SOUTHERN LEYTE STATE UNIVERSITY – TOMAS OPPUS

San Isidro, Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte

Self-Paced Learning Plan

Course : Teaching Science in the Elementary Grades (Physics, Earth and

Space Science)
Title of the Topic : Lesson 6: Gamification
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Discuss teaching and learning through Gamification;

2. Explain how to use gamification as a teaching strategy; and
3. Develop a sample lesson plan using gamification as strategy.

Content of the Lesson:

Introduction

What is Gamification?
Gamification is described as the process of applying game-related principles-particularly
those relating to user experience and engagement-to nongame contexts such as education
(David, 2016). It has five basic elements: points, badges, leaderboards, rules, and levels. A
gamified classroom uses any or all of these five elements.

Gamification in Education

Gamification in education, or gamification in learning, operates under the assumption that

the kind of engagement that h=gamers experience with games can be translated to an
educational context toward the goals of facilitating learning and influencing the student
behavior. Since gamers voluntarily spend countless hours playing games and problem-solving,
researchers and educators have been exploring ways to harness video games’ power for
motivation and apply it to the classroom (David, 2016).
Elements of a Game

The goal of gamification is to motivate the learners by incorporating several game

elements in designing instruction:
 Narrative
 Immediate feedback
 Fun
 “Scaffolded learning” with challenges that increase
 Mastery (for example, in the form of leveling up)
 Progress indicators (for example, through points/badges/leaderboards, also called PBLs)
 Social connection
 Player control
 Rules and levels
A classroom that contains some or all of these elements can be considered a “gamified”
classroom. Some educators use the five basic elements, namely points, badges, leaderboards,
rules, and levels (Tolentino & Roleda, 2016). The best combinations, the ones that create
sustained engagement, consider the unique needs of the learners and do more than just use
points and levels to motivate players. The most effective gamification systems make use of other
elements such as narrative and connection with fellow players/learners to really capture the
learner’s interest (David, 2016).
Benefits of Gamification in Education
Gamification in education offers many possible benefits, including the following (David, 2016):

 The students feel ownership over their learning

 More fun in the classroom
 Learning becomes visible through progress indicators
 The students can explore different identities through different avatars/characters
 The students often are more comfortable in gaming environments

How to use Gamification as a Teaching Strategy?

Before applying gamification in class, there are three important areas that we need to
look at. These areas are influenced greatly with the use of games or game-based activities (Lee &
Hammer, 2011).
1. Cognitive
Games provide complex systems of rules for the players to explore through
active experimentation and discovery. More broadly stated, games guide the players
through the mastery process and keep them engaged with potentially difficult tasks
(Koster, 2004). One critical game design technique is to deliver concrete challenges that
are perfectly tailored to the player’s skill level, increasing the difficulty as the player’s
skill expands. Specific, moderately difficult, immediate goals are motivating for the
learners (Locke, 1991; Bandura, 1986), and these are precisely the sort that the games
provide (Gee, 2008).
2. Emotional
Game invoke a range of powerful emotions, from curiosity to frustration to joy
(Lazarro, 2004). Gamification offers a way for the students to reframe failure. It gives
them opportunity to try until they learn to understand and master the lesson and the
process. It actually creates an environment in which effort, not mastery, is rewarded.
The students, in turn, can learn to see failure as an opportunity to grow and become
better, instead of becoming helpless, fearful, and anxious. The students learn to look at
failure as an important component of learning.
3. Social
Games allow players to try on new identities and roles, asking them to make in-
game decisions from their new vantage points (Squire, 2006; Gee, 2008). A well
designed gamification system can help players take on meaningful roles that are fruitful
for learning. By making the development of a new identity playful, and by regarding it
appropriately, we can help the students think differently about their potential in school
and what school might mean for them.
Meanwhile, there are three main ways that gamification can be applied to a
learning environment. These include adapting grades, changing the classroom language,
and modifying the structure of the class. The teacher may need to modify the classroom
setup and the grading system whenever games are utilized in the class.
According to Loayza (2019), there are 10 Best Educational Apps that use
gamification for adults in 2019.
1. TEDEd – gamified educational app to create actionable video lessons.
2. Khan Academy – gamified educational app to learn anything for free forever.
 3. Coursera – an online learning platform that provides universal access to the world’s
best education from top universities.
4. Udemy – gamified educational app for user-generated learning
5. Tinycards – gamified educational app for learning with flashcard
6. Blinkist gamified educational app for reading nonfiction books in just 15 minutes
7. Memrise – gamified educational app to learn a language through locals
8. SoloLearn – gamified educational app to learn how to code
9. Yousician – gamified educational app for learning and instrument
10. Duolingo – gamified educational app for learning a new language

On the other hand, it is not good enough to gamify school because it is the next fad or
because we believe the students are motivated by points. We must know what problems we are
trying to fix, design systems that fix those specific problems, develop ways of evaluating
whether those fixes work, and sustain those fixes over time.
Sample Lesson Plan

TOPIC: The Solar System

Grade Level: Grade 6
Learning Competencies
The learners should be able to:

1. Compare the planets of the solar system;

2. Construct a model of the solar system showing the relative sizes of the planets
and their relative distances from the Sun
ENGAGE

Devise a quiz show like “Wheel of Fortune” using the term “Planets in the Solar
System” as the mastery phrase. Print one letter each on cardstock and arrange the cards face
down in the sequence on a wait or board in the classroom. Divide the class into two teams
and have the students turn over cards as they guess a correct letter.
EXPLORE

Show a clip(s) from a movie, such as “Stars Wars,” “Armageddon, “Apollo 13,” select a
scene that shows space travel or objects in space. Depending on the movie, invite the
students to speculate if the scene is possible. Discuss the following: Could there be life on
other planets or moons in our solar system?
EXPLAIN

Have an interactive discussion on the major components of the solar system, including the
planets, asteroids, and comets. Show images such as NASA solar system lithographs,”
Mapping the Solar System” poster, video, transparencies, or books.
 Differentiate terrestrial from gas giant planets
 Give the characteristics of terrestrial and gas giant planets
 Give relative temperature of the planets
 Give the relative sizes of the planets compared to Earth
 Identify the composition of the planets whether gas or solid or others
 Describe the gravitational condition of each planets, compared to Earth
 Discuss some distinguishing physical feature of planets, comets, meteors, and
asteroids.
 ELABORATE

Divide the class into groups. Assign each group an object such as planet, the moon,
comets, asteroid, etc., Let the groups make models or display of the object assigned to them.
The tasks should be possible to complete with your particular set of research materials.
EVALUATE
1. The students write a persuasive essay about whether they think there is life in the
solar system or any place besides Earth.
2. The students compile questions for a space to investigate as it visits a planet(s). The
quality of the questions will reflect the understanding about the solar system.
Self-Learning Activities:

Activity 1
Answer the following guide questions. Use another sheet for the lesson plan.

1. How effective gamification is in motivating students in class?

2. What are the limitations of this strategy?

3. Given the learning competencies below., develop a sample lesson plan incorporating
gamification
Topic: Water in the environment

Grade Level: Grade 4

Learning Competencies
The learners should be able to:
1. Explain the use of water from different sources in the context of daily activities;
2. Infer the importance of water in daily activities; and
3. Describe the importance of the water cycle.

ENGAGE

EXPLORE

EXPLAIN

ELABORATE

EVALUATE
 Answer Sheet

Name: ________________________________________ Course Year/Level:_______________ Date: _______________

Self-Learning Activities:
Activity 1
Answer the following guide questions. Use another sheet for the lesson plan.

1. How effective gamification is in motivating students in class?

2. What are the limitations of this strategy?

3. Given the learning competencies below., develop a sample lesson plan incorporating
gamification
Topic: Water in the environment

Grade Level: Grade 4

Learning Competencies

The learners should be able to:

1. Explain the use of water from different sources in the context of daily activities;
2. Infer the importance of water in daily activities; and
3. Describe the importance of the water cycle.

ENGAGE

EXPLORE

EXPLAIN

ELABORATE

Good luck and God Bless!

(Note: All answers must be on this answer sheet. Any additional sheet will be attach together with
this answer sheet. Thank you!)