Enhancing education and training through data-driven adaptable games in flipped classrooms

The Flipped Classroom (FC) is a set of pedagogical approaches that move the information transmission out of class and exploit class time for active and/or peer learning activities. In this context, students are required to engage with pre- and/or post-class activities in order to prepare themselves for class work. The FC instruction method has already been used in conjunction with other learning strategies. This theoretical paper presents the first developmental steps of a research project, which aims at building the FC through a fully bespoke and personalized experience, by using data-driven adaptable games and problem-based learning elements to improve the learning experience. The project will develop a gaming platform that will support the whole FC in a cyclical perspective, and aims to use the resources of gamification in a more significant manner that could go beyond score tracking and badges. Moreover, the problem-based learning approach will be used to better frame the learning activities included in FCs, while learning analytics features will provide adaptable learning pathways. The potential of this approach is to build a better FC experience for all the stakeholders. Students will be given more agency to calibrate their learning experience, while educators can monitor the students’ progress more effectively and adjust their learning activities accordingly. Finally, researchers will get better insight into the FC learning process, and the mechanics, which contribute to optimize the learning experience

Collaborative Game Design for Learning: The Challenges of Adaptive Game-Based Learning for the Flipped Classroom

In recent years, game-based learning and gamification have increasingly been used within flipped classroom approaches. Many research showed that both approaches were efficient in conjunction in an active learning perspective. However, we observe that few games have been designed with use in the flipped classroom in mind, and there is therefore potential to improve the flipped classroom experience by approaching the development and integration of games with a more holistic and adaptive experience in mind. For that purpose, a focus group of educators was assembled for a pilot project and their educational practices, objectives and gaming experience analyzed. Following this investigation, co-constructed game design choices were made to try and develop a game that could support a variety of subjects and learning experience in the FC. Although the focus group answers showed that a fully adaptive gaming experience needed, for reasons of flexibility, to lean towards a gamified platform, the final design solution can have the potential to support fully the flipped classroom experience for any subject or class desired