Making Education More Brain-Friendly through Gamified Instruction

Abstract

Just because you can does not mean you should. Although gamified instruction is being widely adopted, there needs to be compelling research that supports gamification as an effective educational modality. Without this support, gamification is just a novelty. This chapter explores research that provides evidence to support the appropriacy of gamified learning as a modality that more closely adheres to how the human brain functions. It explores suggestions from Mind, Brain, and Education Sciences and NeuroELT to set a standard for what is good education. Using these suggestions as a basis to evaluate gamified instruction, it looks at recent studies to determine if gamified instruction is a brain-friendlier mode of instruction than traditional models.

1. Introduction

Over that last decade, gamification has gained traction as an option for modality of instruction. Prominent learning management systems have developed features to support the gamification of instruction using badges. While these options have been available, there is still slow progress towards adopting the modality as a central approach to providing education. As adopting a gamified approach takes an investment of time and creativity, this chapter seeks to explore the question of why educators should consider the shift in instructional modality. At the heart of this question of why is the issue of improving teaching and learning experiences.

What is the optimal learning modality for learning? There have been many efforts to define what is good teaching and learning. As there are many different approaches for teaching and learning, this question merits evaluation of the different modalities. In this chapter, we will draw from the research provided by Mind, Brain, and Education Sciences (MBE) and NeuroELT. Principles of “good learning” will be evaluated in the context of findings provided by research into gamified learning in regard to language education.

2. Claims made by advocates for gamified learning

In 2011, Extra Credits, a Youtube channel geared towards the gaming community, published two videos about gamification and its potential impact on education [1, 2]. The claims they made mirrored those promoted by Lee Sheldon in his book, The Multiplayer Classroom [3] and Kapps books [4, 5]. They claimed that the use of game design features, such as accumulative grading, levels, badges, do-overs, and path choices could convert the mundane process of traditional learning into a rewarding experience where students would be more motivated to engage in tasks and learning while feeling a greater sense of agency over their own education. There have been several studies since this time to investigate the correlation between gamified learning and student motivation to learn the subject through this modality. Motivation is key component of language learning which has been found to have significant correlation to proficiency attainment [6]. Most focus on extrinsic motivation provided by badges, levels, etc. [7, 8, 9] while others like Bovermann and Bastiaens looked at gamification and its ability to be an intrinsic motivator [10]. Homer, Raffaele, and Henderson [11] go further in stating that intrinsic motivators such as challenge and self-actualization are essential to gamified instruction. Worthy of note is the fact that motivation is a difficult thing to measure. It is a dynamic feature and very few studies have investigated the use of gamification in a longitudinal study. An area of concern is if all education were to be gamified, it would lose its novelty. In the vast majority of studies, the use of gamified learning and its effects on motivation are not distinguished from the boost in motivation scores that occur when encountering novel activities.

While motivation is a valuable piece to be evaluated, the other claim made by Extra Credits also merits further investigation. The claim that using a gamified modality has the ability to improve the sense of agency by the student participants is bold and valuable to explore. Bradbury et al. [12] investigated the amount of agency felt by participants and their actual achievement. They determined that subjects who had partial agency, having to complete all steps in a navigation path, had higher outcomes on their game than those that had full agency. Too often students feel that they have no control, or very limited control, over the courses they take. Hence, students talk about grades as the grade that this teacher has given instead of the grade that the student has earned. Fabrizio Poltronieri [13] presents agency as an integral part of game design. This game feature may give students various paths to choose or can be hard set for the navigation path the participant will “choose”. Regardless of how hard set the navigation path is, the participant will have a final sense of agency over the decisions made to follow their chosen path.

Research has shown that modifying the modality used in education has correlational impacts on factors such as motivation and a sense of agency. The research presented here represents positive findings on the potential impact of gamifying education to improve these two factors. These findings create the additional question of what other valuable educational factors can be impacted, for better or worse, by adopting a gamified modality? To explore this question, this chapter will explore principles of good teaching and learning as they are presented by Mind, Brain, and Education Sciences and NeuroELT research. These fields have established principles and maxims of good education, and thus, provide research driven factors to consider when determining what is “good education”.

3. Good educational principles from mind, brain, and education sciences

The first way to evaluate teaching and learning quality is by considering principles presented by Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) researchers. In her book, Mind, Brain and Education Science, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa [14] presents 21 principles that great teachers follow. These principles are grounded in research conducted in neuroscience, psychology, and pedagogy. Using a transdisciplinary approach, Tokuhama-Espinosa established these 21 principles that are supported by these three fields and give greater insight into what is brain-friendly learning. These principles are adapted from Tokuhama-Espinosa (pg. 206) and presented in Table 1. They are adapted to simplify each principle and frame them as components of good, brain-friendly education.

1	All people are unique and organized information uniquely
2	People aren’t equally good at everything
3	The brain is complex, dynamic, and changes daily
4	Learning is a constructivist process and continues through all developmental stages
5	The search for meaning is innate to humans
6	The brain maintains plasticity throughout the lifespan
7	MBE science principles apply to all ages
8	Learning is based on the ability to self-correct
9	Meaning occurs through pattern recognition
10	Brains seek novelty
11	Emotions are needed to detect patterns, make decisions, and learn
12	Challenge improves learning while threat inhibits learning
13	Focused attention and peripheral perception are involved in learning
14	Students process parts and wholes simultaneously
15	Interactions are important to process social situations
16	Feedback is essential for learning
17	Memories and attention are essential for learning
18	Memories differ in input and recall
19	Learning should be integrated with natural contexts
20	Learning is both conscious and unconscious
21	Physiology affects learning

Table 1.

Tokuhama-Espinosa’s [14] 21 principles adapted to simplify each concept as presented in Rueckert et al. [15].

Each principle presented represents an element of what MBE research promotes as good education. As Tokuhama-Espinosa proclaims in her book, these principles should serve as an agent of change to how education is offered. As research advances the understanding of how the brain works with education, it should be expected to see changes in the educational system to better adhere to those findings. This merits an exploration gamified instruction to determine its congruence with these important findings. If the gamified modality is more closely congruent with MBE principles than other options, this would strongly advocate for the mass adoption of the modality to improve instruction for all learners.

As gamification has become increasingly prominent as an educational mode of delivery, there has been a growing call for transdisciplinary research investigating the underlying brain-friendliness of the gamified classroom [16]. Rueckert et al. [15] began to address the lack of substantive inquiry into how gamification may align with underpinning claims of brain-based education by conducting a survey study on student perceptions of a gamified classroom and its congruence with 21 principles suggested by MBE research [14]. Their study looked at two university level English language classes in Ecuador. Each class was a different section of the same course and taught by the same instructor. One was gamified and one was taught as it had been traditionally. Students were given pre and post surveys to measure the extent with which they agreed that their classroom adhered to the 21 MBE principles. They were further asked open ended questions about their experience and the instructor submitted a journal of the experience. Their preliminary investigation found a significant correlation with 14 of the 21 principles for the gamified group. Further, the ratings improved for all 21 principles. This data showed promising results for improving adherence to all 21 MBE principles through gamifying instruction with 14 of those principles being significantly improved. Their study presented 14 correlations between the use of gamified instruction and adherence to the MBE principles presented. Their 14 correlations are as follows.

1. Gamified instruction tailors foreign language learning to the unique thinking of each student better than traditional instruction

2. Gamified instruction builds upon the previous knowledge of foreign language learners more than traditional instruction

3. Gamified instruction is more conducive to foreign language learners having meaningful experiences with language than traditional instruction

4. Gamified instruction more logically designs learning from easiest to hardest at a reasonable pace than traditional instruction

5. Gamified instruction makes greater use of errors as learning experiences than traditional instruction

6. Gamified instruction provided a more interesting class due to its novelty than traditional instruction

7. Gamified instruction created a better effective class for foreign language learning than traditional instruction

8. Gamified instruction provided greater connection of content to learn a foreign language than traditional instruction

9. Gamified instruction provided foreign language learners with more feedback than traditional instruction

10. Gamified instruction used greater interaction with others than traditional instruction

11. Gamified instruction made better uses of the five senses to learn foreign language than traditional instruction

12. Gamified instruction provided learning that was more natural to everyday life than traditional instruction

13. Gamified instruction made better use of indirect/unconscious learning than traditional instruction

14. Gamified instruction allowed students greater autonomy of their learning than traditional instruction

4. Good educational principles from NeuroELT

To provide further substantiation to Rueckert et. al’s study as expressed in the 14 claims above, NeuroELT, an interdisciplinary field combining Applied Linguistics and Educational Neuroscience, presents 50 maxims to consider when teaching for a brain-friendly setting. Similar to the key principles for good education as espoused by MBE research, investigations into NeuroELT provide another conceptual framework for brain-friendly learning that supports the 14 MBE tenets considered to be key features of gamified instruction by Rueckert et al [15].

4.1 What is NeuroELT?

NeuroELT is an interdisciplinary field encompassing the domains of Applied Linguistics and Educational Neuroscience that focuses on individual humans and their evolution in extracting useful information from the natural and social worlds around them [17]. This approach was extended to the classroom by describing the ability of the brain to learn by providing new measures for effective learning and teaching which Robert Murphy presented via 50 maxims, established during his FAB conference series educating instructors about the role of neuroscience in education [18].

4.2 Eight maxims for brain-friendly teaching via gamified instruction

Murphy’s 50 maxims supporting NeuroELT encompass the primary features for a brain-friendly classroom with regard to English language teaching. For the purposes of this chapter, 8 key dicta as shown in Table 2 below have been selected which underpin strong educational principles that support brain-friendly learning and are consistent with claims made by proponents of gamification.

NeuroELT maxim	Explanation of the maxim	Corresponding MBE claim (Rueckert et al.)
13. “Choices” fuel learner motivation	Autonomous choice making commonly activates neural networks that provide feelings of satisfaction. Thus, acting with autonomy is typically a naturally pleasurable experience.	14. Gamified instruction allowed students greater autonomy of their learning than traditional instruction
14. “Prediction” is a tremendously powerful tool	Humans derive pleasure from making a prediction and experiencing a corresponding outcome (as is abundantly clear when people are gambling in casinos, etc.). Thus, similarly, if learners are encouraged to make predictions of learning outcomes, the motivation to “see it through” is often quite compelling, as can be observed in the phenomenon of gambling addiction. This maxim works hand-in-hand with several of the other maxims on this list.	3. Gamified instruction is more conducive to foreign language learners having meaningful experiences with language than traditional instruction
15. “Real-time feedback” is at the core of cognitive development	The human love of the prediction-outcome dichotomy stems from the rewarding rush of dopamine received when we perceive our solutions to be correct. Thus, real time feedback satisfies and even nurtures our craving for the dopamine rushes. This	9. Gamified instruction provided foreign language learners with more feedback than traditional instruction
16. “Aha moments” enhance neural networks	Pleasurable dopamine rushes also result from successful problem solving. The neural networks involved become more efficient through myelination; the most often used networks therefore become super-enhanced for superior processing (speed and quality actually become enhanced).	3. Gamified instruction is more conducive to foreign language learners having meaningful experiences with language than traditional instruction; 12. Gamified instruction provided learning that was more natural to everyday life than traditional instruction
19. “Happy students” learn better	Studies show that happier individuals perform better academically, with enduring motivation. Positive Psychology has found that engagement in perceived meaningful activities may sustain happiness more effectively than the simplistic pursuit of pleasure.	3. Gamified instruction is more conducive to foreign language learners having meaningful experiences with language than traditional instruction; 11. Gamified instruction made better uses of the five senses to learn foreign language than traditional instruction
24.“Performances of Understanding” are essential for good assessment	PoU activities provide learners with the opportunity to make their learning and understanding visible by having them demonstrate their Understanding (real world mastery) of the concepts. PoU-based pedagogies are aimed at synthesizing student learning and advancing it all to the next level in the form of a real world applicable performance. This is often lacking in traditional top-down, rote-memorization only teaching.	1. Gamified instruction tailors foreign language learning to the unique thinking of each student better than traditional instruction; 2. Gamified instruction builds upon the previous knowledge of foreign language learners more than traditional instruction; 4. Gamified instruction more logically designs learning from easiest to hardest at a reasonable pace than traditional instruction
25. “Assess” in three ways	There are 3 synergistic ways to assess performance (referred to as the Trinity of Assessment): 1. Self-assessment 2. Peer to peer assessment 3. Teacher-student assessment. It is the culmination and synergy of all three that is ideal for nurturing students’ metacognitive prowess, problem solving skills, and overall academic growth.	1. Gamified instruction tailors foreign language learning to the unique thinking of each student better than traditional instruction; 5. Gamified instruction makes greater use of errors as learning experiences than traditional instruction
41. “Encourage” mistakes; celebrate mistakes	People can and do learn from mistakes. However, in contexts where people are afraid of making mistakes—they are in an extreme disadvantage. The negative context may be detrimental to natural learning processes. An environment where mistakes are treated as special teaching/learning moments that are essential to learning may lead to more neuro-efficient cognitive development.	5. Gamified instruction makes greater use of errors as learning experiences than traditional instruction

Table 2.

Murphy’s eight NeuroELT maxims and MBE equivalents (Murphy [18]; Rueckert et al., [15]).

The NeuroELT maxims provide underlying features of a classroom that is brain-based given research conducted at Robert Murphy’s ‘s NeuroELT lab at the University of Kitakyushu. The presentation of the select NeuroELT maxims and corresponding MBE claims reflect the benefits of gamified instruction as a modality of delivery from the perspective of Educational Neuroscience and lend support to the call for a transdisciplinary investigation of gamification and brain friendliness.

4.3 NeuroELT maxims and the gamified classroom

4.3.1 Maxim 13 choices

The perception of choice as an option while learning is a pleasurable event in which the brain releases dopamine and other endorphins generating feelings of comfort and safety [19]. Brain-based learning requires that the learner survive in the classroom jungle where students can feel threatened, and the fight-flight reaction is easily reproduced. Giving the learner the ability to choose during learning creates a safety net in the classroom, making it easier to acquire information without feeling threatened as is the case in top-down traditional classrooms. The perception of choice by the learning brain establishes a sense of ownership and personal investment in the mind of the learner who will defend his/her choice without question [20].

Given that the gamified classroom has also been claimed to promote a sense of choice in keeping with MBE research, it can be suggested that gamified education is a strong alternative to the traditional classroom in which teaching through lecture, rote memorization, text-based techniques, or other top-down methods is not conducive to brain-based learning. Within gamification, features such as different alternate task paths and the ability to resubmit a homework do over provide students greater choice than traditional education.

4.3.2 Maxim 14 prediction

The maxim of prediction posits that humans take satisfaction in making predictions and experiencing the outcomes. We can see repeated patterns of human behavior related to this such as scientific research that sets a hypothesis and then gathers data to prove/disprove it. In a less scientific context, this behavior is exhibited in gambling and investment. Individuals are wired to look at a situation, look at the surrounding data, and then make predictions. Once those predictions are set, the individual lets the situations play out and monitors the outcomes.

In MBE, the focus is on meaningful experiences, which involve interactions with the material being learned. If a student can take an idea or concept and then test it out using prediction or hypothesis testing, then they have created a meaningful interaction with that concept. Their active participation in this experimentation has allowed them to more meaningfully interact with what is being learned.

Elements from gamified instruction that lead themselves to more fully provide prediction and meaningful interaction is the element of submitting an assignment with the expectation that all objectives are met. The student is predicting the positive outcome of task achievement. Of course, the objective is not always met. In these instances, the assignment is returned with feedback that helps the student to make another attempt. This is equal in process to the game feature of losing a life and making a new attempt to pass a level in a game. The player receives the negative outcome, reassesses their strategy and tries again with the prediction that the desired outcome will be reached. As the personal choices made to alter the strategy plays out, the task is more personal because the player’s choice changes the outcome while action is taken. The resultant outcome supports the prediction process, reinforces a choice and creates a meaningful experience with the content.

4.3.3 Maxim 15 real-time feedback

Feedback is vital in education. Feedback should be given in real time, or as quickly as possible. In language education, feedback can be real-time as students use the language to communicate. The communication between interlocutors gives simultaneous feedback to each language user. MBE suggests that feedback should be ample and of high quality.

Automated feedback, like test scores, are usually not of high quality as they tend to be impersonal. This means that to qualify as quality feedback, it should be directly meaningful to the learner. Feedback like this can take more time. However, in gamified learning, tasks are usually evaluated using benchmarks. Students have either met an objective or not. Many tasks will have multiple objectives. This will result in a list of benchmarks that must be met to have satisfactorily completed the task. Having clearly defined benchmarks makes the task of evaluation much easier and feedback can be given for each benchmark that is not met. This allows a quicker turnaround time for marking tasks as complete or sending them back for modification. This also provides a much more objective focused assessment, improving the quality of feedback which when correctly attended to by the student results in a rise in dopamine levels in the brain and a corresponding sense of pleasure and motivation.

4.3.4 Maxim 16 “Aha moments”

The heuristic educational approach of the “aha moment” has been around for centuries. This is shown in cartoons as the moment the light bulb turns on in someone’s head. The brain releases dopamine when people figure things out. Education should be a series of tasks that enable students to figure things out. This is in contrast to memorization without application. A more meaningful experience is created when students experiment with tasks and then discover knowledge as it relates to their creation. MBE supports this notion with the emphasis on meaningful and more natural learning.

Gamified learning supports this with its task-based approach towards learning. Students are tasked with figuring out how to successfully complete each assignment. They then submit each assignment with the hope that they have met each benchmark. However, benchmark completion is only part of the learning. A good gamified task will be one that does not explicitly give students the answers, but lets them discover the knowledge. The gamified classroom provides students a repetitive platform for ‘trial and error” as benchmarks are reached. This occurs as students attempt to solve an objective by increasing the efficiency of the neural pathway to quickly process a problem. Pujol et al. [21], note that such regular use of particular neural paths become more myelinated, leading to neuro-efficient connections within the brain. Learning a sport or playing an online game are examples of this and prove to be brain friendly.

4.3.5 Maxim 19 happy students

Learning is an emotional process. It does not just rely on logic, but instead involves the whole self. A happy learner does better. MBE says the brain responds better to joy than to fear. It also emphasizes the use of the five senses in learning. As students are meaningfully engaged in learning that has fewer negative motivators, students will be happier and freer to take risks.

There are three elements of gamification that specifically relate to this maxim. The first is accumulative grading. The traditional grading system is punitive. A student enters the class with 100% of the grade but loses points across each assignment. This gives a sense of losing. It uses a negative motivation component of fear. Students fear they will lose too many points for their desired grade, so they work hard not to lose points. Accumulative grading has students begin the class with 0 points. Each task earns points, so grading is no longer subtractive. This reverses the psychological element with positive motivation. It is more pleasant to see a grade grow than shrink. Levels help to support this feeling of growth and progression. This gives a positive psychological boost to learners. Also, the ability to resubmit assignments to earn full points eliminates the fear of subtractive grading because students have a second chance of getting their full points.

4.3.6 Maxim 24 performances of understanding

The brain desires recognition of understanding. This happens through creation of products that are visible and demonstrative of students’ knowledge. As students learn, they should produce products that represent their level of mastery of what is being taught. In MBE, it is understood that each student is unique with their own way of thinking and processing information. So, tasks that students produce should be adaptable so that individuals and/or groups can produce work that is unique to those learners. MBE also advocates for building upon learners’ previous knowledge. As tasks are flexible for students and adaptable to build upon unique life experiences and diverse cultural differences, the tasks become more meaningful and conducive to how the brain processes information. Finally, these tasks should be organized in a way that allows students to progress logically from easier concepts and ideas to more complex ones. Good instruction is adaptable to student differences while building upon their unique prior knowledge and organized in a way that will build from easier to harder. All this should be done while providing demonstrable products that can be recognized visibly.

One very common way to implement gamification is through badging. Badges are visual representations of learning, or as NeuroELT states, visible “performances of understanding”. Badges visually recognize objective completion and achievement. The tasks created to earn each badge should be adaptable to accommodate the uniqueness of learners. They should allow for personalization of tasks to build upon each learner’s previous knowledge. The organization of badges should provide a clear progression of difficulty. The nature of most badging systems have smaller badges that are earned, often for microskills. When the set of these badges are earned, this can qualify learners for a more complex task to earn a more advanced badge. Hence, there is a visual representation of understanding and clear progression from easy to hard provided by this style of gamification.

4.3.7 Maxim 25 assess in three ways

Assessment from the teacher should be the culminating assessment. Prior to that experience, students should self-assess and engage in peer assessment. Utilizing the three types of assessment creates a culture of metacognition and learning from errors. MBE posits that the brain learns from errors. Errors happen and in the process of fixing those errors, learning occurs. Further, this use of self and peer assessment provides a personal environment where people have a voice for why they believe tasks should be done the way they are. This can also inspire changes and further steps to be taken, which is in sync with tailoring education to the uniqueness of each learner.

There are a few features within gamification that can be utilized to increase the metacognitive aspect of assessment and error correction. The do-over options on assignments are very helpful to provide additional and personalized feedback to students at the moment that they are most receptive. Ideally, students use the benchmarks for each assignment to evaluate if the assignment meets the objectives set. In group tasks, students give peer feedback as they prepare tasks for successful submission. If the submission is not successful, the student or group of students receive timely feedback and then self-assess and strategize to better meet the set objectives.

4.3.8 Maxim 41 encourage mistakes: Celebrate mistakes

Errors should not be viewed negatively. The natural process of learning involves unsuccessful attempts. If a student does not make mistakes, they are not taking risks, and thus are not maximizing their learning. Embracing errors and using them as learning opportunities is at the heart of both NeuroELT and MBE.

A central tenet of gamification is learning from doing, making mistakes, learning from mistakes, and fixing the problem. The use of accumulative grading deemphasizes the grade by focusing on the increase in points versus highlighting their subtraction. The allowance for do-overs contributes to a culture that does not penalize errors, but instead uses them as an educational tool.

4.3.9 Brain-friendliness and potential challenges of gamification?

While gamified learning shows the potential to promote a brain-friendly classroom, questions nevertheless remain about the implementation of such an approach particularly given the overall impact of technology on the classroom setting. Anderson and Rainie [22] noted that today’s networked lifestyle leads many learners to seek instant gratification and quick choices, resulting in a lack of patience. Such need for immediate satisfaction diminishes the desire for long-term engagement as with traditional modes of education (i.e., top-down, teacher-fronted methods), making it increasingly difficult to maintain learner interest without the compulsion to engage in constant internet activity.

Although a premise for inattentive learning is possible with any form of novel educational approach, gamified learning, when carefully incorporated into course objectives, can serve to provide the type of intense, goal-focused activities that embrace higher dopamine levels driving the brain-friendly classroom. As further developments such as AI and the evolution of the VR world create new ways to implement gamification in the classroom, teachers will be continually called to reflect on gamified approaches to teaching and learning in light of the neurobiology of learning. In this respect, this chapter serves as a call for further discussion on additional brain-based maxims that underpin the use of gamification technology in the classroom.

5. Conclusion

As research in the fields of neuroscience, pedagogy, psychology, and linguistics advance, there are exciting findings that help to better understand the nature of teaching and learning. The culmination of this research and effect of the increased understanding of how the brain functions and learns best should result in modifications being made to how education is structured and provided. Without the proper application of this emergent knowledge, education does not improve. Using this transdisciplinary approach towards informing best educational practices is essential.

Recent research from Rueckert et al. [15] and other gamification scholars provide strong evidence that gamified instruction is not just a novelty to pique the interest of students, but a modality that is more congruent with how the brain learns. Changes in how instruction is delivered and organized are hard to implement [23]. However, a change towards a more brain-friendly learning system, such as gamification, should be embraced.