Gamification as a Teaching Method to Improve Performance and Motivation in Tertiary Education during COVID-19: A Research Study from Mexico

Gamification is usually understood as a pedagogical strategy that favors student engagement and motivation. Traditionally it is composed of dynamics, mechanics, and components. The purpose of this study was to compare Engineering and Economics and Social Sciences undergraduate students in their performance (grades), motivation, quality of assignments, participation, and emotion when their teachers used gamification as an innovative teaching method during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearson correlations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Mann–Whitney test were conducted. Additionally, four students were interviewed to describe the emotional downside of the lockdown. The main results indicate that there are higher positive relationships among variables in the Engineering undergraduate students rather than in Economics and Social Sciences and show that emotion poorly correlates with performance, especially for the Economics and Social Sciences students, as many have a negative attitude toward learning mathematics. Additionally, gender and scholarship status are not differential factors. Gamification proved to be a useful pedagogical strategy to promote participation and enhance motivation among undergraduate students, particularly in a context of academic confinement. This study gives teachers an idea of the benefits and extent to which gamification can be used in the classroom.

Gamification for Technology-Enhanced Language Teaching and Learning

This chapter explores gamification as an innovative pedagogical strategy in language learning with the use of technology. The authors examine the construct of gamification, arguing for the need of a clear definition as many authors use various terms interchangeably. The dynamics, mechanics, and components to conform a gamified learning experience are presented. The chapter describes current research and teaching experiences on gamification and technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Two approaches are identified: the use or design of gamified apps and gamified learning experiences designed entirely by teachers and implemented with the help of different technologies. Some tools and platforms for gamification are discussed and recommendations on how to implement a successful gamified teaching intervention are provided. Two approaches to researching gamification are also proposed.

Instrumentalization vs Instrumentation of Microlearning in a Math Class

The study aims to innovate the teaching and learning process of mathematics with a group of elementary school students from a rural population of Colombia, where the use of information and communications technology resources, as well as internet access in limited. The teachers implement microlearning so that children learn to solve arithmetic problems. The experience is descriptive with a non-probabilistic convenience sampling, developed from the creation and application of a virtual learning object whose pedagogical strategy was the use of microlearning. The study shows that the use of information and communications technology resources assist the students to learn mathematics. It also develops the office content, skill to interpret, know and solve mathematical problems from everyday situation to students

Holistic design of online degree programmes in higher education – a case study from Finland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present design principles for holistic design of online degree programmes (ODPs) in higher education (HE). The study adds to previous research on online programme design by examining how the digital competence and pedagogical strategy of a HE organisation can inform holistic ODP design.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a case study placed in the context of a Finnish applied HE organisation. Design-based research (DBR) process is used to create holistic design principles for new ODPs. Theoretical framework for the study is digitally competent organisation (Kampylis et al., 2015) and pedagogical strategy is innovation pedagogy (Kettunen et al., 2013).FindingsDesign principles for pedagogically informed holistic design of ODPs are presented as a three-tiered model comprising organisational, pedagogical and ODP layers. Each layer includes various principles for holistic design to integrate an organisation's pedagogical strategy in a digitally competent context to create quality ODPs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper presents a case study from a HE organisation in Finland, but results are applicable to a wider global audience.Practical implicationsAs a contribution to practitioners, this paper presents a three-tiered holistic design of ODP in HE organisation, where the design principles are categorised in organisational, pedagogical and ODP design layers. In addition, suggestions to managers, instructional designers and educators are made for the holistic design of ODPs.Social implicationsBuilding the sense of community in ODPs and offering continuous support in pedagogy and technology are valuable for the well-being of the staff, students and the wider society.Originality/valueThe paper draws relationships between holistic design of ODPs, digital competence and pedagogical strategy. The paper provides managerial and operational viewpoints to managers, administrators and educators of HE organisations that plan to create new ODPs with a holistic focus on the educational organisation, its pedagogical strategy and digital competence. Recommendations for further development, possible applications and research of ODP education are made.

Coproduction as Pedagogy: Harnessing Community Data Partnerships for the Classroom

ABSTRACT Increased computing capacity and the spread of computational knowledge has generated the expectation that organizations and municipalities use large quantities of data to drive decision making. However, municipalities may lack the resources to meaningfully use their data for decision making. Relatedly, political science and public administration programs face the challenge of training students for success in this environment. We believe one remedy is the adoption of coproduction as a pedagogical strategy. This article presents a case study of a partnership between a university research team and a municipal emergency communications center as a demonstration of how coproduction can be harnessed as a teaching tool. Findings from this project were presented at the Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, January 8–11, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Storytelling as a Pedagogical Strategy to Teach English Language Vocabulary to Children

This article was written with the purpose of obtaining information from physical and digital documents, as well as, analyzing the important data used in the literature review of our project, “Storytelling as a Pedagogical Strategy to Teach English Language Vocabulary to Children”. The studies were categorized into four aspects which are ‘study’, ‘focus’, ‘context’ and ‘results. We focused our attention on gathering relevant information to achieve the objectives of this project. Since teaching English in elementary school has been recently implemented in Nicaragua, not enough research has been done in this area. We believe it is necessary to support elementary school with more research about the use of different resources to support English language teaching in this country. One of the weaknesses when learning a second language is that if children have lack of vocabulary, children will have difficulties understanding some explanations in the English language classes. Effectively teaching English will promote better communication and understanding in future English classes. Studies have proven the effectiveness storytelling has in teaching English language vocabulary to children, as well as, how storytelling can be combined with other educational instruments. Studies also found that learning vocabulary is essential to understand the assignments in the English classes and the activities in the English workbooks.

Teaching Meaning: A Pedagogical Strategy to Help Ministry Students Understand Meaning Making in Narrative Perspective

This article describes a pedagogical classroom exercise that encourages ministry students to understand the jarring experience some people may confront when their life stories are disrupted and their ways of making meaning are challenged. Contemporary work in narrative and meaning making that grounds the exercise is presented. This exercise may be helpful to professionals who teach or mentor ministry students in their care of those enduring loss.

development of the teaching concept of musical stage art

In the work showed that the basis of teaching the history of choreographic art is the willingness of teachers and listeners to perceive choreography as an art. For this, the authors of the article have developed a concept that characterizes the approbation of teaching the history of choreographic art at the level of its perception by university students. The authors distinguish the features of teaching the history of choreographic art not only as a historical course with the formation of only the knowledge component. The possibilities of preparing listeners for practical activities are determining. The authors first of all, determining the psychological readiness, which is expressed as the level of mastering information. The authors marked that this approach allows us to form a directional approach to increasing interest in art, as well as to filling an understanding of the value not only of choreography as an art form, but also as a pedagogical strategy and practice. The novelty of the research is the formation of the concept of art history as a teaching strategy in the overall structure of the process of pedagogy and psychology.