In my last post, I shared Mark Rober's TEDx presentation "The Super Mario Effect - Tricking Your Brain into Learning More" when he discussed the idea of using gamification to increase how much you can learn. In the talk, Rober discusses how two groups were given the task of writing code to direct a car through a video game maze. The experiment found that participants who were not assessed penalties stayed with the challenge more than two times longer than participants who were assessed a penalty for submitting code that had an error. The group that was not penalized had a success rate that was 16% higher (68% vs. 52%) than the group that was penalized.
Rober continues his talk be sharing his personal experiences playing video games in his childhood. He makes a case that a gamification model of learning which allows learners multiple attempts at a task with no penalties can lead to more significant learning gains than would be possible in a more traditional approach which penalizes learners for making mistakes along the way. I teach an integrated science class which incorporates biology, chemistry, physics and Earth and space sciences into a single course. Mark's video has inspired me to transition this class into a gamified delivery structure. So what does gamification look like in the science classroom? One example I've created uses laboratory video of the combustion of magnesium (Mg) and uses H5P to add interactive questions to the video that allow the viewer to answer the questions, receive immediate feedback and attempt the question until they are able to answer it correctly. The goal I have for this school year is to have students engage in activities where they are able to receive timely feedback from videos like the example above, web based practice quizzes that give immediate feedback, peer feedback and direct teacher feedback as well. Students will be able to continue to make attempts at these tasks until they master skills like performing conversion calculations, balancing chemical equations, interpreting DNA sequence data and more... I chose a science fiction theme for the gamification model which is based in humanity's near future. I chose this theme partly because of my own interest in hard science fiction and also because of my involvement with the Astronomy club at the school where I teach. Our club has been able to recruit guest speakers from NASA, JPL and other aerospace industry professionals. The storylines in class will begin in the year 2050 and will be based on current developments in space exploration like the Mars 2020 mission, the Artemis program, APL's Dragonfly mission to Titan and ESA and Chinese missions to Mars. My ideas for the storylines are very much inspired by my love of "The Expanse" telivision and book series. The storylines will attempt to tell the story of how human expansion into the solar system takes place. I have created a trailer for the class which I hope will help to inspire my students. The storylines during the fall semester will be heavily focused on biology and chemistry. One storyline which will be incorporated into first quarter will involve students planning a drone robotic balloon mission to Venus to search for evidence that life might exist in the upper atmosphere. Lessons will focus on the molecules of life (DNA and other macromolecules), life processes such as cell division, plus chemistry topics including gas laws and stoichiometry. The Venus mission storyline would draw inspiration from the proposed NASA missions called HAVOC (High Altitude Venus Operational Concept) that would use lighter than air craft to explore the upper atmosphere of Venus. In my next post I'll share my plans for utilizing elements of the ungrading instructional philosophy and connect it to Mark Rober's coding challenge experiment.
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Noel PaullerThank for visiting my blog where I post thoughts from the random corner of the universe which is my brain. Archives
October 2022
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