Embracing The Quiet Ones: Strategies for Teaching Introverted Students in the Elementary Classroom

Over the last two centuries, the urbanization of American society and subsequent alterations in patterns of daily life have caused a shift in preference toward qualities associated with extroversion. Referred to as The Extrovert Ideal, the promotion of extroversion has impacted the American K-12 school system as well, creating educational settings ill-suited for introverted students and the way in which they learn. Although statistics surrounding the exact number of introverted individuals in the population remain inconclusive, many studies indicate that one-third, and up to one-half, of the population is introverted; inevitably, an educator will teach introverted students every year. This project seeks to explore ways in which introverted students in the elementary grades can be supported by their teachers. After contextualizing the conversation — providing the history of introversion as a psychological concept, an overview of modern Western perceptions of introversion, and a picture of the typical introverted student—a description and analysis of current educational trends in light of the needs of introverted students will follow, examining Cooperative Learning, Inquiry-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning, Gamification, and Social Emotional Learning. The project concludes with a series of recommendations for differentiating the strategies with introverted students in mind, along with several additional recommendations, and an open letter to educators and parents of introverted students about implementing the topics discussed

Explore the relations between personality and gamification

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Successful gamification motivates users to engage in systems using game-like experiences. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to gamification is often unsuccessful; prior studies suggest that personality serves as a key differentiator in the effectiveness of the approach. To advance the understanding of personality differences and their influence on users’ behavior and motivation in gamification, this dissertation is comprised of three studies that: 1) explore the relationships among individuals’ personality traits and preferences for different gamification features through an online survey; 2) investigate how people with different personality traits respond to the motivational affordances in a gamified application over a period of time through a diary study; and 3) reveal how individuals respond differentially to different kinds of leaderboard experiences based on their leaderboard rankings, the application domain, and the individuals’ personality traits through their responses to 9 dynamic leaderboards. The results from the first study show that extraversion and emotional stability are the two primary personality traits that differentiate users’ preferences for gamification. Among the 10 types of motivational affordances, extraverts are more likely to be motivated by Points, Levels, and Leaderboards. However, the results from the second (diary) study indicate that, after the first week, extraverts’ preferences for Points decreased. The motivation effects of Points and Leaderboards changed over the course of using the gamified application. The results from the third study confirm the findings from the first two studies about extraversion and revealed that ranking and domain differences are also effective factors in users’ experiences of Leaderboards in gamification. Design guidelines for gamification are presented based on the results of each of the three studies. Based on a synthesis of the results from these three studies, this dissertation proposes a conceptual model for gamification design. The model describes not only the impact of personality traits, domain differences, and users’ experience over time, but also illustrates the importance of considering individual differences, application context, and the potential significance of user persistence in gamification design. This research contributes to the HCI and gamification communities by uncovering factors that will affect the way that people respond to gamification systems, considered holistically

WEB SURVEY GAMIFICATION – INCREASING DATA QUALITY IN WEB SURVEYS BY USING GAME DESIGN ELEMENTS

Researchers and survey designers face the challenge of low data quality as web surveys are often not compelling. Thus, participants’ engagement declines while completing a survey resulting in participants tend to apply satisficing behavior (e.g., speeding, straight-lining) in order to complete the questionnaire or even break-off the completion of the questionnaire. Due to satisficing behavior, researchers are faced with the challenge of low data quality. Addressing this challenge, survey gamification promises to make web survey participation enjoyable, which might also engage participants to complete questionnaires by providing high-quality data. However, the research on the effects of gamifying web surveys (in particular on behavioral outcomes) is still inconclusive. Addressing this short-coming, we propose to examine the effects of two common game design elements – badges and a meaningful story – in an experimental study. Based on the theoretical background of gamification and the theory of cognitive absorption, we derive hypotheses and outline in detail our experimental design in this research-in-progress paper. Our proposed research study will contribute to research and practice by addressing an important challenge when conducting online surveys: the motivation to process surveys accurately

Gamificação no ensino superior em ciência da computação: Uma revisão sistemática da literatura

Gamificação é a prática de aplicar elementos e princípios de jogos emambientes não relacionados a jogos. Esse recurso tem sido amplamente utilizado no ensino superior em diferentes áreas do conhecimento, incorporando elementos de elearning com gamificação, com o objetivo de melhorar a qualidade do ensino. Esta pesquisa, por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, discutirá a eficácia da gamificação, seus benefícios e como ela vem sendo aplicada no âmbito da Ciência da Computação. A partir da revisão realizada foi verificado que a maioria das publicações apresentou resultados positivos com a gamificação, principalmente no engajamento e na motivação dos estudantes. Contudo, em alguns casos, foi identificada uma diminuição dos benefícios em longo prazo, dependente da forma como a prática é aplicada

Breaking the Silence: A Phenomenological Study of Introverted Undergraduate Students\u27 Experiences in the Active Learning English Classroom

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of introverted undergraduate students in the active learning English classroom in a community college setting in Florida. Eysenck’s Personality Theory, which provides knowledge about introverts’ preferred method of learning; and Experiential Learning Theory, which presents pertinent information concerning how individuals learn by experience, guided this study. The research questions were as follows: How do introverted undergraduate students describe their experience in an English course structured as an active learning classroom environment (ALC)? How do participants describe the academic atmosphere of the ALC? How do participants describe the effect they perceive the ALC has on their academic performance? How do participants describe the social atmosphere of the ALC? What benefits do participants describe from taking part in the ALC? The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) identified introverted students, and the Active-Learning Inventory Tool (ALIT) identified which classes showed consistent use of active learning techniques. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviewing, cognitive representations, and online non-synchronous focus groups. Utilizing Moustakas’ (1994) modified Van Kemp method, data analysis consisted of a series of operations: horizonalization, reduction, elimination, clustering, theme development, validation, and description to report the essence of participants’ experiences. Two major themes emerged through data analysis: (a) the ALC does not match introverts’ personality traits, but (b) introverts employ coping mechanisms to perform at their typical academic level. Data analysis identified four subthemes of the first major theme – the desire to observe prior to participation, pressure to perform, desire for time to think, and expenditure of energy

Adapting gamification elements to learners’ personality dimensions

Gamification, adding game elements to non-game contexts, has been shown to improve users’ motivation, engagement and satisfaction in different disciplines, including health and education. However, existing research has pointed out that users’ attributes, such as personality and mood, can influence its effectiveness. This thesis therefore proposes a model that can be used to adapt gamification elements. One stable user attribute that can be employed as the basis for such adaptation is personality. The first step in building the model is to understand how personality dimensions interact with gamification elements in the online learning environment. We ran three experimental studies, each using the same approach and different gamification elements. In each study, we measured learners’ motivation, knowledge gain and satisfaction. The results from these studies and those available in the literature were used to establish rules for building an adaptive model, which was shown to be beneficial to learners in a further study that was carried out to evaluate it. The proposed adaptive model can be used as a starting point to build a dynamic adaptive model that will ensure that users have the best experience in any gamified system

A distinctive method of online interactive learning in stem education

A breakthrough that has occurred in recent years is the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected various sectors of society, including the educational sector. It has prevented students from performing group-oriented hands-on activities and has eventually transformed their active learning environment in schools into virtual passive lectures at home. Therefore, to solve this impedance, we exercised several online STEM programs (five online STEM programs with repetitive cycles) for school students, including 140 students (middle and high school), 16 undergraduate (UG) secondary mentors, and 8 primary STEM professionals. Thus, the study revealed the results of a distinctive interactive online STEM teaching model that has been designed to overcome the virtual classroom’s impediments. The employed teaching model demonstrates an interactive learning environment that ensures students’ engagement, retention, and participation, driving them to STEM innovations. Various digital tools, including PowerPoint presentations, videos, online simulations, interactive quizzes, and innovative games were used as teaching aids. Both the synchronous and asynchronous means in a student-centered approach, along with the feedback mechanism, were implemented. Finally, the employed method’s effectiveness was revealed by the maximum student retention and STEM innovation rates, along with the model’s potentiality towards its replicability and sustainability. Thus, the outlook of such initiatives could further be broadened by its sustainability and replicability aspect towards vulnerable student communities such as academically introverted and specially challenged students

Ludic Pedagogy: Taking a serious look at fun in the COVID-19 classroom and beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected deep reflection in higher education classrooms: how do we attract and retain students to (temporary but nevertheless increasing) online learning experiences, how do we keep them at our universities and colleges, and how do we give students a learning experience from which they will remember meaningful information? In this paper, we introduce a new pedagogical framework that we call Ludic Pedagogy. We address the four elements of this model: fun, positivity, play, and playfulness. Each of the elements is described in turn, together with literature outlining how each contributes to a positive classroom environment that helps students engage with and learn course content. Examples of how the authors have used this pedagogical model are included and described. We suggest that instructors consider using the Ludic Pedagogy model so as to improve engagement, learning outcomes, and retention in their classes and broader university/college contexts

Role-playing Game Based Learning, EFL Curriculum

The following is a proposed curriculum design for an intensive English theme-based immersion program designed for use in Korean post-secondary education. It is designed to address three deficits within the EFL classroom; lack of significant increase in English ability, self-efficacy and motivation to study English. This curriculum has a foundation in five main parts; Korean culture and social identity; Types of possible second language acquisition programs, Collaborative and Task Based learning; Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory; and Gamification and Role Playing Game Based Learning. First I will discuss relevant literature, second I will present a proposed approach to learning based on the theories discussed in part I. Next I will present a curriculum based on the learning approach described in part II. In part III, I will demonstrate a sample curriculum for a proposed camp that addresses the three deficits listed above

Gamification in education: effects and implications of gamified learning approaches in education

Gamification is a concept referring to information systems that utilize typical game-like features in a non-gaming context. This type of system design is increasingly used in several domains of application, for example, in healthcare, business, and education, as it has been shown to have a huge potential in influencing human behaviour. Gamification has gained much attention during the past two decades in the field of information systems science due to the rapid development of technology and the amount of research on this topic is tremendous. In education, gamification has proven itself to be a powerful tool in effectively influencing the learning behaviour and motivation of students. Although several pieces of research have reported beneficial outcomes of gamified learning, contradicting stances on its usefulness have been taken. The most reported positive effects appear to be increased motivation, improved learning outcomes and better attitudes towards learning. However, many researchers have also pointed out that gamified learning may not be suitable for all learners, which is why negative effects like lowered motivation, anxiety and loss of performance have also been reported. As gamification in education is a relatively young area of research, the theoretical background of its uses and the empirical findings are broadly spread. This literature review examines the effects and implications of gamified learning in higher education with the aim of providing a critical point of view to its uses. Positive and negative effects are discussed as well as different factors that influence the effectiveness of gamified learning. In addition, gamification is also examined carefully from the modern-day perspective, including points of consideration such as ethical issues and the current state of technological development