For over a year I've been toying with the idea of adding more gamification elements to my science 8 classes. I took the plunge this year thanks to encouragement from DianaLyn (@PerkyScience), Michele Haiken (@TeachingFactor), Dan Curcio (@dandanscience) and Michael Matera (@mrmatera). Not sure they all realize their impact on my decision but thanks go out to them! There are also all those others too numerous to mention that are part of the GBL and gamification tribe. Most of those positive, hard-working, and fun-loving educators can be found at the Games in Education Symposium year after year.
Over the summer I read both Gamify Literacy by Michele Haiken and Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera in preparation for gamifying my class. At the end of the previous year I tried out ClassCraft with my high school physics students to get an idea of game mechanics and increase my comfort level going into this year. I also used Google Scholar to look at a few studies about gamification in the classroom.
Initially my biggest decision was picking a theme and whether to use ClassCraft to aid in gamification. I liked the system employed by ClassCraft and was leaning toward a fantasy theme anyways so using it was an easy choice. (All those years of playing Dungeons and Dragons might finally pay off professionally.) Using ClassCraft I could also still make my own items, badges, and side-quests. After picking a theme I started a Google Doc where I wrote down all my ideas generated from brain storming. Everything from items to badge ideas and possible ways to award XP. The process helped me visualize the game and also start coming up with a common language we might use in class.
Implementation has been uneven. I knew things were going to be challenging when new students kept arriving to school. And kept arriving. And kept arriving. Six new students over the last month. Getting teams together and everyone on-boarded is a work in progress. I currently have two students that have not made characters in ClassCraft. Period 6 (my class of 30) just got into teams this past week. My 2nd period class has been playing since the second week of school!
I also have not been very successful bringing the game world into class. My intent was to have class activities themed around the battle against the goblin horde. I have not found the time to rework lessons to embed the fantasy theme. Instead, I've been pulling out the same lessons as last year. The game is there but currently it is only a behavior management system (which is ClassCraft's main intended use anyhow).
Even with those drawbacks the gamification has been a success so far. Many look forward to the random event of the day. I love using the random student chooser in the ClassCraft system. I used to use a deck of index cards with student names. Students don't ask to leave class as often since they know they'll lose HP as a result. Students also enjoyed the one boss battle we had to review for a quiz. Students also seem to accept "Sentences" (the consequences for 0 HP in ClassCraft) more from the game than me. Guess it somehow seems more fair to them. I'm not the one giving the detention: The game is! In this situation a student was sentenced to a detention (it is randomly chosen from a list of sentences). The student agreed and did come after school to serve it. That whole situation still has me flabbergasted.
Next steps include bringing the theme into class more with inclusion of themed activities. To keep the game going all school year I plan on introducing badges first and then items. Additional badges and items will be rolled out as I become comfortable with their use and the game mechanics associated with them. I will be making videos to introduce Quests on ClassCraft but also other side-quests. One will be a catapult design challenge!
