Gamification in a Biology Course

In this episode, we turn to community college for a discussion of how gamification can create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. Dr. Sascha McKeon is a biology instructor and faculty at Blue Mountain Community College. Leonne talks with Sascha about how she successfully gamified her biology for non-majors course by creating four different paths to completion based on the four “houses” in the Harry Potter book series. Sascha explains how and why she got started in gamification, how she has implemented it, and its effects on her students. In her examples, gamification dovetails with differentiation and Universal Design for Learning strategies by giving students abundant choice in how they complete the course. In this way, different learning styles are valued, opening the door to increased student ownership, relevance, self-awareness, and self-empowerment. A devout researcher, Sacha has carefully measured and assessed her gamified course to evaluate both student success and course rigor. By using LMS analytics, Sascha found the amount of time students invested in the biology course (doing science!) tripled when compared with previous iterations of the course. For those new to gamification, Sascha recommends starting small and looking for ways to increase student choice.

 

Resources:

Contact Dr. Sascha Mckeon smckeon@bluecc.edu 

NW eLearn

Gamification of education and learning: A review of empirical literature

The Gamification of learning: A meta-analysis 

Game On! Gamification, Gameful Design and the Rise of the Gamer Educator - Kevin Bell

Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World - Jane McGonigal