Project G10N Top Secret Protocol

Project G10N

Gamification Project Sheet

Top Secret Protocol

Overall Mission

To provide a list of possible gamification (g10n) mechanics for one of these course scenarios:

  • U.S. History
  • Pedagogy
  • Weather Forecasting
  • Choose your own scenario!

The sections below will include information that will help your team make decisions.

You don’t have to use every element, but your course design should try to include at least two elements.

Gamification Elements

  • Badges
  • Missions/Quests
  • Levels
  • Leaderboards & Non-Academic Rewards
  • Gaming “Candy”


Professor P has a top secret mission for you!

Mission Element: Badges

Definition

Badges are awarded to recognize certain achievements. Badges can be posted in a gamer (student’s) profile or within a leader board. Badges can also be tied to points which can be used to increase a player’s score

Typical Game Badge Types

  • Achievement/Merit – Awarded for mastering a task
  • Pass quiz with minimum score
  • Voted best blog
  • ….
  • Experience – Awarded for completing a task, but does not indicate how well it was done. Can increase motivation for students who want to achieve some level of recognition, but can also be seen as an empty reward. Can come withXP (experience points).
  • Submit Assignment 1
  • Extra credit blog entry
  • ….
  • Fail (“Oops!”) Badge – “Awarded” for failing at a task. When used humorously, it can lessen anxiety, but remind students about what NOT to do. Should be used with some caution.
  • Typo Badge
  • Sleeping & Drooling Badge
  • ….
  • Trading Badges – In some games, badges are handed out and student trade for additional badges. This could be a way to increase student interaction.
  • Team Badges – Can only be earned in teams.
  • Skill Badges – Tied to certain key skills/topics within your course. This can help students understand the context of what they are learning.
  • Common vs. Rare – Rare badges are generally worth more points and represent badges which are harder to acquire.

Mission Element: Quests/Mission/Challenges

Definition

A mission, quest or challenge is a task that a student must complete to advance in the course. Unlike traditional assignments, a “mission” may add a narrative, graphic or humorous element to increase a sense of “adventure.”
Note: Most assignments can be framed as missions.

In a gamification scenario, completing quests are often linked to earning badges in addition to academic credit.

Advanced “Mega Mission”

You can choose to make your entire course a long mission with multiple subquests or milestones.

Example:A microeconomics course built as a mission to build a planetary economy post space ship crash.

Traditional Games

FYI – Traditional gaming activities can be missions within a course, or a complex game can form the basis of a course-long mission.

Mission Element: Levels

Definition

In games, a player progresses through levels gaining more skills and experiences with missions. As each level is completed, a player earns extra status (and often points and badges). In addition, going to the next level implies slightly increased difficulty and often “unlocking” a new tool or option.

What can be Unlocked?

  • Additional lessons?
  • Additional content
  • Additional skills
  • Additional assignments/missions
  • A new equation or technique? –can these be treated as rewards instead of additional work?
  • Additional badge options?

Scaffolding vs. Change in Mission

Ideally, each level should be slightly more difficult than the previous level and build on skills learned in previous levels.

On the other hand, some courses are built around topics so a change in level may be a change in topic or “location” in the game.

Advancing the Overall Mission

In some games, each level corresponds to a task within a larger mission. Can this be replicated in a course?

Level / Title / Abilities
♟ (1) / Junior Agent / Complete g10n missions
♟♟ (2) / Senior Agent / Complete g10n advanced missions
♟♟♟ (3) / Mission Commander / Create basic g10n missions
☗ (4) / HQ Mission Coordinator / Create all g10n mission types

Mission Element: Leaderboard and Rewards

Definition of Leaderboard

A leaderboard is a list of high scorers. For low stakes activities, many students enjoy leaderboards as a way to measure achievement and to compete with other students.

Note: We do NOT recommend posting grades on a leader board. That would be a violation of Penn State policy.

Examples Leaderboards

Leaderboards could be used to post:

  • Scores of in-class games
  • Badges earned (plus game points)

Point Scales

Points can be posted in terms of

  • Points
  • Virtual money earned
  • Miles travelled
  • ….

Low Stakes Rewards

Can badges/points/position on a leader board be tied to a meaningful reward?

  • Extra credit?
  • Extra time to submit a final project?
  • First choice of presentation slot?
  • Candy?

Mission Element: Gaming Candy

A successful game may not need every element listed below, but 1-2 can add interest to the activity.

Gaming Avatars

  • Can students use gaming avatars/game names
    (tied to PSU Userid)?
  • Team names?
  • Can instructors be “avatarized”?
Avatar Generators

Intriguing Consequences for Failure

  • Death from dysentery (Oregon Trail Game)
  • A machine explodes
  • Angry customers

Quirky Metaphors, Narratives

Graphics, Audio, etc

  • Can you use a YouTube video to introduce the mission?
  • Can you borrow graphic, music legally?

Presented at Game Day 2012 by Elizabeth J. Pyatt© The Pennsylvania State University