Learning through Play: Gamification as a Tool for Real-World Understanding
Published 3 December 2024
“Mrs. Hassenfritz, she taught history and I think we were in ninth grade and she was teaching us about the Great Depression and the New Deal and all of that stuff, fun stuff. We had to do an activity where we each had basically our own finances and banking and we were learning all about that. It kind of felt like Monopoly, but then on––I’m going to say––October 29th, she said, ‘Okay, do you want to put money into the bank or do you want to take your money out?’ And most of us were, like, making so much money and we were putting all our money into the bank, and then what happened on that date? Stock market crash, Great Depression started. But I think the main purpose was to pay attention to the stock market. And so, then it was showing you, ‘Wow, you’re making a lot of money in the stock market!’ And then, we were all getting kind of confident. And then, she’s like, ‘Okay, do you want to keep your money or you want to put more into the stock market?’ And then, [she] was showing us what happened and what led to the Great Depression and the stock market crash. I will never forget that activity. I really believe that that was one of the things that made me want to be a history teacher. Like I mentioned, I was really interested in that because she just made it so easy to learn because we’re always doing things like that where you weren’t just reading a history book. And so that’s my answer for favorite activity.”
Education is most impactful when it mirrors the complexities of real life. Gamification, or “the application of game mechanisms in non‐gaming environments with the aim of enhancing the processes enacted and the experience of those involved,” has proven to be a dynamic way to teach students about real-world events and systems (Caponetto et al., p. 50). By transforming lessons into interactive and engaging activities, educators can foster deeper understanding and long-lasting retention of complex concepts.
Gamification isn't just about making learning fun—–it's about making it memorable. Take, for example, a history lesson about the Great Depression. Instead of simply reading about the stock market crash, students could engage in a simulated stock market, making decisions based on real-time scenarios. This approach not only teaches historical facts but also helps students grasp economic principles, decision-making, and the ripple effects of financial systems.
Through simulations, role-playing, and point-based challenges, students are given a safe space to explore real-world consequences and build critical thinking skills. In civics, for example, gamified activities like creating and running mock governments or participating in virtual elections can teach students how governmental systems operate while promoting active citizenship.
The Benefits
In publications, like Rabah et al. (2018), many benefits have been identified to integrating gamification strategies into education, such as:
Positive effects on cognitive learning outcomes
Increases in student motivation, interest, and engagement
Supports self-efficacy and knowledge retention
Reduces student anxiety
Building community among learners
Moreover, gamification caters to diverse learning styles. Visual learners benefit from charts and simulations, while kinesthetic learners engage through hands-on activities. Even the competitive elements, like leaderboards or earning badges, can drive participation for students who thrive on achievement.
However, successful gamification requires intentional planning. A poorly designed activity risks trivializing important topics or losing sight of educational goals. The key is to align game mechanics with the learning objectives and ensure that every element contributes to deeper comprehension. By doing so, gamification becomes a powerful tool to bridge the gap between the classroom and the complexities of the real world.
Sailer and Homner (2020) conducted a meta-analysis on gamification and found that it is an effective method of instruction, but noted that the “inclusion of game fiction and combining competition with collaboration were particularly effective within gamification for fostering behavioral learning outcomes” (p. 76).
If you're ready to elevate your teaching, consider how gamification can help students connect with real-world systems, from economics to government, in a way that is both engaging and transformative.
Five Practical Tips for Implementing Gamification in Your Classroom:
Start with Clear Objectives: Identify what students need to learn and ensure every game element supports those goals.
Use Real-Life Scenarios: Create activities based on historical events, governmental processes, or economic principles to connect learning to real-world systems.
Incorporate Choices and Consequences: Design games where students’ decisions impact outcomes, mimicking the complexities of real-life systems.
Leverage Technology: Use tools like Kahoot, Classcraft, or Minecraft Education to enhance your gamified lessons and engage digital-native learners.
Reflect and Debrief: After each activity, discuss what students learned and how it relates to real-world events or systems. Reflection solidifies learning and connects it to broader contexts.
As pointed out by Seaborn and Fels (2015), the term ‘gamification’ and the study of the complexities of quality gamification are relatively newer to pedagogical research, meaning there is plenty of work to be done to understand how to best incorporate gamification into our classrooms. But the benefits make it clear that gamification is definitely a valuable asset to be studied.
Discussion Question
What real-world topic could you gamify in your classroom, and how would you design the activity to ensure deep learning?
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Caponetto, I., Earp, J., & Ott, M. (2014, October). Gamification and Education: A Literature Review. In European conference on games based learning (Vol. 1, p. 50). Academic Conferences International Limited. Retrieved from https://www.itd.cnr.it/download/gamificationECGBL2014.pdf
Rabaha, J., Cassidyb, R., & Beauchemina, R. (2018). Gamification in education: Real benefits or edutainment? Preprint submitted to European Conference on eLearning. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Cassidy-6/publication/325615804_Gamification_in_education_Real_benefits_or_edutainment/links/5b18996045851587f297c7e2/Gamification-in-education-Real-benefits-or-edutainment.pdf
Sailer, M., & Homner, L. (2020). The Gamification of Learning: a Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review (2020) 32:77–112 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09498-w
Seaborn, K., & Fels, D. I. (2015). Gamification in theory and action: A survey. Int. J. Human-Computer Studies, 74(2015), 14–31. Retrieved from https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/48114402/Gamification_in_theory_and_action_A_survey-libre.pdf?1471429218=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DGamification_in_theory_and_action_A_surv.pdf&Expires=1734454272&Signature=I95zVr4BYwqD-mBjX0jXbpNc7iXck6mY9G5LYSiBU90UYqqEu-mDfCtHbCmnErnYbYzJWXMb82gUDazNbUcl20w6dhqk7pzw5Y5hu2NSKBVpJQvR0evH6XtxBci~klgK~w1qYrrSG802dGxqMgCRv7Lb74gtnyNB3KlIr-yod0e-hNo8IrjNUSmsW-pWWugdj2KX9ZQv796FAO6tlPIGybM003-Ego1KPnKcaHRv0zJla8QOUXdGcEFM40EHFvqmgRnDQi9PJQhONVA6ubkI-XJbQJ8KU8ZFIXZV3jHPkzyx1jsfMS-ZJGQAxWFSrEJDc6rUULC9di7A~zQhIpF3KA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
