Adventures in Gamification and Personalized Learning: A Case Study in Game-Based Course Design

• Published in: English Leadership Quarterly Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 7 - 12
• Main Author: Ford, Robert D.
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Urbana National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 01.02.2021; National Council of Teachers of English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Activity Units; Behavioral Objectives; Case studies; Civil rights; Classrooms; Course Content; Education; Educational Games; Essays; Game Based Learning; Games; Gamification; Grading and marking (Students); Homework; Individualized instruction; Information Management; Instructional design; Learning; Motivation; Professional Training; Student Motivation; Students; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Training; United States
• ISSN: 1943-3050; 1054-1578; 1943-3050
• DOI: 10.58680/elq202131099

[...]game design sets higher proficiency standards and rewards students for high levels of engagement. [...]students in Fishman's classes started with a zero and accumulated points as they completed different components of the class; grade levels (e.g., A, B, C) were marked by a certain point total. Several comprehensive books are available on the subject, as well, such as Matthew Farber's Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning, Karl M. Kapp's The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: GameBased Methods and Strategies for Training and Education, and the Information Resources Management Association's anthology Gamification in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice. (2018) notes several "pitfalls," for example, to successful implementation, which range from inadequate professional training for faculty, course game-play that is disconnected from learning objectives, or sometimes just the perception among students that gamified courses are no different than traditional courses (described as "different wrapping around the same gift") (p. 4).