Abstract
With the ongoing movement to online learning, teacher education is faced with the reality of developing effective online learning environments. A collaborative approach at one university involved use of gameful learning as a foundational pedagogy for MAT students' online learning in a graduate-level assessment course. Implementation resulted from a series of collaborative team meetings, focused planning and development activities, and consistent reflection and revision both during and after instruction. Early each term, students received live and video instruction about gameful learning, focusing on learner choice as key for success. Students were evaluated on a set of choice assignments which were aligned to course and CAEP standards. Students' perceptions of value for their own learning were collected qualitatively. Results demonstrate perceptions of positive value for gameful learning as a learning tool for early career educators enrolled in one online course. Major trends that emerged from students' reflections are discussed as well.
TopLiterature Review
Strong, student-centered classrooms are central to creating effective learning in higher education (Doyle, 2018). And while there is a clear call to differentiate learning in higher education (Jørgensen & Brogaard, 2021) or to design courses using theories such as universal design for learning (Fovet, 2019), these frameworks are often difficult to achieve (Boelens et al., 2018; Fovet, 2021) and sometimes misunderstood altogether. So, while these theories and pedagogical approaches to design learning make sense at first, the implementation of them can be far more challenging. This is especially true given what is known about supporting adult learners rather than K-12 learners (Sogunro, 2015). However, some theories for learning come from outside of the traditional or normal educational contexts but may serve educators’ efforts in achieving these lofty and desirable classroom structures. Gameful Learning is one such promising pedagogical approach to designing courses to meet students’ specific learning needs.
Gameful Learning approaches teaching and learning from a strengths-based approach that centers on proactive and meaningful engagement, along with supportive and constructive feedback, to personalize learning (Holman, 2018). As an emerging pedagogy, Gameful Learning explores ways to make learning a better experience by encouraging learners to engage deeply with course content, take risks, and develop or hone resiliency all while working towards academic goals (Bennett & Ray, 2020; Fishman & Hayward, 2022; Holden et al., 2014; Holman, 2018)). Achievement of these goals is grounded in core ideas from motivation theory along with elements of well-designed games. Namely, by making deliberate choices on the ways in which students demonstrate mastery, students have the opportunity meet course outcomes based on an individualized assessment plan. Thus, by relying on the best elements for games, Gameful Learning provides appropriate, strengths-based and course outcome-aligned learning experiences for students. Essentially, Gameful Learning changes the approach of designing and demonstrating learning by considering what could be done rather than what the instructor believes must be done.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Constructivism: A learning theory that posits that learning does not occur passively but, rather, via learners’ construction of knowledge and understanding through experiences and social interactions.
Personalized Learning: An instructional strategy that offers customized learning experiences that are reflective of each learner’s interests, strengths, needs, and skills.
Online Pedagogy: A set of pedagogies that focus on online and blended learning and use technology along with student-centered learning strategies and activities
Emerging Pedagogy: A new way of thinking about learning theory, instruction, and learning that may have only a limited research base to support its efficacy for learning.
Mastery Learning: A learning strategy that posits that students can demonstrate learning at different times, in different ways and not necessarily within a prescribed lesson planning and implementation cycle.
Learner Choice: A component of mastery learning that allows learners to choose how to demonstrate understanding of knowledge or skill-based learning.
Autonomous Learning: An approach to learning that allows learners to make decisions about, or regulate and control, their own learning activities.
Gameful Learning: A strengths-based instructional pedagogy developed at the University of Michigan that uses proactive and meaningful student engagement, along with supportive and constructive feedback, as a catalysis for personalized learning (Academic Innovations, 2018 AU30: The in-text citation "Academic Innovations, 2018" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ).