Gamificacion in education and active methodologies at Higher education

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in applying Gamification in Education, which can be defined as the application of game design elements to learning activities. Its purpose is to motivate students by creating an engaging learning experience that can keep students focused on the learning task and its application in the classroom, is still in its emergent stages. Gamification is a great challenge for education, particularly in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in such a traditional context, as is the case with courses like Management and Administration Business, Finance and Accounting, Marketing and Market Research, Chemistry, Accounting and Administration and Business Communication. This paper presents a study, applied in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years, in which the teaching method focuses on a blended learning approach, through the implementation of a flipped classroom model and also through the introduction of online gamification activities such Kahoot! application. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology that can easily be used for initial, formative and summative assessment of students’ knowledge using individual or collaborative team work mode, adding vitality, student engagement, and also meta-cognitive supports to higher education classrooms with limited instructor or student training required. The participants, in the study, were about 3 000 students of 17 different subjects from the aforementioned courses, of the Malaga University and Polytechnic of Porto. The results of this study suggest that this model improves student learning and are of relevance to researchers, educators and game-based learning designers.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Gamification in IT Service Management: A Systematic Mapping Study

Despite the benefits of adopting IT Service Management (ITSM) reference models, such initiatives do not always produce the expected results. The research literature in this area concludes that motivation, engagement, skills, experience, performance and willingness to change of the personnel involved are among the critical factors for an effective ITSM implementation. Gamification has the capability to improve people's motivation and engagement and to drive people's behavior to meet the objectives set. Besides, gamification is widely used in learning systems for increasing students' skills and competences. In the last years, many researchers have added gamification to their process improvement initiatives to increase the motivation and engagement of process participants and to address their behavior throughout the process. Thus, we consider that adopting gamification in ITSM processes can be an interesting area of study. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to analyze the actual state of research in the field of ITSM gamification and identify the key challenges that justify future research. The results of our study highlight the positive impact of adopting gamification in ITSM processes and that ITSM gamification is a novel an attractive research area with many action possibilities

Desbloquear a forma como as empresas estão aplicando gamificação ao longo do ciclo de vida inovação

This thesis complements an emergent body of literature on gamification of innovation by exploring how gamification, i.e. the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts, can support the management of the complex, messy and unclear Early Stage of Innovation Process (ESoIP), and therefore help firms to drive innovation forward. Thus, the goal of this thesis is threefold: Firstly to conceptualize gamification approaches to the early stage of innovation; secondly to examine by empirical research studies how the ESoIP can be supported by gamification approaches and thirdly to explore the way gamification approaches support and enhance design thinking. In fact, this thesis argues that gamification can contribute to improving the management of firms’ ESoIP by complementing design thinking practices. Since the potential value of design thinking is sometimes overhyped among academics and practitioners it is fundamental to acknowledge its main obstacles and discuss better ways to overcome the difficulties of managing the ESoIP, such the unpredictable and unstructured nature of activities and the need for more coordination and alignment of teams. Given the explorative type of goals and the need to achieve a deeper understanding of the linkages between gamification and the ESoIP, the thesis follows a qualitative research approach. Findings show that gamification approaches encourage the involvement and engagement of teams in the innovation process, improving aspects like team spirit, dialogue and consensus building, creative experience sharing, goals setting, coordination of activities and concept development as well as the overall management of the ESoIP. Finally, it also suggests that gamification complements and enhances design thinking practices by making people more engaged and delivering a more structured approach to the ESoIP.Esta tese complementa uma linha de investigação emergente na área da gamificação da inovação, explorando como é que a gamificação (utilização de elementos de jogos em contextos não lúdicos) pode apoiar a gestão da fase inicial do processo de inovação, que é mais complexa, confusa e obscura e desta forma ajudar as empresas a inovar. Os principais objetivos desta tese são em primeiro lugar conceptualizar a utilização da gamificação na fase inicial do processo de inovação, em segundo lugar investigar através de estudos empíricos como é que o processo de inovação pode ser melhorado através desta abordagem e em terceiro lugar explorar de que forma é que a gamificação pode apoiar e melhorar o design thinking. Isto porque esta tese defende que a gamificação pode contribuir para melhorar a gestão da fase inicial do processo de inovação, complementando as práticas de design thinking. Como o valor potencial do design thinking está por vezes sobreavaliado entre académicos e gestores, é fundamental reconhecer os seus principais obstáculos e discutir melhor as maneiras de ultrapassar as dificuldades de gestão da inovação, tais como a natureza das atividades pouco estruturadas e não previstas e a necessidade de maior coordenação e alinhamento das equipas. Dado o caráter exploratório dos objetivos e a necessidade de se chegar a um melhor conhecimento das ligações entre a gamificação e a fase inicial do processo de inovação, esta tese segue uma abordagem qualitativa. Os resultados mostram que a gamificação promove o envolvimento das equipas no processo de inovação, melhorando aspetos como o espírito de equipa, diálogo e consenso, partilha de experiência de forma mais criativa, definição de objetivos, coordenação de atividades, desenvolvimento de conceitos e, de uma forma geral, toda a gestão da fase inicial deste processo. Finalmente, esta tese também sugere que a gamificação complementa e melhora as práticas de design thinking aumentando o envolvimento das pessoas e proporcionando uma abordagem mais estruturada do processo de inovação.Programa Doutoral em Marketing e Estratégi

Gamification in education and active methodologies at higher education

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in applying Gamification in Education, which can be defined as the application of game design elements to learning activities. Its purpose is to motivate students by creating an engaging learning experience that can keep students focused on the learning task and its application in the classroom, is still in its emergent stages. Gamification is a great challenge for education, particularly in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in such a traditional context, as is the case with courses like Management and Administration Business, Finance and Accounting, Marketing and Market Research, Chemistry, Accounting and Administration and Business Communication. This paper presents a study, applied in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years, in which the teaching method focuses on a blended learning approach, through the implementation of a flipped classroom model and also through the introduction of online gamification activities such Kahoot! application. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology that can easily be used for initial, formative and summative assessment of students’ knowledge using individual or collaborative team work mode, adding vitality, student engagement, and also meta-cognitive supports to higher education classrooms with limited instructor or student training required. The participants, in the study, were about 3 000 students of 17 different subjects from the aforementioned courses, of the Malaga University and Polytechnic of Porto. The results of this study suggest that this model improves student learning and are of relevance to researchers, educators and game-based learning designers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Can Moodle be used for structural gamification?

The use of the information technologies is nowadays more and more common in the learning-teaching process. As a consequence, the research on instructional design has been reactivated paying special attention to its adaptation to this new digital world. Task based instruction has proved to be effective for customized systems and student-centred learning. In these models, the motivation and the active role of students are definitely the key. In fact, this is one of the main challenges in education and, in particular, in online education. Precisely, motivation, progressiveness and instant feedback are the pillars of gamification. This fact makes gamification a promising research line in education. Gamification can be approached in two different ways: structural and content gamification. Besides, we have access to the appropriate technology that can make these pedagogical theories come true, creating real technological learning environments. Despite being conscious of the inconveniences they still have, teaching platforms are widely used in the educational world nowadays. In this paper, Moodle has been analysed in order to study its suitability to implement structurally gamified teaching proposals. It has been identified what can be done with the existing tools and what new functionalities could be added for a successful approach to gamification, taking into account that the main aim is to maximize learning

Reducing and removing barriers to spatial audio : applications of capital as a critical framework to promote inclusion in spatial audio : a thesis submitted to Massey University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Music at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

The research within this thesis aims to address the question of whether barriers of capital to the field of spatial audio can be reduced or removed. Spatial audio is the musical utilization of space, where spatialization is the salient feature of the musical work. As a field, it primarily exists within academic and art institutions. Because of this, there are numerous barriers that prohibit people from engaging with the field. These barriers include significant technical requirements, the need for education, the expense of large spatial audio systems, amongst others. These barriers mean that those who are excluded have little to no pathway to engage with the field. This thesis explores the barriers in spatial audio through the lens of capital. Viewed as one’s level of resource, a lack of economic, social, symbolic, cultural, and physical capital can exclude many from engaging with spatial audio. The research within this thesis identifies barriers of capital that exist within the field through qualitative and quantitative survey analysis as well as literature review. The identified barriers are then addressed through practice-led and practice-based research with the creation of new spatial audio works and compositional strategies, alongside user surveys to ascertain the efficacy of the research

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

Gamification of research methods: an exploratory case

This work investigates the benefits of gamification in the taught research methods unit within the Business Management course. It utilises an exploratory design where the team attempted to use a gamified approach to teaching research methods. Two consecutive cohorts were chosen; both cohorts were studying research methods and had the same assessment, in the same format, and were taught and marked by the same teaching team. The first cohort studied the subject without any attempts in gamifying delivery, the second cohort engaged with a gamified curriculum. The latter cohort exhibited stronger final results and a higher level of engagement thus suggesting that a gamified approach to curriculum delivery enhanced the grade results. This first pilot then led to the development of a bespoke software that is imbued with the philosophical streaks from educational pedagogy and the learning literature to support a gamified approach to education