanism
 Set up
"Gradebook"
20/01/2014
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© K.Becker

41. SoTL 2013
Jumping the Gun - Early Conclusions
Traditional

All values were lower *except* how
well expectations matched
requirements (?).
Gamified





20/01/2014
Confident of success in spite of
average ability (self-assessed)
Comfortable w/ requirements.
~ 25% commented on lack of
deadlines (positive)
1 felt it was easier to understand
1 felt it was too unstructured
Gamification Game Changer
Scale: 1-7
41
© K.Becker

42. SoTL 2013
Jumping the Gun - Early Conclusions

Support





Motivating for some
Discouraging for others



Too little structure for some
Learners have greater control over their own
learning
Learners felt ownership of their own learning



Requires considerable "on-boarding"
Fast grading turn-around essential
Tendency to grade quantitatively
Structure
Competition
Assessment


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Simple grading schemes
Practical mechanisms for meaningful feedback
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

43. SoTL 2013
Questions?
20/01/2014
Gamification Game Changer
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© K.Becker

44. SoTL 2013
Abstract of Presentation:
‘Gamification’ - the use of game elements in non-game contexts - has rapidly become one
of the current hottest trends. This presentation presents an overview of what gamification is
and isn’t, and reports on the author’s experiences using this approach in a graduate level
education class as well as the early results of a comparison between gamified and nongamified sections of a freshman introduction to computers course. In the current course,
the non-gamified sections employ a fairly standard structure that includes various
assignments spread out throughout the term, various in-class activities, and both a midterm
and final exam. The gamified section organizes all student work into various quests worth
from 10 to 200 ‘experience points’ (XP), most of which have no set deadlines. While the
quests are effectively equivalent in grade weight to the assignments of the more traditional
sections, students in the gamified section start off with a score of zero (0) and every quest
they submit contributes to their final grade cumulatively. A final score of 1000 is equivalent
to 100%, but the total number of possible XP is 1435. All quests were made available to
students at the beginning of term; some could be repeated for XP and included a variety
of ‘guild’ (group) quests and ‘solo’ quests; and many quests could be repeated to earn
additional XP. The presentation will provide some background on gamification, detail the
course structure, highlight early successes and failures, and conclude with strategies for
incorporating meaningful gamification in other courses.
20/01/2014
Gamification Game Changer
44
© K.Becker

45. SoTL 2013
Resources











Becker, K. (2004). Reconciling a Traditional Syllabus with an Inquiry-Based Introductory Course. The Journal of
Computing Science in Colleges, 20(2), 28-37.
Becker, K. (2006). How much choice is too much? SIGCSE Bull., 38(4), 78-82. doi: 10.1145/1189136.1189176.
Becker, K. (2007). Digital Game Based Learning, Once Removed: Teaching Teachers BRITISH JOURNAL OF
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, SIG-GLUE Special Issue on Game-Based Learning 2007, 38(3), 478-488.
Bogost, I. (2012). Persuasive Games: Exploitationware. Gamasutra. Retrieved from
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6366/persuasive_games_exploitationware.php
Charles, D., Charles, T., McNeill, M., Bustard, D., & Black, M. (2011). Game-based feedback for educational
multi-user virtual environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(4), 638-654. doi: 10.1111/j.14678535.2010.01068.x.
Deci, E. and Ryan, R. (2004). Handbook of Self-Determination Research. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester
Press.
Deterding, S. (2012). 9.5 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Gamification. Microsoft Research. [Microsoft
Research Video] Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/dl.aspx?id=174677&l=i on 12
October 2012.
Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining
"gamification". Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference:
Envisioning Future Media Environments, Tampere, Finland
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction : game-based methods and strategies for
training and education. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Nicholson, S. (2012). A User-Centered Theoretical Framework for Meaningful Gamification. Paper presented at
the Games + Learning + Society 8.0, Madison, WI. on June 13
Sheldon, L. (2012). The Multiplayer Classroom : Designing Coursework as a Game. Boston, Mass.: Course
Technology/Cengage Learning.
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© K.Becker