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I have not given, received or used any unauthorized assistance. This work is mine.

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Quora - discussion among teachers expressing how they've gotten their students engaged

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Quora - discussion among teachers expressing how they've gotten their students engaged

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1. “Role-playing events and then having a discussion afterwards…” - Roleplaying can help to further understanding the circumstances that people lived in, even if only for a moment.

2. “I did not enjoy history… memorize dates and events…” - simply attaching the name of an event to a date just doesn’t do the same thing as learning about the significance of the events.

3. “Immersive learning methods are great…” - Semi unrelated, but I really want to buy land out in parker and build a Roman colonial settlement, something like colonial jamestown, but for Rome, and have it fill the same role, teaching how people lived back then and how interconnected the world actually was.

4. “Check out historical programs…” - It’s important not to overuse media when teaching, and to engage with students personally, but media can provide some spectacle and production value that help to engage the students more than still images might.

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What are some effective methods for making learning history more enjoyable and easier? As a teacher, what are your thoughts on this subject?

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Answer (1 of 3): It is really difficult for some students to connect with history as it is tough trying to imagine a different time and how people lived. Obviously immersive learning methods are great, such as occurs when visiting places which have retained a specific historical time, with people…

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1. "Engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school, and they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers." being engaged has impacts beyond just schooling, but on outlook on life as well

2. "...approximately half of students in middle school reporting high levels of engagement and about one-third of high school students reporting the same." Student engagement declines drastically as students move on through school, and I feel it's important for teachers to do something about that

3. "An important driver of student engagement is the engagement of their teachers. Engaged teachers are loyal and psychologically committed to their employer." why would a student care about a subject if the teacher doesn't care about it either?

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It's rare for an educator to make it through an entire day without hearing the word "engagement." We want our students, teachers, parents and the entire school community to be engaged. But what does that really mean? What comes to mind when you think about an engaged school community? What difference does engagement make? And what can we actually do to build and sustain a culture of engagement?

Gallup's research team has been studying engagement for decades, having completed tens of millions of surveys and having conducted thousands of individual client research projects and several meta-analyses. All of this data may seem overwhelming, but in reality, it has led to several relatively simple actions that can be taken to improve engagement at your school.

To put it simply, engagement is a measurement of how involved, enthusiastic and committed one is to an organization. Whether you're a student, a teacher or a parent, this simple definition holds true. What is your psychological relationship with the school?

Vast amounts of research and discovery have led to some key conclusions that add rigor and "edge" to what is sometimes dismissed as a "soft" concept. While engagement is "nice to have," it's also necessary for thriving schools. A couple of highlights:

Engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school, and they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers.

Employee engagement has been linked to a wide range of workplace outcomes. Specific to schools, teacher engagement has a strong relationship to both absenteeism and employee turnover, and is a key driver of student engagement.

The Disturbing Trend of Declining Student Engagement

Let's take a closer look at engagement with each group, starting with students. Engaged students are excited about what's happening at their school and about what they're learning. They contribute to the learning environment and are psychologically committed to their school. Engaged students feel safe at school, have strong relationships with teachers and other students, feel recognized on a regular basis, and are learning important things that connect them to a positive future.

Gallup has conducted more than 5 million surveys with students in grades five through 12 over the past several years. These students have come from every state and from a range of rural, suburban and urban school settings. Two key findings have received broad attention and are worth repeating here.

1. Almost half of students who responded to the survey are engaged with school (47%), with approximately one-fourth "not engaged" (29%) and the remainder "actively disengaged" (24%).

A closer look at the data by grade level reveals a disturbing trend. Engagement is strong at the end of elementary school, with nearly three-quarters of fifth-graders (74%) reporting high levels of engagement. But similar surveys have shown a gradual and steady decline in engagement from fifth grade through about 10 th grade, with approximately half of students in middle school reporting high levels of engagement and about one-third of high school students reporting the same.

2. Certain elements of engagement tend to be key drivers. In the early years of the research, Gallup discovered two items that had a powerful connection to engagement. Students who were able to "strongly agree" with the statements "My school is committed to building the strengths of each student" and "I have at least one teacher who makes me excited about the future" were 30 times as likely to be engaged at school when compared with students who strongly disagreed with the same items. A key to building a culture of student engagement is to have students who partner with caring adults to develop their potential.

Engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school, and they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers.

The Potential for Engaging Our Nation's Teachers

An important driver of student engagement is the engagement of their teachers. Engaged teachers are loyal and psychologically committed to their employer. Their experience includes a valuable relationship with a caring principal who coaches them, offers meaningful recognition on a regular basis, and helps them learn and grow throughout their career. They are surrounded by committed coworkers who build trusting and often deep relationships. Engaged teachers give the discretionary effort needed to ensure that their students are successful.

Across the many millions of Gallup surveys on engagement, about one-third of employees are engaged (33%), while about half are not engaged (51%) and the remaining 16% are actively disengaged. Clearly, there is potential for growing engagement in the typical workplace. So, how are we doing on engaging our nation's teachers? Unfortunately, not much better than the typical workplace. Two notable takeaways:

1. While elementary school teachers tend to be more engaged than their peers at the secondary level, overall teacher engagement is quite similar to that of other professions, with just over 30% reporting high levels of engagement.

2. A study of the individual elements of teacher engagement reveals a key finding: When asked whether their opinions count, K-12 teachers' positive responses are consistently lower than those of employees in other professions.

School leaders need to do a much better job of soliciting teacher input early in the decision-making process to ensure that teachers are heard. This approach will not only lead to higher levels of teacher engagement, but will likely also lead to better decisions.

A Strong School Community Includes Engaged Parents

Engaging our students and teachers is a widely accepted approach to achieving school success. But great schools don't just focus on the people inside the building; they build a strong constituency in the community. This leads to the natural next step: engaging parents.

Engaged parents are proud to be associated with their child's school and advocate for it in the community. They feel that the school delivers on its promises. Engaged parents often go so far as to say that the school is "perfect" for their child.

The relationship between a parent and their child's school may be similar to the relationship between a customer and a company they regularly interact with. How does parent engagement compare to customer engagement? Gallup marketplace research often finds that about 30% of customers are fully engaged with the organizations they patronize in the healthcare, hospitality, retail and financial services industries. As such, it's surprising to find that only about 20% of parents are fully engaged with their child's school.

School leaders need to prioritize parent engagement as they strategize and activate plans for school improvement. Doing so requires a focus on some key drivers of parent engagement, as follows:

1. School leadership. In many communities, a school's principal and leaders are as visible as politicians or business leaders. Strong school leaders embrace this role as they respond to community concerns and inspire the community to believe in the future of the school.

2. Academic standards. Parents want to know that the school is committed to helping their child perform well academically, regardless of whether their child is succeeding in honors courses or struggling to keep up in class. Parents seek appropriate amounts of homework and support to help their students achieve.

3. School environment. Parents seek a welcoming school environment in which their student is treated with respect and there is appropriate discipline. To put it simply, parents want to know that their child enjoys being at school.

4. Personalized learning. Engaged parents appreciate having a teacher who cares about their student enough to get to know their strengths, and who spends time developing their potential. They seek opportunities for their child to do what they do best every day.

5. Communication and involvement. While most schools do a good job of communicating with parents in transactional ways about grades, weather dismissals or safety incidents, parents also seek communication about ways to get involved. They crave positive, specific feedback about their child and desire a true partnership with their child's teachers.

Building a culture of engagement for students, teachers and parents takes effort, but it is not out of reach. It requires systematic measurement of the culture with validated tools. When results become available, school leaders need to study the data in its proper context, looking at national benchmarks and data from previous years. They need to share the results and broaden the conversation to ensure that a variety of stakeholders are involved in the school improvement process. And perhaps most importantly, they must follow through. Conducting surveys of engagement is a great first step, but if school leaders don't act on the findings, it can actually undermine engagement further.

Successful school leaders understand that building a culture of engagement is not an event; it's a process that requires intentional and sustained effort. And while it is not always easy to create engagement, it is absolutely worth the investment.

A version of this article first appeared in Principal, September/October 2018, Vol. 98, No. 1.

Gallup can help you improve teacher and student outcomes.

Tim Hodges is a senior consultant at Gallup.

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School Engagement Is More Than Just Talk

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It's rare for an educator to make it through an entire day without hearing the word "engagement." We want our students, teachers, parents and the entire school community to be engaged. But what does that really mean? What comes to mind when you think about an engaged school community?

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Article, date unknown, Stanford University, Increasing Student Engagement

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Article, date unknown, Stanford University, Increasing Student Engagement

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1. "Because open-ended questions can have multiple correct answers or valid perspectives, they can also generate more interesting discussions." Everyone has opinions, and most people like to express them.

2. "Use more ungraded or credit-upon-completion assignments" - students might be more willing to openly engage with a subject without the looming threat of a bad grade

3. "...it is essential to give students both autonomy in choosing how to engage with the material as well as a diversity of methods for them to learn and assess their skills." choice in learning is what I think promotes the most engaged learning

4. "In addition to boosting engagement, group discussions give students the opportunity to explain to others their reasoning and problem-solving processes, which helps promote metacognition." metacognition buzz word

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These strategies can help you increase student engagement with learning activities, build their confidence in their community of learning, and increase their comprehension of the course material.

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Survey, 2023, GradientLearning, Student Engagement Survey

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Survey, 2023, GradientLearning, Student Engagement Survey

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1. "School principals (67%) identified academic outcomes as one of the best ways to assess student engagement, while student academic outcomes rank #10 overall on teachers’ list of best ways to evaluate engagement with only 48% of the teachers choosing this response." There is a disparity between what school leadership thinks is indicative of students being successful, vs what the teachers actually interacting with the students are seeing

2. "78% of teachers rate building stronger interpersonal relationships with students as the most effective method of improving engagement."

3. "To support teachers as they create classroom environments that nurture student engagement, it is essential for school and district leaders to explore what teachers need to be more effective in combating this engagement gap." How can a teacher do their job without the support of the school leadership?

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Tips and Tricks for Engaging Students in Social Studies

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Tips and Tricks for Engaging Students in Social Studies

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1. "We live in a visual world and, for many students, seeing art... ...can go far in peaking their interest..." History can often seem bland and lifeless to students, so being able to pull the color and energy that there actually was can help to keep students engaged.

2. "Circle The Sage"  Students teaching each other can help students to engage because it might be less intimidating for a student to ask another student about something they missed or didn’t quite understand, rather than their teacher

3. "Solve a historical Problem" encourages students to engage with material while also getting them to think creatively within the constraints of the issue at hand.

4. "Tell students to imagine they are in the thick of a historical event" This is a method that I’ve been considering in terms of creative writing projects for my class, probably as extra credit, but to have students imagine they are a historian of a given time, documenting whatever event is being discussed.

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Article, 2025, Edutopia, Using Activities to Build Engagement

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Article, 2025, Edutopia, Using Activities to Build Engagement

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1. "...open, no-wrong-answer questions work well, in addition to visual sources, evocative quotes, and polls." engagement improves when there is no fear of being wrong

2. "The goal is not to transmit content knowledge, but to give students a conceptual framework to connect their thinking to. This is a bridge between student and disciplinary thinking." Getting students to start thinking in a historical concept is just as important as teaching them the content itself

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Using Staging Activities in Social Studies to Build Engagement

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Effective staging lessons help make a new unit seem relevant to students and also set the stage for critical thinking.

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Article, 2018, Hamline University, Improving Engagement Through Collaborative Learning

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Article, 2018, Hamline University, Improving Engagement Through Collaborative Learning

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Improving Engagement Of High School Students In United States His

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1. "Gamification provides powerful experiences that are noncompetitive play to facilitate learning. Students invest time in and outside the classroom to complete the challenges, such as doing extra readings, video viewings, and practice activities. The more time spent and/or content consumed can only improve depth and breadth of students’ knowledge and skill mastery. Such investment by all students is time well spent and should be rewarded with badges and work-related status." - by allowing every student to potentially earn the rewards, it doesn't just limit students who are "naturally" gifted, but gives every student the opportunity to earn something on their own merit.

2. "If we want students to own their learning, they need opportunities to choose the badges and achievements they want to complete. Renewable options empower students to explore which options appeal to them." This falls in line with my whole spiel of student choice, getting to learn or focus on what it is they want to, rather than being pushed through a uniform pipeline.

3. "In education, gamification is intended to transform traditional lessons into an enhanced learning experience where students choose to explore and practice content, earning badges and status benefits. These might seem extrinsic, but the true rewards come from the students’ internal drive to study content, gain depth of understanding, and master material that leads to badges, achievements, and status." Gamification encourages students to work of their own accord, rather than just doing what they're told to do.

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Gamification taps into the power of noncompetitive play and students' desire to improve their skills.

Dan Page Collection / The iSpot

In the business world, gamification is used in customer loyalty programs for credit cards and memberships: Spend money and invest time in the business's app and products to earn discounts and status upgrades. Everyone benefits at their own pace.

In education, gamification is intended to transform traditional lessons into an enhanced learning experience where students choose to explore and practice content, earning badges and status benefits. These might seem extrinsic, but the true rewards come from the students' internal drive to study content, gain depth of understanding, and master material that leads to badges, achievements, and status.

Success comes not from the rewards, but from how the learning journey is crafted for students to travel. Combining game mechanics with intentional exploration of aligned content will result in students' participating willingly.

3 Keys to Quality Gamification Experiences

1. Every student can reap the rewards of badges, achievements, and status by completing all required tasks. Gamification provides powerful experiences that are noncompetitive play to facilitate learning. Students invest time in and outside the classroom to complete the challenges, such as doing extra readings, video viewings, and practice activities. The more time spent and/or content consumed can only improve depth and breadth of students' knowledge and skill mastery. Such investment by all students is time well spent and should be rewarded with badges and work-related status.

Limiting access to awards to just one winner or the top finishers undermines the underlying intent of gamification: all students growing content knowledge and skills through active participation. It's more important to have as many students as possible benefit at their own pace and build learning and self-accomplishment. Allowing only a few to earn rewards demotivates students who either believe that they cannot compete or experience frustration at having invested time toward the goal, only to fall short because someone else edged them out. When the focus is on who wins, learning by all becomes the biggest loser.

2. Gamification offers renewable status and privileges through self-directed learning. Some say that giving out rewards for doing work creates the wrong type of motivation, whereby students become more focused on the treats and prizes than on the learning. This issue is dependent on a combination of the type of work students must do and the rewards that are earned. Gamification uses badges and achievements to encourage students to complete meaningful tasks that improve their content knowledge and skill levels. The tasks must align with the curriculum expectations.

Study passes: Choosing where they sit or access to study in the hallway, library, or other school locations can be a powerful reward. For specific lesson activities, students earn the right to pick their work environment and choice of partner. In the latter case, they can only choose from students who have also completed this badge.

Homework passes: When students have invested additional study time into a subject, they may not need to do additional formal practice. This pass is only good for the current unit. Or they earn the ability to complete a comprehensive study packet that covers all material to be addressed and bypass some of the standard homework.

Opting out of a test: Similar to curriculum compacting, this enables students to complete alternative work. The tasks are specifically aligned to the unit outcomes and give students a different way to show their learning. Students complete a badge where they demonstrate strong organizational and self-discipline skills.

Status and privileges earned should relate to empowering student agency about their approach to learning. The following are some examples:

All such badges and achievements must be renewed each marking period or semester. Once earned, these statuses are privileges that can be removed if abused. If they are lost, students may reapply by completing the tasks toward earning back the status, which demonstrates responsibility and accountability.

3. Gamification promotes goal setting and student agency. If we want students to own their learning, they need opportunities to choose the badges and achievements they want to complete. Renewable options empower students to explore which options appeal to them. There should be a series of tasks that composes the badge or achievement, including some options where they can choose the pathway that appeals to them.

For example, earning a homework pass might include readings, videos, and skill practice from which they choose from a list of what to complete. The study pass may require a written or recorded reflection about the importance of acting responsibly when in the hallway or study location outside of the classroom. The power of options empowers students to make the best choice that suits them and holds them accountable for their choices.

Gamification can have a greater impact on learning than even its cousin game-based learning. Whereas a game can have a valuable impact in one lesson activity, gamification done well is infused throughout the entire lesson and/or unit of study. It maximizes participation because everyone can win.

Gamification empowers students with the ultimate in choices when setting goals for what badges and achievements they want to complete, which leads to learners building skills for self-reliance and self-control. You can explore more mechanics for implementing gamification here. Game on!

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Using Gamification to Ignite Student Learning

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Gamification taps into the power of noncompetitive play and students' desire to improve their skills.

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1. "Rather than presenting a set of seemingly unrelated questions, consider creating a narrative or quest that draws learners in and helps them see the consequence of their responses. Think of your quiz as an interactive narrative: each question leads into the next, and may build upon previous answers, all the while being part of a larger narrative or story that compels the learner to remain engaged." - tests suck. Telling stories is fun. Combine them to make a less fun story, but a more fun quiz. I like this idea but I'd need to see an example in action.

2. "These environments employ commercially-available games that are designed with entertainment in mind. Learners play these games for fun, and must then be provided or find means by which to discuss gameplay experiences with like-minded individuals. As an instructor, your role can be to provide or invite examples of games that are related to the discipline, and importantly, provide the space for learners to reflect on their gameplay." this is almost exactly something I brought up in using Crusader Kings 3 as a method of getting students to think like historians.

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Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments, elements that can increase learner engagement and sustain motivation. This teaching tip discusses the difference between gamification and game-based learning, the pedagogical values these two strategies can bring to instruction, and game elements appropriate for face-to-face and online courses.

Gamification vs. game-based learning

Gamification and game-based learning are similar in that both strategies promote engagement and sustained motivation in learning. However, gamification and game-based learning can also be usefully distinguished:

Gamification is the integration of game elements like point systems, leaderboards, badges, or other elements related to games into "conventional" learning activities in order to increase engagement and motivation. For example, an online discussion forum for a Physics course might be gamified via a badge system: students might be awarded a "Ptolemy" badge after they have made 10 postings, a "Galileo" badge after 20 postings, "Kepler" after 30, "Einstein" after 40, and so on. In ideal gamified learning environments, students can see the online badges that their peers have earned to create a sense of comradery or competition.

Game-based learning, in contrast, involves designing learning activities so that game characteristics and game principles inhere within the learning activities themselves. For example, in an Economics course, students might compete in a virtual stock-trading competition; in a Political Science course, students might role-play as they engage in mock negotiations involving a labour dispute.

In short, gamification applies game elements or a game framework to existing learning activities; game-based learning designs learning activities that are intrinsically game-like.

Gamification and game-based learning both promote engagement and sustained motivation in learning, but they do not necessarily result in improved learning outcomes. For a detailed explanation between these two approaches, and for helpful videos and other resources, consider looking at GOBLIN (Games Offer Bold Learning Insights Nowadays) Education.

Game elements and their pedagogical role

Most games feature elements such as rules, goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, story, and fun (see Vandercruysse, Vandewaetere, & Clarebout, 2012). Though not all of the elements are needed to successfully gamify a learning activity, carefully selecting those elements that help meet the learning objectives of the course can be useful. The pedagogical value of game features often associated with gamification are discussed below.

Points or experience systems

Similar to conventional grading schemes, game points or experience (XP) systems reward students for completing various tasks, assignments, or assessments. Game or XP points can introduce some useful affordances to learning environments, including:

Limitless points:whereas traditional grading schemes collect artifacts of learning which accumulate to 100% of a course's grade, points or XP systems accumulate points with no fixed end in sight.

Flexible goals: students are presented with a wealth of possibilities to earn points, and instructors can structure the course so that they either accumulate as many as they want, or they complete a certain number of tasks to reach a desired point total.

Student choice: choice is crucial to the success of a points-based system. For example, students might be able to earn points by focusing on reflection activities, or by opting to complete a number of tests, or any other activity relevant to the course.

Tracking: you can track points by using LEARN's gradebook feature with points instead of percentages, or Google Drive to share the results with the entire class.

Points can also be supplemented by academic rewards: when a certain point threshold is reached, a student might be given an extra week to submit an assignment or bonus questions on the next test.

Badges

Badges are a digital way to acknowledge student work. For example, students might receive a badge if they achieve certain levels of success on assignments, or if they do additional work, such as submitting a draft or sharing notes with another student. They may even be the result of simple participation: accessing the course through the LMS five times a week over the course of a semester could earn a badge. Student badges may be displayed to other learners in the class as a means to encourage competition or to demonstrate the variety of badges which can be earned.

Create your own badges for your course with free programs such as Credly or OpenBadges.

Leaderboards

Competition can motivate students and can be leveraged by leaderboards that showcase the distribution of point totals that students have accumulated through various learning activities. However, caution must be taken when constructing leaderboards because displaying all students in order of point totals can be a disincentive for students at the bottom (Farzen, DiMicco, Millen, Dugan, Geyer & Brownholtz, 2008; Landers & Landers, 2015). Consider using a system in which students see only the two students who are directly above them and below them, in order to foster a healthy sense of competition without discouraging students who are performing poorly.

For examples as to how to create a leaderboard, see How to Create a Leaderboard for eLearning with Google.

Online gamification strategies

Discussion boards

Students may be incentivized to discuss readings before or immediately after class by making them optional but allotting XP points for each post or reply to another post. Points earned could go towards additional help on an assignment (such as allowing a draft to be reviewed first, or having an automatic extension granted), or to completely bypassing an assignment (if the student reaches a certain number of points, they no longer have to complete a specific assignment in the course). You can also facilitate real-time discussions using tools like Padlet or Todaysmeet, each of which allow students to make anonymous contributions.

Quizzes

Rather than presenting a set of seemingly unrelated questions, consider creating a narrative or quest that draws learners in and helps them see the consequence of their responses. Think of your quiz as an interactive narrative: each question leads into the next, and may build upon previous answers, all the while being part of a larger narrative or story that compels the learner to remain engaged. You may even include hints that the learner can choose to use or not. Be cautious of making these high-stakes assessments - the game-like features of the task will be mitigated and potentially impaired should learners be focused too much on the grade attached. An alternative method is to have students complete a quiz in the online environment, and then come to class, form groups, and complete the same quiz, but now try to convince one another of the correct answer. This can be facilitated through Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) cards too.

In-class gamification strategies

Jeopardy

Creating Jeopardy-style games for review of chapters or in preparation for a midterm can provide enjoyment and interaction with others in a familiar game structure. Create a game using PowerPoint, or use a free Jeopardy game creator like Instant Jeopardy Review.

Classroom response systems

Gathering responses from an entire class can be difficult, but doing so with classroom response systems like Kahoot or TopHat can encourage participation through game elements like points and competition between individuals.

Out-of-class gamification strategies

Game-based learning environments

These include any game designed for educational purposes such as Trivia Crack. As an instructor, you can make learners aware of these educational games, but the game itself acts as the educator.

Game-enhanced learning environments

These environments employ commercially-available games that are designed with entertainment in mind. Learners play these games for fun, and must then be provided or find means by which to discuss gameplay experiences with like-minded individuals. As an instructor, your role can be to provide or invite examples of games that are related to the discipline, and importantly, provide the space for learners to reflect on their gameplay. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games like World of Warcraft or Second Life are great for immersing language learners in another language, or games like SimCity can help understand economic principles.

Some final notes

Incorporating games, gamification, or game-based learning into your teaching doesn't require a monumental shift in your teaching. Many activities or active learning strategies that you already use likely contain some of the game elements listed above and, with some modifications, can be modified into even more effective learning tools. At the same time, gamification and game-based learning should not be implemented in a cavalier manner, but should be thoughtfully integrated into a course.

Some gamification and game-based learning tools

Duolingo - gamifying language learning by having students complete drill-and-kill grammar and vocabulary exercises while receiving experience points to gain levels and access more difficult exercises

Minecraft - a vernacular game that has been adapted for learning environments by giving students a sandbox to build and construct their own virtual worlds

Second Life - a virtual world where students can create their own avatar and embody a 3D space, which can in turn promote easier communication through text and reduce anxiety to speak

Coursera - a platform that provides free educational courses for anyone who is interested, but to promote interactivity and retention, badges and other reward systems are implemented for participants

Brainscape - improved flashcards that promote retention of knowledge using what they call "confidence-based repetition", designed to be more appealing and fun to use to also assist in retention

Kahoot - a classroom response system that is free to use and doesn't require student sign-up; simply create a game of Kahoot, enter in questions, and supply the provided pin to your students, who will then use their phones or laptops to play the game and answer questions

Credly - an open-source badge making tool to create badges for tasks in your course, with the ability as well to distribute badges to students as well

OpenBadges - another open-source badge making tool, like Credly, but is more complex to create badges with

Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) - the IF-AT provides immediate feedback to learners on multiple choice questions by having a card that learners scratch to determine the correct answer; allows for collaboration when answering questions and provides a sense of excitement when scratching the card

TopHat - a classroom response system, like Kahoot, that allows students to provide responses to questions in the class anonymously; unlike Kahoot, this has a fee associated with it, but it allows for better integration in the LMS for grading purposes, and has a tournament mode to encourage competition in-class

Support

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help. View the CTE Support page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

References

Farzan, R., DiMicco, J. M., Millen, D. R., Dugan, C., Geyer, W., and Brownholtz, E. A. (2008). Results from deploying a participation incentive mechanism within the enterprise. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, 563-572.

Landers, R. N., & Landers, A. K. (2015). An empirical test of the theory of gamified learning the effect of leaderboards on time-on-task and academic performance. Simulation & Gaming, 45(6), 769-785.

Vandercruysse, S., Vandewaetere, M., & Clarebout, G. (2012). Game-based learning: A review on the effectiveness of educational games. In M. M. Cruz-Cunha (Ed.), Handbook of research on serious games as educational, business, and research tools (pp. 628-647). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

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This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Gamification and game-based learning. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Gamification and game-based learning. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

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Gamification and Game-Based Learning | Centre for Teaching Excellence

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Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments,

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"Teens find it most interesting and exciting when there is a little bit of talking involved. Discussions help clear the tense atmosphere in a classroom and allow students to participate in their own learning."

2. Working with technology

"I believe that when students participate in "learning by doing" it helps them focus more. Technology helps them to do that. Students will always be extremely excited when using technology."

"We have entered a digital age of video, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and they [have] become more of a daily thing for teens and students. When we use tech, it engages me more and lets me understand the concept more clearly."

3. Connecting the real world to the work we do/project-based learning

"I believe that it all boils down to relationships. Not relationships from teacher to student or relationships from student to student, but rather relations between the text and the outside world. For example, I was in a history class last year and my teacher would always explain what happens in the Medieval World and the Renaissance. And after every lesson, every essay, every assignment, he asked us, "How does this event relate to current times?" It brought me to a greater thinking, a kind of thinking where I can relate the past to the present and how closely they are bonded together."

"If you relate the topic to the students' lives, then it makes the concept easier to grasp."

"Students are most interested when the curriculum applies to more than just the textbook. The book is there -- we can read a book. If we're given projects that expand into other subjects and make us think, it'll help us understand the information."

"What I think engages a student most is interactions with real-life dilemmas and an opportunity to learn how to solve them. Also, projects that are unique and one of a kind that other schools would never think of. Also something challenging and not easy, something to test your strengths as a student and stimulate your brain, so it becomes easier to deal with similar problems when you are grown up and have a job. Something so interesting that you could never ever forget."

"I like to explore beyond the range of what normal textbooks allow us to do through hands-on techniques such as project-based learning. Whenever I do a project, I always seem to remember the material better than if I just read the information straight out of a textbook."

"I, myself, find a deeper connection when I'm able to see what I'm learning about eye-to-eye. It's more memorable and interesting to see all the contours and details of it all. To be able to understand and connect with the moment is what will make students three times more enthusiastic about learning beyond the black and white of the Times New Roman text."

4. Clearly love what you do

"Engaging students can be a challenge, and if you're stuck in a monotone, rambling on and on, that doesn't help...instead of talking like a robot, teachers should speak to us like they're really passionate about teaching. Make sure to give yourself an attitude check. If a teacher acts like this is the last thing they want to be doing, the kids will respond with the same negative energy. If you act like you want to be there, then we will too."

"I also believe that enthusiasm in the classroom really makes a student engaged in classroom discussions. Because even if you have wonderful information, if you don't sound interested, you are not going to get your students' attention. I also believe that excitement and enthusiasm is contagious."

"It isn't necessarily the subject or grades that really engage students but the teacher. When teachers are truly willing to teach students, not only because it is their job, but because they want to educate them, students benefit. It's about passion. That extra effort to show how it will apply to our own future."

5. Get me out of my seat!

"When a student is active they learn in a deeper way than sitting. For example, in my history class, we had a debate on whether SOPA and PIPA were good ideas. My teacher had us stand on either ends of the room to state whether we agree or disagree with the proposition. By doing this, I was able to listen to what all my classmates had to say."

6. Bring in visuals

"I like to see pictures because it makes my understanding on a topic clearer. It gives me an image in my head to visualize."

"I am interested when there are lots of visuals to go with the lesson. Power Points are often nice, but they get boring if there are too many bullet points. Pictures and cartoons usually are the best way to get attention."

7. Student choice

"I think having freedom in assignments, project directions, and more choices would engage students...More variety = more space for creativity."

"Giving students choices helps us use our strengths and gives us freedom to make a project the way we want it to. When we do something we like, we're more focused and enjoy school more."

"Another way is to make the curriculum flexible for students who are more/less advanced. There could be a list of project choices and student can pick from that according to their level."

8. Understand your clients -- the kids

"Encourage students to voice their opinions as you may never know what you can learn from your students."

"If the teacher shows us that they are confident in our abilities and has a welcoming and well-spirited personality towards us, we feel more capable of doing the things we couldn't do...What I'm trying to say is students are more engaged when they feel they are in a "partnership" with their teacher."

"Personally, I think that students don't really like to be treated as 'students.' Teachers can learn from us students. They need to ask for our input on how the students feel about a project, a test, etc. Most importantly, teachers need to ask themselves, "How would I feel if I were this student?" See from our point of view and embrace it."

"Students are engaged in learning when they are taught by teachers who really connect with their students and make the whole class feel like one big family. Teachers should understand how the mind of a child or teenager works and should be able to connect with their students because everyone should feel comfortable so that they are encouraged to raise their hands to ask questions or ask for help."

"Teachers should know that within every class they teach, the students are all different."

9. Mix it up!

"I don't like doing only one constant activity...a variety will keep me engaged in the topic. It's not just for work, but also for other things such as food. Eating the same foods constantly makes you not want to eat!"

"Fun experiments in science class...acting out little skits in history...if students are going to remember something, they need visuals, some auditory lessons, and some emotions."

"Also, you can't go wrong with some comedy. Everyone loves a laugh...another thing that engages me would be class or group games. In Language Arts I've played a game of "dodge ball. We throw words at each other, one at a time. If they could get the definition, the person who threw the word would be out...Students remember the ones they got wrong, and of course, the ones they already knew."

10. Be human

"Don't forget to have a little fun yourself."

I'd like to end this post with one more quote, this one from my student, Sharon: "The thing is, every student is engaged differently...but, that is okay. There is always a way to keep a student interested and lively, ready to embark on the journey of education. 'What is that way?' some teachers may ask eagerly. Now, read closely... Are you ready? That way is to ask them. Ask. Them. Get their input on how they learn. It's just as simple as that."

Go on. Try it. Ask.

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A while back, I was asked, "What engages students?" Sure, I could respond, sharing anecdotes about what I believed to be engaging, but I thought it would be so much better to lob that question to my own eighth graders.

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