There is a breadth of psychological research that points to potential cognitive benefits of game play. Games engage and motivate learners while promoting mastery of skills and content knowledge. Further, thoughtfully applying gaming elements and structures to classroom environments, an approach called gamification, has the potential to optimize learning. This paper discusses theory-driven classroom gamification innovations implemented in an undergraduate educational psychology course and uses a case study approach to understand how these changes impacted students’ in-class learning experiences in positive ways. We will discuss specific interventions, students’ perceptions of these interventions, instructor reflection of the effects on student learning outcomes, and implications for classroom practice.
Fostering critical thinking skills is a ubiquitous goal across disciplines and social contexts. Productive solutions to educational, content-based and social problems can emerge through well-reasoned conversation. How best to support the development of these skills has been a topic of debate. In this study, we investigated the design and effectiveness of a card-based game focused on undergraduate student understanding of common fallacies in thinking. 13 Fallacies was designed with the intention of improving students’ reasoning. In our study, we completed an iterative design phase, play testing phase and have collected data on student learning outcomes from two semesters as a result of classroom implementation. Results indicate that 13 Fallacies improved student understanding of common fallacies in thinking and promoted social reasoning for at-risk undergraduate students.
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