Gamification as a motivational tool in education
“The mechanism of intrinsic motivation is much more effective and long-lasting than extrinsic motivation, and gamification is particularly suited to activate it.”[1]
Gamification: how to motivate Generation Z and Alpha?
The LTHP project has developed a motivational framework game for the Tanlet application, which aims to put the content consumption habits of digital natives at the service of learning. The aim of gamification is to make students more active and motivated in their learning, and to make the educational process more interesting and thus more effective.
Framework game: the “story” of the virtual world
In the sense of “story”, the game takes place in a castle, the aim of the student is to rescue a prisoner locked in a tower. The player is the hero of the story (Hero), who strives to free the victim (Victim) who is being held captive by the Enemy. Each role has a characteristic object: sword, flame or flower.
The motivational space is aligned with the logic of the level-jumping task system. The framework game is well adaptable to the Smart methodology, both being based on the need to reach the highest level in the task solution. In the frame game, the player has to get to the tower, climb the levels of the castle to free the prisoner. Similarly, the goal of the learning process is to reach the highest/hardest level by solving tasks of varying difficulty and complete the learning activity. Successful completion of a task moves the student up a level, and failure moves the student down a level.
Gamified assessment system and success experience
Gamification was designed to provide optimal workload, i.e. the challenges should be balanced with the student’s abilities and competences, thus providing a sense of achievement for all. In the spirit of gamification, we integrated levels, points, badges and characters into the assessment system.
[1] FROMANN RICHÁRD – DAMSA ANDREI: A motivational toolkit for gamification in education. https://folyoiratok.oh.gov.hu/uj-pedagogiai-szemle/a-gamifikacio-jatekositas-motivacios-eszkoztara-az-oktatasban
