From The Conversation: An undergraduate course in behavioral psychology at Bangor University now includes a fully gamified module that immerses students in a zombie apocalypse storyline with themed lectures and materials, actors present during classes, and weekly online quiz-based “missions.” The gamification of the module greatly increased class attendance and engagement with class materials between lectures.
“…successful learning requires a student to set goals and then achieve them over and over again. Games use techniques, such as clear rules and rewards, to enhance motivation and promote goal-directed behaviour. And because education is about achieving specific learning goals, the use of games to clarify and promote engagement can be highly effective in providing clear guidance on goal-direction and action – which can make users less fearful of failure. In this way, gamification can result in students achieving better outcomes by optimising learning.”
