Gamification Theories

Video Transcription

Hi. My name is Ashley, and today's lesson is titled Gamification Theories. What will you learn today? In today's lesson, we will learn the theories that are behind gamification. Those theories include behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism, and constructivism. We will take a look at each one.

What is behaviorism? The behaviorism theory states students learn as a result of response to stimulation and the response that follows. You may remember an early behaviorist, Ivan Pavlov, who is well known for the experiment of the salivating dog and the ringing bell. The dog would immediately salivate after learning that food would arrive after the sound of the bell. This is a good example of a response to stimulation.

There are three main beliefs of behaviorism. Learning is signified by a change of behavior. For example, when a child does something different than normal, it is assumed their behavior has changed as a result of learning.

Another belief is that the environment influences behavior. Behavior is determined by the location and surroundings of the individual. Lastly, in order for learning to take place, behaviors must be repeated and reinforced so that the skill may become second nature.

There are three learning principles of the behaviorism theory. Skinner's program instruction, which says self-teaching is possible to do through a specially designed text or a computer program. Direct instruction discovered by Zig Engelmann says that through the use of a well-designed curriculum and research-based instruction, all students will learn. And, lastly, it was Bandura social learning theory that stated that people learn from each other based on observation, imitation, and modeling.

What is Cognitivism? Cognitivism is the thought that obtaining knowledge involves thinking. There are two beliefs of cognitivism. One is the memory system must be very active in order for students to process information.

Secondly, prior knowledge plays a significant role in learning. Cognitivism consist of other major learning theories. The attribution theory states that learning is based on the following attributes, effort, luck, ability, and task difficulty. The elaboration theory states content should be organized from simple to complex information and taught in meaningful contexts.

Piaget's cognitive development theory involves four stages in which learning moves from neat-based, to concrete learning, to the ability to conceptualize and make meaning. The four stages are the sensory motor stage, which occurs in children from birth to two years of age, the preoperational stage, which consists of children 2 to 7 years old, the concrete operational stage, consists of children aged 7 to 11 or 12, and the formal operational stage, which consists of adolescents from age 11 to 16 or more. Then there's Gagne's theory of conditioned learning. Let's take a deeper look at the theory of conditioned learning.

The theory of conditioned learning states that there are stages of learning and learning moves from the simple to the more complex. Learning and cognition require practice. Gagne's theory also includes nine aspects that are connected with gaming. One is gaining attention. Next is informing learners of the objectives. Students must know what's expected of them. Activating prior knowledge is very important to build on what students already know.

Next is display of the stimulus. Provide assistance to learners. Evoke performance. Give feedback. Giving feedback serves as a reinforcement to let students know what they're doing well and what needs to be changed. Evaluating performance, and boost retention and transfer.

What is humanism? Humanism focuses on the freedom, value, dignity, and the potential of a person. According to humanists, learning should be student centered and personalized. An educators should act as a facilitator. Affective and cognitive needs are important to learning, and the goal is to develop individuals who realize their own potential in a collaborative, supportive environment.

A related theory is the experiential learning theory. This consists of four stages of the learning cycle. The first is concrete experiences. You must do something.

The second is reflective of observations. Observe actions. Thirdly, abstract conceptualization, which means plainly to think. Lastly, active experimentation, which involves planning.

Finally, let's take a look at constructivism. What is it? This theory describes learning as an active constructive process. An individual create their own learning and understanding and links prior knowledge and experiences to new knowledge. There are some key aspects of constructivism.

According to learning theorists Jerome Bruner, a theory of instruction should address four major areas. First, the learners should have a predisposition toward learning. In other words, the learner should be optimistic to discover many new things through learning. Next, the structure of information should be designed in a way that is understood by the learner. The information should also be presented in an effective sequential manner.

Lastly, Bruner says to pace rewards and punishments. Teachers should encourage students to discover principles themselves. There should be active dialogue between the teacher and student. The role of the teacher is to transform information to be learned. Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned.

What did you learn today? In today's lesson, we took an in-depth look at the theories behind gamification. Behaviorism simply says students learn as a result of response to stimulation. Pavlov's experiment is a great example of this. Cognitivism states the memory system is used to process information, and prior knowledge is very important to learning new information.

The humanism theory focuses on freedom, value, dignity, and the potential of people. Individuals should realize their own potential. And, lastly, the constructivism theory states that learners can create their own understandings using prior knowledge and experiences. So now you know the theories that are behind gamification.

I know that this was a ton of information, and please feel free to view this video presentation again. Think about how these learning theories can be used in your instruction. For more information on how to apply what you've learned in this video, please view the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The additional resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.