TEU – Page 9 – Digital Learning Dispatches

It has been a busy week for our team as the DSTEP Winter School, organised as part of the ‘Developing Staff to Enhance Programmes’ (DSTEP) project, got off to a great start on Monday 22nd January with an open seminar on the use of gamification techniques for teaching Psychology.

The DSTEP project aims to provide continuous professional development for psychology educators with a specific focus on gamification, that is, the incorporation of game design elements in an educational context to enrich the learning environment. Gamification can be contrasted with game-based learning, as gamification does not imply the use of games necessarily, but rather using the principles and mechanics of games (e.g. incentives or points, immediate feedback, the freedom to make mistakes, freedom to choose pathways etc.) to offer an engaging teaching experience for learners. The image below – reproduced from a report published by the Observatory of Educational Innovation (2016) – shows how gamification can be distinguished from game-based learning and serious games:

For a comprehensive and accessible introduction to gamification, see this report published by Observatory of Educational Innovation (2016).

Monday’s seminar kicked off with a fascinating presentation from Dr Rebecca Sharp (Bangor University) on her experiences of gamifying the teaching of a Behavioural Psychology undergraduate module. Rebecca adopted a ‘dystopian future’ themed approach to gamifying the module, prompted by poor attendance and a lack of student engagement with a more traditional approach to the teaching of the module.

The short clip below summarises some of the gamification techniques used by Rebecca, including the framing of learning tasks as ‘missions’ for which ‘rewards’ could be won, the opportunity to ‘replay’ online learning tasks to achieve mastery of a subject and the provision of choices to learners such as the selection of their assignment topic and voting to reveal selected exam questions.

Analysis suggests that most (but not all) learners enjoyed the gamified approach to the module and it led to increased attendance and attainment when compared to more traditional approaches to the module. To watch Rebecca’s presentation in full, including a more complete analysis of the impact of the gamification on student learning and engagement, click here.

This keynote presentation by was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A featuring Dr Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin (Cork Institute of Technology), Dr Rebecca Sharp (Bangor University), Mr Gavin Henrick (Moodle) and Dr Lorraine Boran (Dublin City University). A lively discussion ensued which examined a range of issues relating to gamification including: the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in driving student learning; ethical concerns in relation to gamification and the risk that competition and ranking might prove harmful to learners; the importance of gamification being underscored by meaningful learning activities which support student learning; and the need for more research to inform the design and implementation of a gamified learning environment in Higher Education contexts.

The call for more research is echoed in the conclusions of a recent literature review on the topic of gamifying education, which was recently selected as one of the NIDL’s top 10 open access journal articles for 2017.

Monday’s seminar took place as the opening event of a Gamification Winter School, hosted by the Teaching Enhancement Unit to offer professional development for Psychology educators, focused particularly on the use of gamification approaches to enhancing learning, teaching and assessment. The two-year DSTEP project is externally funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

The Teaching Enhancement Unit (TEU) is delighted to partner with colleagues in Student Support & Development (SS&D) to implement an initiative focused on staff development in the principles and practices of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This new initiative aimed at promoting and implementing an inclusive teaching and learning environment is enabled thanks to a recent successful application to the Quality Improvement and Development (QUID) fund from the Quality Promotions Office. The 2017/18 funding call was focused on the theme of ‘Internal Communications’ and sought proposals for projects which aimed to enhance how we share and interact with our internal community in Dublin City University (DCU).

The joint TEU/SS&D initiative intends to engage staff and students in dialogue about UDL, from which an agreed definition will emerge followed by a series of initiatives to raise and develop staff awareness. The initiative will provide guidance and support to enhance communication with learners across all of DCU’s campuses. As this video (from AHEAD, the Association for Higher Education Access & Disability) explains, UDL offers a framework and set of associated principles for curriculum design that promote more flexible modes of teaching, learning and assessment to cater to all learners with varying learning preferences:

UDL aims to improve and optimise teaching and learning for all learners, based on scientific insights into how humans learn; it operates around three overarching principles or guidelines, as summarised in this graphic reproduced from the AHEAD website:

UDL Principles

In a nutshell, UDL recognises that a ‘one size fits all’ approach won’t work for learners and that flexible and varying means of engagement, representation and action/expression will allow for a more inclusive learning and teaching environment for all learners. It seeks to ensure that all learners are offered equal opportunities to succeed, premised on the understanding that we all learn differently and this variation in learning aptitudes and preferences must be incorporated into the design of curricula and assessment strategies. As we are aware, there is increasing diversity of participation in Higher Education: although this infographic from the Higher Education Authority (2016) relates to the academic year 2015/16 (we are awaiting updated statistics), it does highlight the varying profile of the Higher Education learner and increasing levels of participation of what might be termed ‘non-traditional’ students:

Therefore, it is incumbent on Higher Education staff and faculty to consider how we can engage with learners with diverse learning needs; the initiative designed by the TEU and SS&D seeks to enhance the teaching and learning experience of all learners through staff development in the principles and practices of UDL.

Starting in January 2018, this project will engage staff and students in conversations about UDL, from which an agreed definition of UDL will emerge. This task will be underpinned by research to document existing levels of expertise and engagement with the principles of UDL, followed by a series of events which will develop staff awareness and provide guidance and support to ultimately enhance communication with students. Through consultation and engagement, we seek through this project to develop an inclusive DCU community, underpinned by the principles and practices of UDL.

Keep an eye on the TEU website for further developments as this project unfolds in 2018! If you would like more information or to get involved please get in touch with Dr Laura Costelloe [Laura.Costelloe@dcu.ie].

References

Association for Higher Education Access & Disability [AHEAD] (2017) The UDL Framework Explained. Available at https://ahead.ie/udl-framework (Accessed 4 December 2017).

Higher Education Authority (2016) Key Facts and Figures. Available at http://hea.ie/assets/uploads/2017/06/HEA-Key-Facts-and-Figures-201516.pdf (Accessed 4 December 2017).