Passion Project – Gamification
Passion Project – Gamification
The web-based resource I created is a video game-style class template in Canvas that covers weather, the atmosphere, matter, energy, the environment and space and is designed for all Science 6 middle school science teachers to use. The game is set up as if the student is an alien traveling to Earth to explore the properties of Earth and the various ways humans use them to their advantage. They report back via video logs and presentations that include various data and graphs proving their findings. This class/game is designed to take them outside the normal class routine. They can think about what they are learning from a different perspective, set their own goals and report back based on information they personally find interesting. The design illustrates what George Couros describes as “disrupting the routine” in his book The Innovator’s Mindset. He refers to changing the norm, where instead of students simply “sitting passively and listening,” they feel like they are an important part of the class (p. 84).
This web-based class is called “Alien Exploration.” The class/game is introduced to students with an event that tells them “You have been chosen!” It includes an introduction theme set to music with highlights of space graphics. Each level is developed from several units from the district’s 6th Grade Science Curriculum Overview. For example, Level 2 covers the Properties of Air/Atmosphere/Weather Unit and the Matter Unit. Each unit consists of quests designed to explore Earth and report back to your home planet. For example, during one quest students are in a spaceship entering Earth’s atmosphere and the spaceship provides different readouts such as the varying temperatures in each layer of the atmosphere.
The purpose of this resource is to get students doing something fun and focusing on learning rather than their letter grades. The idea is to also make it student-paced and for students to showcase their findings in a presentation/project-based learning format. Many new programs that are student-driven instead of teacher-driven allow students to set their own pace, but they also have the ability to give students some freedom to explore. Students can spend more time on a topic they find interesting, not just topics they struggle with. And depending on the program, students can choose which road to go down. In the video game-style template I created, when students master the basics, they can choose which level to go to next. For example, in order for students to do experiments they need to get passed the first level that includes lab safety and the scientific method. However, once they finish that level they can move to the unit/level on weather or the unit/level on energy — it is their choice.
Students often struggle to find the fun in learning, doing academic work because they have to, not because they want to. Some do the minimum because they are just working towards a letter grade or a parent’s approval. In the book Drive, Daniel Pink points out that “rewards by their very nature, narrow our focus” (p. 42). This template is designed to be different from the norm. When students are interested in an activity, they focus on it as opposed to worrying about simply completing an assignment because they need the letter grade.
This strategy can also help give students a new perspective, particularly those who struggle. Right away this game design puts them in someone else’s shoes. When discussing differentiation, Rick Womeli mentions changing a student’s perspective by changing the norm and creating “a different setting or classroom configuration” and how it can “stimulate learning” (p. 107). Now they are not the 6th grade student who needs to know this so they can go to 7th grade or so their parents don’t complain about low grades. Now they are an astronaut from a distant planet, and even if they have trouble getting into character, they are still the 6th grade student who can choose their next level and focus.
Couros, G. (2015). The innovators mindset: empower learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: the surprise truth about what motivates us. New York: Riverhead Books.
Wormeli, R. (2007). Differentiation: from planning to practice, grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse Publishers.
Bozeman Biology – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlYGX0H6Ec
Summit Learning – https://www.summitlearning.org/