Education Technology Services

Gamification ideas for higher education

Gamification brings gameplay elements (such as scoring systems, competition, and working with teams) to non-gaming activities to make them more engaging and effective. Gamification techniques in education combine the best of learning sciences and gameplay to deliver a rich and engaging learning experience to the students. As digital education is taking hold in the post-pandemic world, gamification technology in education is set to surpass $1.5 billion worldwide. But how are gamification ideas and techniques delivering astonishing results for universities and students?

Incorporating gamification techniques in universities

Gamification in higher education is not new, especially if we consider the idea behind it and its purpose. It has been a feature of student-friendly K–12 classrooms in different ways. The newer, more structured, and digital approach is worth exploring since it aids in higher education too. Some of the gamification techniques that have been successful in higher education are:

Gamify grading:

Grading is key to assessing student learning and an integral part of the learning experience. Replacing grades with a ‘points system’ can deliver a game-like experience in learning, allowing students to track their progress towards mastering a skill with every assessment.

Implement a point-based rewards system:

Rewarding students’ efforts can motivate them to work harder. By implementing a point-based rewards system, students can secure points for activities such as classroom participation or timely submission of assignments. Then, you can integrate these points into the final grade, helping the students feel rewarded and motivating them to be more active in the classroom.

Add quests and badges to the learning experience:

You can turn students’ weekly schedules into quests for task completion and skill mastery, allowing them to earn badges to showcase their skills. These tokens (badges, in this case) demonstrably go beyond grades and provide students with a sense of accomplishment.

Create a competitive classroom environment:

Allowing students to compete against each other while collecting points and badges is a great way to integrate gamification into higher education. This also creates a positive classroom culture where students push their limits to achieve excellence. Different gamification technologies in education and ready tools help you monitor and encourage healthy competition in your classroom.

Gamification in higher education encourage teamwork:

Like games, encouraging your students to form teams and work together fosters a great collaborative learning environment. With the opportunity to share rewards, points, badges, and power-ups, students will have an extra motivation to work harder to ensure all of their teammates win.

Let the students be ‘designers’:

Giving students a say in class structure and syllabus design can help them feel more engaged in learning and be accountable for the outcomes.

These are a few of the many gamification services that have yielded astonishing results in student engagement, learning experience and course outcomes.

The benefits of gamification in higher education

Activities that stimulate the brain make our bodies release endorphins. Achieving a reward replicates such as feeling biologically. This is known to help us retain knowledge better. With brain-stimulating gamification in higher education, students will have:

Increased motivation:

Competitive classroom environment will drive the students to have a higher intrinsic motivation to participate in classroom activities and assessments.

Increased attention span:

Introducing aspects of gameplay to learning makes students pay attention to the course material, as they will then need to compete with others to demonstrate their learning and earn points or badges.

Increased sense of ownership:

Students will have a sense of accountability and ownership in class and course outcomes as they were partners in designing the ‘game’ and had been competing weekly to demonstrate their achievements.

Enhanced student engagement:

As gameplay elements make learning more fun, students will naturally be more engaged with the course material.

Enriched learning experience with gamification in higher education:

Gamification facilitates an enriched and active learning experience as teachers can engage students using varied teaching resources and methods, which will also result in enhanced course outcomes.

Gamification in higher education gives teachers many opportunities to interactively engage with the students and benefits the students through a rich and engaging learning experience. This results in more effective learning and better course outcomes for students and universities.

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How can Infosys BPM help with gamification in higher education?

Infosys BPM Edutech platform solutions allow you to integrate new-age learning techniques and bring your gamification ideas to life with digital technologies and offer an enhanced and more engaging learning experience.