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Even when UniCon lasts for two days, there are some playful
things that we would like to test. One of them is putting in work
another element of gamification triad; leaderboards.
Leaderboards are not very applicable in the current system
“every man for himself” but could be tested along with the
fractions. If we could manage to create a competitive
environment, where teams would actually try to compete, these
leaderboards could help it; maybe even in the form of hanging
the flag of the team currently on top.
This year we tried it in a mild form. Out of a few people from
the staff, i.e. students helping with the festival, we created a
guild of security guards. They got weapons (NERF guns),
guarded the prices for the auction, helped out in individual
sections, had free drinks at the festival bar, and if they found
someone without a bracelet (i.e. someone who bought only a
time-limited ticket and his time expired) who wanted to go to the
festival. but to remain, they should have given him the
opportunity to join them. Then the person who bought the
cheapest ticket would have the opportunity not just to stay at the
festival, but be a part of it.
These guards were a small version of what this game was to
convey at the festival: the group of people who play, help with
small tasks that need to be done and have certain advantages for
that. In fact, this is something that we would like to accomplish
in education as well.
4 Using this experience in gamified education
We want to apply this experience in higher education. In the
academic year 2021/2022 we want to test it on just one school
subject.
The main idea is not to use game elements directly for
improvement of learning, but rather for a system of motivation
to engage in various activities, create a competitive environment,
present several opportunities that the school already provides,
create new ones and also connect individuals with joint
mindsets.
What we have described as expectations and means in the
faction system at UniCon is basically what we are trying to
create at school; only with some minor changes. Just as at the
festival, we want students to spend more time at school and do it
voluntarily, or almost voluntarily which basically means to
nudge them into behaviour that we find beneficial for their
education and/or faculty goals – not just one particular game
used to meet the wanted goal; “not a single activity but a set of
relevant activities and systematic processes” (Kim et al, 2018).
That does not necessarily mean school activities exclusively. It
could include attending seminars outside of school, thematic
screenings that we plan to organise at cinema in the school
basement, expositions, talks or take part in something more
creative or research-orientated. That means we want to give
them enough to choose from, but at the same time push them
into things they have yet to discover.
This is based on our experiments tried on our convention, but
also on theoretic and practical research that was already done by
scholars.
Just like at the festival, where the “guards” helped us with minor
tasks, so at school we have assignments that are not crucial for
the existence of the faculty, but are more of an additional
character. As a games-oriented study, we take interests in many
parts of the gaming culture and many of them are possible
subjects for research, study, digitalisation or even collecting. Our
goal is to help students navigate these possibilities and help them
find out what they are interested in.
We have prepared methods on how to “make” them do
additional tasks that are not mandatory but have value for our
students. For example, we can recommend them a youtube
channel from which they could benefit from (maybe videos on
game theory or insight work on game design and ethics such as
ExtraCredit) but we can do it in a different way; maybe one of
the tasks could be to make video subtitles or to proofread
existing ones.
Practically, it will have the form of a game, but with two
currencies. The first will be expressed in the form of experience
levels; some of the ones that will be offered will require a certain
amount to be performed. Our subjects have ECTS grading scale,
so in order for a student to pass at all, they must obtain a “pass”
to the next level, which means there will be a certain minimum
number of quests / tasks that the student must complete. The
higher they get, the better his mark. These levels, or passes, are
an expression of the student’s activity or effort and determine the
final mark on the subject.
The second currency will be, as at the festival, coins, which will
serve as a reward. For them, students will be able to “buy” prizes
with a real live equivalent value that is rewarding but also not
counterproductive; for example, tickets to a game event,
participation in certified courses, or even some equipment.
We see this reward as a form of motivational scholarship;
students in our subject field are not usually receivers of that, so
this is the form which would be for them maybe more alluring or
approachable.
Literature:
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Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2015. 688 p. ISBN 9780260028004
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80-8105-752-6.
3. Hamari, J., Huotari, K.: Defining Gamification - A Service
Marketing Perspective. MindTrek ‘12: Proceeding of the 16th
International Academic MindTrek Conference, [online],
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2393132.2393137.
4. Fizek, S. et al: Rethinking Gamification. Lüneberg: meson
press, 2014. 344 p. ISBN 978-3-95796-001-6
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Gamification. Acta Ludologica. Vol. 3, No. 2. Trnava:
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, 2020. ISSN 2585-8599
6. Koorevaar, R.: Ludified Culture: Gamification. Utrecht:
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10.1007/s10676-016-9401-5
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Výzkum médií: Nejužívanější metody a
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Primary Paper Section: A
Secondary Paper Section: AJ
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