There’s a popular saying among veteran educators: If you don’t like something, just wait—it’ll change when the pendulum swings the other way. During my tenure as an educator I have seen numerous fads and initiatives come and go. I think it’s fair to say that I have become a bit skeptical.

As a self-proclaimed skeptic of shiny, new instructional strategies, I’ve always been wary of adopting unproven methods. I prefer to invest my time and energy in tools and strategies supported by research. This mindset initially made me hesitant to incorporate gamification into my classroom.

What Is Gamification?

Gamification is the application of game design elements—such as points, leaderboards, challenges, and rewards—in non-game contexts like education. The goal is to create a more engaging and motivating experience by incorporating the fun and competitive elements that make games so appealing.

In the classroom, gamification can take many forms: earning points for completing assignments, competing in team-based challenges or leveling up by mastering specific skills. Done well, it transforms learning into a dynamic, interactive experience that encourages students to stay engaged and invested in their success.

The Challenge of Student Disengagement

Disengagement remains one of the most significant challenges teachers face. When a student is disengaged, they may show a lack of effort, disrupt class, or withdraw entirely from the learning process. Research indicates that 40-60% of students demonstrate signs of disengagement (Fredricks, 2014). This issue disproportionately affects students from marginalized groups, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and those with learning differences—and these figures are based on pre-COVID data. It’s reasonable to assume the rates have only risen since then.

In her book, Eight Myths of Student Engagement“, Jennifer Fredricks (2014) highlights three key dimensions of engagement:

• Behavioral Engagement: Demonstrated through positive classroom behavior, active participation, and involvement.
• Emotional Engagement: Involves feelings of belonging, enjoyment, and valuing the learning process.
• Cognitive Engagement: Reflects investment in learning, the use of effective study strategies, and persistence in mastering material.

Each dimension provides critical insight into how students think, feel, and act in the learning environment. This multidimensional view distinguishes between compliance (simply doing the work) and true engagement (actively learning and understanding the material). By recognizing these distinctions, we can better identify students at risk of failure, evaluate how they are responding to the learning environment, and pinpoint what is and isn’t working in our instructional strategies.

How Gamification Boosts Engagement

Gamification has the potential to effectively address student disengagement. Initial research supports its ability to boost motivation and achievement, particularly when carefully designed and smoothly incorporated into the learning experience. Research highlights several key benefits:

1. Increased Motivation: Gamification leverages elements such as competition, rewards, and progression systems to boost motivation. Features like points, badges, and leaderboards tap into students’ desire for achievement, social connection, and self-improvement, fostering higher levels of engagement (Deterding et al., 2011).
2. Improved Engagement: Gamified environments make tasks more interactive and enjoyable. According to Hamari et al. (2014), gamification has a generally positive impact on student engagement, helping students remain focused and committed in various educational contexts.
3. Enhanced Learning and Achievement: By incorporating “learning by doing” principles, gamification promotes active participation and skill practice. Domínguez et al. (2013) found that gamified approaches led to better performance on practical tasks, though this benefit did not always extend to exam performance.
4. Personalized Learning and Feedback: Gamified systems often provide immediate, actionable feedback, helping students assess their progress and correct mistakes. This feedback loop supports mastery learning while enabling students to progress at their own pace with tailored challenges (Kapp, 2012).
5. Support for At-Risk Learners: Gamification can address the needs of diverse student populations. For instance, Boykin and Noguera (2011) found that cultural preferences, such as communal learning among Black students, significantly impact how students respond to teaching methods. Gamification can adapt to these preferences, offering opportunities for collaboration or competition depending on cultural context.

While gamification has significant benefits, it’s not without challenges. Overemphasis on external rewards like points or badges can sometimes undermine intrinsic motivation. Additionally, not all students respond equally to game mechanics—some may feel overwhelmed by competition or uninterested in gaming elements.

Coming Up: Gamification in Action

In this post, we’ve explored the concept of gamification and its ability to enhance student motivation and engagement. In the next installment, I’ll share practical examples from my own classroom, followed by a final post highlighting how gamification supports powerful learning strategies like retrieval practice and spaced learning.

Curious about how gamification can transform your teaching? Follow along as I share my journey and the lessons I’ve learned while gamifying my high school psychology class. Spoiler: It’s a true game-changer!

References

Boykin, A. W., & Noguera, P. (2011). Creating the opportunity to learn: Moving from research to practice to close the achievement gap. ASCD.

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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.12.020

Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: Defining “gamification.” In Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments (pp. 9–15). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2181037.2181040

Fredricks, J. A. (2014). Eight myths of student disengagement: Creating classrooms of deep learning. Corwin.

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work?—A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 3025–3034). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2014.377

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. Pfeiffer.