What's My Prize? Using Gamification in Your Teaching Practice

Active learning in a fun, engaging learning climate may mitigate some of the forgetting curve observed in learning research. This workshop will explore gamification in education via interactive demonstration, didactic presentation, and skills practice. Participants will identify the core elements of easily recognized childhood games (e.g. Clue, Monopoly) as well as more modern virtual contexts (e.g. Wordle, Animal Crossing) and escape rooms. This discussion will be followed by a review of up to four games of varying complexity presenters use and an opportunity to play one in real time. Equipped with this information and experience, the workshop will explore and evaluate the background literature on the impact of these game elements and highlight opportunities for additional study for interested educators. To conclude, participants will collaborate to find opportunities to gamify their existing teaching and leave with an educator's resource toolkit for broader game design and application.