Teaching Tip: How gamification is used at UAF
May 6, 2014
In our previous Teaching Tip, we talked about the power of play and how celebrating successes and minimizing the
consequences of failure can foster an environment of experimentation and discovery.
This week, we’re going to look at a few practical examples of this principle applied
in classrooms at UAF.
This semester, Kriya Dunlap, a fellow in the Chancellor’s Innovation in Technology and Elearning program, was searching for a way to encourage student participation in her Chemistry 104
exam review sessions. Exam performance was less than stellar, but students were reluctant
to ask questions.
Dunlap decided to try a classroom game to encourage student participation. She checked
out some iPads from the Office of Information Technology and distributed them to teams
in her class. Using the MacOS app Reflector, Dunlap was able to point the iPad displays
at the projector screen and have them all visible at one time. She could then ask
students to draw a particular molecular configuration and reward the first team to
correctly display the answer.
Dunlap also tried out some quiz show buzzers. She used Me First Wireless Game Buzzers
and again distributed the input devices to student teams. When PowerPoint slides featuring
questions of Dunlap’s own creation were revealed, the first to “buzz in” and correctly
answer the question would receive points.
Anecdotally, Dunlap’s injection of fun and games into the classroom was a success.
Students enjoyed the “gamification” of the review, participation was significantly
up and exam performance increased, on average, a full grade.
Read more about this strategy at iTeachU: http://elearning.uaf.edu/go/tt-powerofplay2
This is Part Two of three-part series on gamification and the power of play. Part
Three will be published next week. Read Part One here.
-- Teaching Tip by Owen Guthrie, UAF eLearning instructional designer