GAMIFICATION TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

DR . RAN I TAN ( L KC S B ) & DR . NAC HAMMA S OC KAL I NG AM ( CTE )

S I NG AP OR E MANAG EMEN T UN I VERS I TY

Gamification refers to the application of gaming mechanics in non-gaming contexts to increase participants’ engagement.

MAKING LEARNING FUN

WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

Leadership and Team Building (LTB)University core moduleAll students need to take this courseNot all may be interestedCan be challenging to engage studentsLearning seems to stop at the end of the lesson for students

A CASE-STUDY FROM SMU

To promote student engagement

In an interactive manner

Beyond the classroom

To enhance teaching and learning

OBJECTIVE OF GAMIFICATION IN LTB

Mobile / Desktop applicationCompliments/supplements in-class lessonsWeekly challenges

8-10 questsSome are done individually and some collaboratively

Helps to know and collaborate with peersTeams compete against each other via a leaderboard

Earn pointsBe rewarded with special privileges Student participation and the earned points from

the GameLead application integrated with the face-to-face lessons

FEATURES OF GAMELEAD

FEATURES OF GAMELEAD

MOBILE INTERFACE OF GAMELEAD

ORIENTATION TO GAMELEAD

WEEKLY CHALLENGES

WEEKLY CHALLENGES

TYPE OF CHALLENGES

CHALLENGE SCREENS

INDIVIDUAL GET TO KNOW PEERS COLLABORATE

REWARDS AND COMMENTS

POINTS AND PEER REVIEW

Pilot-testing with 4 classes of 177 students in 2014 over a period 9 weeks

IMPLEMENTATION

Total Players 177Total Submissions 9,262Average number of submissions per player

52

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

94% recommend the use of GameLead in future LTB courses

86% would like to see such games in their other modules in SMU

64% rated GameLead to be useful in their learning of LTB

62% indicated they were much more engaged as a result of GameLead

36% indicated increased interest in LTB as a result of GameLead

END-OF-COURSE FEEDBACK

“The videos that were put up provided more perspectives and learning points for us which were not covered in class.” –Group 3 student

“I enjoyed the videos even though I did not have time to watch some of them. Nevertheless, I will still bookmark them and watch it in my free time. I think these kinds of real-life examples on leadership such as videos, speeches and articles really inspire me to become a better leader.” – Group 3 student

FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS

 “The function that allows us to view your classmates answer and see multiple perspectives from different angles. Knowing how others think and openness to their experience is something that can enrich our learning experience.” – Group 1 student

 “I found it useful learning about everyone's

perspectives about leadership, team building and what really makes us special or different and unique as individuals that eventually lead or follow effectively one day.” – Group 1 student

FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS

 Overall, student feedback, feedback from teaching assistants and personal experience is encouraging

Worth pursuing

There are ways to improve

More in-depth study will be useful

EVALUATION OF GAMELEAD

ADVANTAGE OF GAMELEAD APPLICATION

The “shell” of the mobile application can be adapted and used in any course (at any level).

Project has the potential for direct and immediate application in many fields/courses.

Other instructors will not need to create the mobile application once again.

All they need to do is to change the questions and challenges.

1. What sort of challenges engage students?2. How to make the challenges/quests more engaging

and useful?3. What sort of rewards are appealing to students?4. How to better integrate the use of the mobile

application in the lesson?5. …

MOVING FORWARD.. . QUESTIONS

THANK YOU

ANY QUESTIONS?