The Gamification Process Continues

In order to create functional leaderboards, I needed to do some research into Google Sheets. I had used spreadsheets before, but the most complex thing I ever did with them was to sort them A to Z. I needed a spreadsheet where I could keep up with experience points, gold, badges, levels, etc. I also wanted to allow students to see their progress without showing everyone else's. And I needed to be able to have team leaderboards.

First, I learned how to insert images into Google Sheets. This allowed me to insert student avatars and badges into a sheet. Then, I created sheets for each student. I learned how to pull only that student's information from my master sheet to populate the cells of their individual sheet. This way, each student can see his / her progress.

While searching for websites to tell me how to do these things, I ran across the Google for Education Training Center. I looked through the lessons, and realized that I already knew how to do the things for the Level 1 Certification. I went ahead and registered for the exam, and spent 2-1/2 hours doing it Sunday evening (you have three hours to complete it). A few minutes later, I found out that I passed! Now I get to display the following:

That's what I get for consistently using Google Apps for Education in my classes! They do make things easier. I would like to take a look at the requirements for the Level 2 exam and the Trainer exam, but that will have to wait until I'm a little less busy (probably after I submit my National Board stuff).

Advanced Ceramics Gamification Day One

I got a later start than anticipated due to snow days. Our first day back had a delayed start, so my class was only 55 minutes long instead of the normal 90 minutes. I knew we wouldn't get as far as I had planned, but I didn't want to waste any time. As the students entered, I handed them a one question survey.

I need to collect data to prove that what I am doing is increasing student engagement. I used parent surveys (several parents said their students aren't motivated) and classroom observations, but I also wanted to see how my students felt.

I gave them one question. What is your motivation level in my class? They had three options. Option one was 'Compliant - I learn because I have to - I'm not really interested but I'm doing what I'm told.' Option two was 'Engaged - I learn because I'm interested in what we are doing.' The third option was 'Empowered - I learn because I want to and the learning is meaningful - I see value in what we are doing and how it relates to my life.'

When I evaluated the students based on classroom observation, I scored 9 students as compliant, 4 as engaged, and 2 as empowered.

When the students evaluated themselves, 4 students said they were compliant, 10 said they were engaged, and 1 said she was empowered.

Clearly, there is room for improvement.

Once the students turned in their answer, I moved them to their new groups. I did my best to arrange them with a balance of Ceramics II/III at each table, a balance of skill level, a balance of ethnicities, and a balance of motivation level. We began the journey.

Everything went pretty well. By the end of class, the students had chosen mythical animals and team names. We did not make it to the website, but I am okay with that. All of the students were actively engaged, and they were also communicating with each other - something that I was very pleased to see, since I broke up most of the groups that had been sitting together all year. They seemed to enjoy doing something different. I can't wait until Monday when we will (hopefully) get to the website.

A section of my spreadsheet at this time:

Preparation for Gamification

In order to start our epic journey, I needed a new Google Classroom class and a website. I set up the following to post at the beginning of class:

The code takes them to a class titled "The Kingdom of Lorniath." There, they see this:

It's Dangerous Out There refers to a safety quiz. They must make a 100 to progress (and earn 50 XP). Then they see this:

Learn the Language refers to a ceramics vocabulary Kahoot! that we will play in class. The team with the highest average score earns 25 XP each, second place gets 20, and third place gets 15.

Next, each team chooses a name and a mythical animal. Once done, they post this information to the assignment in Google Classroom, and they earn 40 XP. This ensures that every team member will have at least 100 XP and make it to Level 1.

Once finished, the students dream of their last project, and write a reflection on it. This is the last loose end before we move on in our course content. As they finish, they will uncover a link to the Kingdom of Lorniath website.

The website features a map with three main areas - the library (ceramics history, artists, criticism, etc.), the pottery (construction), and the surface finishing area (decorating / finishing techniques). All but one of the links say that "This quest is not yet unlocked." This is because I am still adding them, and because I want them all to do the same project to start.  There is also a page with quest requirements (research / sketches / planning, creating, evaluating) and guidelines (red quests are required, some quests are moddable). Last, I included a page labeled 'Goals' that had all of the state standards for the course listed.

Students who go to the pottery find out that the mysterious potter woman is almost out of magic clay. She has just enough for the students to make whistles to call for more magic clay. My students struggle with control, precision, and craftsmanship. A whistle is a good, quick project to help them with these skills.

The quest is listed in red, which means it is required. It is also moddable, which means that students may substitute an equivalent project as long as it meets the required skills and the state standards listed on the quest page.

There is also a hidden area - students who notice it will find the side quest page. This is a page of things that students can do to earn extra XP (but not points on their grade). Side quests include creating a quest, creating a poster to teach something, making test tiles, etc.

Once the Google Sites website was done, I created spreadsheets to keep up with badges and XP. I created badges for some of the quests and sidequests, and levels 1-15. I also created badges for each state standard, so the students could see tangible evidence of what they are learning to earn credit for the course. I made individual spreadsheets for each student and each team that will pull data from my master spreadsheet. These will be shared with the students once we begin.

Next:  how day one went.

Reset - Gamification to Improve Engagement

It's been a while. I am resurrecting this to help focus myself, and keep my thoughts straight.

There have been lots of changes at my high school over the past couple of years. We have a completely new administration. There are more demands on my time. My classes are much larger, and the curriculum has changed.

We are back on an alternating block schedule after a year or two on straight block. We have four periods A day and four periods B day. My schedule looks like this:

A day:
1 - Planning
2 - Ceramics I
3 - Ceramics I
4 - Ceramics II & III

B day:
1 - Planning
2 - Video Game Design I
3 - Video Game Design I
4 - Video Game Design II & III

I won a scholarship the first day back to school to do the National Board Certification process. I am going to recommend that they draw for this at the end of the school year instead of the beginning, because having the summer to plan would have been helpful. While I have read all of my standards and components, I haven't DONE much yet, and it's already halfway through January. Another teacher and I took last Friday off, and Thursday evening headed three and a half hours north to her parents' timeshare to work on our NB stuff.

Two of the things you need to address for Component 4 are a student need and a professional development need. For my student need, I chose that students try to do the minimum amount of work to get by - they are unmotivated and afraid to take risks. For my professional need, I chose to learn how to fix this.

I had been stumped when trying to choose a student need. Then, as I was looking at articles on game design for my Video Game Design students, I ran across an article on gamification in education.

I had attempted gamification once before. I had a class, Comic Art, that was what teachers refer to as a 'dumping ground.' Only a few students signed up for the course, so the rest of the students were students who either didn't want to be there, or who did not fill out a schedule (and also didn't want to be there). These students were also afraid to try to draw, because they had no art experience. I attempted to use Classcraft to help engage the kids. It simply became another tool for disruption. I did not understand how to properly use gamification to engage my students, and Classcraft was not a match for my needs.

Most of my students this year were ones who actually wanted to take my courses, so that isn't a problem. I still have several students, a few in each class, who are unmotivated and content to take an F. I have tried several solutions (begging, choice based learning, proximity seating, etc.) but these haven't worked. When I ran across the gamification article, the lightbulb went off. This could work as my student need for Component 4, and it will help me get my students engaged (hopefully).

I am going to try this with my Advanced Ceramics class. This is a mix of Ceramics II and III. This class is where the lack of motivation is most obvious. Also, the majority of these students have not tried anything new this semester, unless directly assigned by me. Their projects are a mix of assignments that I give (create an artwork that will hang, made of multiple pieces) and projects they do on their own (a jewelry box, a bathroom set - soap dish, toothbrush holder, whatever they choose).

I started by re-reading Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera. I also read Gamify Your Classroom by Dr. Matthew Farber. I joined several professional development communities, including the #XPLAP, #TLAP, #games4ed, #GBL, and #gamification Twitter chats, and the GAMIFICATION and Gamification for Education groups on Facebook. I brainstormed with the other art teachers in my system before implementation, and I plan to use all of these communities when I hit difficulties.

One of the things I will need to do is show evidence of meeting the student need. I know many of my students are unmotivated in my classroom. I think all of them could be more engaged. The problem is how to show evidence (assuming they improve). So far, I plan to compare before and after using four data points:  number of projects completed within a set time, complexity of projects completed, student survey, and classroom observation.

Next post:  the plan.