There are a lot of things we can take away from school. And while there are lots of important things that will help us throughout our further education and our life, there’s a negative take away – the fear of failure.
You know how it goes. The dog ate your homework, you made a mistake in your report, you don’t know the answer to the teacher’s question – it all leads to you being ridiculed or publicly shamed. Your teacher cracks a joke or two about your learning capabilities. That leads to you earning a nickname, which is sure to haunt you till the graduation day. While some cheap paper writing services can save your day, the eye of the problem stays the same for generations.
Yes, shaming is a tool used by too many teachers to boost your desire to learn to this day. And while some people manage to shake off that haunting fear of failure, some carry it on their backs throughout college or university and well throughout their life.
The fear of failure makes you feel miserable and often prevents you from embracing studying. And while a lack of skills at writing essays can be easily solved by hiring a professional essay writer from EssayPro, you cannot hire a body-double to participate in classes instead of you.
You prefer your college professors to leave you alone. Regardless of your level of preparation, you’re extremely nervous before the exam. All because you’re afraid of failing and being ridiculed. But, education mustn’t be a nightmare. And it can be easily achieved by gamification – a developing approach for increasing students’ motivation by incorporating gaming elements in an education environment.
Turns out a less serious and more playful approach can easily help students comprehend even the most difficult subjects. And applying gamification for college students can bring the same results.
Gamification Lessens the Fear of Failure
To be fair, failure is an inseparable part of education, but it shouldn’t be a source of embarrassment or shame. When you fail at a video game, you don’t stop playing it, even though the screen states “Game Over”. A playful approach leaves out the fear of the possibility of failure.
The removal of embarrassment makes students try again and again, despite the failed attempt. And it is obvious that studying according to Samuel Beckett’s quote “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” brings better results. The lesser the fear of failure is the stronger the student’s desire for learning.
It Makes Learning Visible
The classic type of education goes this way: you’re learning throughout the semester, and then you pass the test or an exam that shows how well you know the subject. To be honest, it doesn’t show what progress you’ve made throughout the semester and what should be fixed. Making the progress visible is one of the integral parts of gamification.
Students must have excess to their learning ‘road map’, see the progress bar and points earned. The implementation of personalized goal-sets also makes learning more exciting for students. And turning it online allows students to access how far they’ve progressed at any given moment without waiting for the exam.
Students Are Already Familiar With the Concept
Most of the kids grew up on video games, and the same approach to learning is way too familiar to them. And it makes them more open to learning, rather than to the classic education systems, which may even seem obscure to them. Even college students who didn’t use gamification at school will find it pally thanks to video games.
As a result, even those who had problems at school would fare better at college. And it’s way easier for professors to handle their classes, as once students get into a familiar set of rules, they can study independently.
Causes Learning Addiction (And It’s a Good Thing)
Video games addiction pops up here and there from time to time. Video games aficionados spend hours and hours to excel in games. Applying the same rules for studying can boost motivation even in those who rarely bother to pick up a pen in the class.
Game players are interested in achievements and mastery demonstration over the challenges in the game. Turning education into a game will make more students interested in excel. And they would crave more knowledge.
Gamification Increases Cognitive Development
For quite a while gamers were portrayed in fiction as recluses that have little to no interest in the outside world but knew everything about games. Besides, being a pro in one game can help you navigate other games easier. While gaming improves players’ in-game cognitive abilities, gamification enhances students’ general cognitive development.
In particular, according to the 2013 study conducted by Blumberg and Fisch, video games improve spatial awareness, enhance attention allocation and mental rotation abilities. Thus, the implementation of gamification in college can have the same effect on students.
Engagement Boost
Generally, education is considered something uninteresting, which turns students away. It takes time for them to realize that the information they were given at college is actually useful. The main problem is that the conventional methods of studying are boring and often ridiculed in fiction and on social media.
But gamification makes learning fun. It’s something that motivates students and makes them more engaged in the learning process. They start seeing it as the more they learn the more fun they are going to have. And while they may not even consider it as gaining a deeper understanding of their subject, they increase their knowledge with every completed challenge.
Easy to Implement
Previously, engaging students in studies was a tiresome process that required professors to go with students to special events, museums, galleries, etc. Nowadays, when you can access almost anything with just a strong Wi-Fi connection and several clicks, implementing something new is ain’t a tough task anymore. Moreover, they can google and easily find how to implement gamification, as well as useful sources for it online.
Rajani Baburajan
