Student-led Gamification in the Undergraduate Design History Course

Abstract

History lessons are usually perceived by students as “boring” in classroom settings, thus effective teaching and learning strategies for this subject matter are commonly linked to fun, engaging and motivating approaches. This paper presents an account of a student-led gamification practice in an undergraduate Design History course. The purpose of this action research study was to improve the teaching practice, while affording the students to enjoy the process of developing content knowledge and historical thinking skills in the history lessons. The research process was planned before the semester started, in which four types of fun activities were mapped against the 14-week lessons of Design History. Reflection of teaching and learning activities was recorded at the end of every lesson; while meta-reflection was made during the mid-semester break, in which the outcomes were referred to refine learning practices on subsequent weeks. Apart from reflections, students’ motivation was observed through their engagement in the class, and course evaluation at the end of the semester. All 83 students were able to gamify their knowledge gained in the Design History lessons. They designed, developed, playtested and revised 21 tabletop games using a set of gamification tools. The students were highly motivated to take part in interactive lecture, gamification activities in groups, and the playtesting session. In particular, the best tabletop game won awards in competitions, and subsequently funded by the university for commercialization. In terms of learning evaluation, the students rated 92.66 out of 100 and expressed gratitude for the overall learning experience. In conclusion, the student-led gamification practice was fun and engaging, while affording students to attain intended learning outcomes.