Title: GBL in an EFL Classroom
Author Name: Marie-Louise Kirby
Selected Case (Published Article):
Hung, H. T. (2018, February 21). Gamifying the flipped classroom using game-based learning materials. ELT Journal, 72(3), 296–308. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccx055
1. Introduction:
With the advancement of technology, education has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Having taught ESL/EFL for about the last decade, I have had a first-hand account of the evolution and transformation of technology and its use in education. One such transformation is the flipped classroom, which has been gaining popularity among educators around the world. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model that involves reversing the traditional approach to learning, where students watch pre-recorded lectures or read materials before class and use class time for activities that reinforce their learning (Bishop & Verleger, 2013) (Matsumoto, 2016) (Sailer & Sailer, 2020). It combines active, problem-based learning tasks based on constructivism with direct instruction lectures based on behaviorism to create a new mix of learning theories that were once thought to be incompatible (Bishop & Verleger, 2013). This approach has been shown to enhance students’ engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking. However, maintaining students’ motivation and interest can be a challenge. The use of game elements like levels, points, badges, leaderboards, and avatars to help students concentrate on their objectives is known as “gamification.” (Zainuddin et al., 2020). Gamification is the process of adapting game design features to situations outside of games in order to leverage games’ ability to motivate people for goals other than playing games (Sailer & Sailer, 2020). These elements include battles, content, gifts, bosses, quests, social graphs, certificates, and memes (Zainuddin et al., 2020). Gamification encourages learners to focus on their goals by making them more persistent, learning by repetition, working together, and having fun and friendly competition with their peers (Zainuddin et al., 2020). Gamification has been proven to be an effective tool for enhancing engagement and motivation in various learning environments (Sailer & Sailer, 2020). It can also help learners develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and critical thinking abilities. Let’s explore how gamifying the flipped classroom affected the participants in the study.
2. Overview of the Case:
This study presents using Quick Response (QR) codes to enhance traditional board games in the classroom. Participants were Taiwanese students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The 18-week curriculum of the course being studied included a 3-week flipped classroom design, and three video clips from TED-Ed were chosen as part of the curriculum. The study worked on the premise that a gamified split classroom approach can help teachers make fun English-learning activities. According to Matsumoto (2016) flipped classrooms can convert large lecture classes into active learning environments. The flipped classroom model prioritizes active learning as one of its primary objectives (Matsumoto, 2016). In the study, they used the gamified split classroom approach, which combines game-based learning with modifying the classroom by using technology-enhanced board games (TEBGs). The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not incorporating TEBGs into a flipped classroom structure may increase EFL students’ levels of interest and engagement while they are learning. In order to successfully implement gamification aspects in flip teaching (foreign language) education, Matsumoto’s (2016) study found that it is crucial to take into account both the learner’s qualities and the pedagogy’s optimum degree of achievement.
3. Solutions Implemented:
The teacher made three sets of TEBGs, each with a game board, tokens for each person, dice, and QR-code cards. The TEBGs were made to improve the flipped classroom experience by adding game-based learning features. The QR-code cards gave students more information and feedback. Player tokens showed each player’s status on the two-to-four-player game board. Dice dictated how many squares a player could travel, while player tokens represented how many points each player gained each turn. QR card victories and losses included ‘You win a turn and may partner up with another player. This quantitative and qualitative study assessed English-speaking anxiety and student motivation. Dice throws gained game points. Players conversed in English as the teacher helped them. “QRCode Monkey” (https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/) designed the TEBG QR codes, while “Google Sites” generated their webpages. The study ran for a total of six weeks. In the first week, the pre-intervention questionnaire comprised six speaking-related items from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope 1986) on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Both groups completed self-study before class and engaged in 50-minute in-class activities during the 3-week flipped classroom curriculum. The gamified flipped classroom’s experimental group used TEBGs. 12 items from the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction subscales were in the experimental group’s modified motivation survey. Pre- and post-questionnaires examined students’ English-speaking anxiety.
4. Outcomes:
The study’s results showed that the flipped, gamified classroom with TEBGs and QR codes made EFL students more interested and motivated. The experimental group’s mean anxiety regarding English-speaking circumstances in the flipped classroom was reduced to 2.23 (SD = 0.66) and the control group’s to 3.45 (SD 1.01). Treatment may have benefited the experimental group more.
Post-questionnaires assessed students’ motivation to learn flipped classroom materials. The experimental group scored higher on attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction than the control group in an independent-sample t-test. Students in the experimental group said they were less afraid to speak English in class and were more motivated to participate in classroom activities. 96% of students thought that QR codes were an innovative way for teachers to share information with students and for students to receive that information on their mobile devices. One student mentioned that playing board games was more exciting to them than reading their textbooks or finishing their tasks. Another student said that learning English was more like playing a game than doing an exercise or taking a test, which made it more fun. In Sailer, M, and Sailer, M.’s study (2020), they examined how gamifying flipped classrooms affected learning and motivation. Gamification involved a quiz with points and team leaderboards, which indirectly improved application-oriented knowledge. They found gamification also enhanced intrinsic motivation and satisfied the need for social connection but had no discernible impact on satisfying the need for competence (Sailer & Sailer, 2020). The study used a “true experimental design” and found that gamified instruction was effective. Even though the Hung study didn’t measure how well people learned a language, the gamified flipped classroom design positively affected how students felt about what they were learning which is similar to the Sailers’ study’s findings.
5. Implications
Using TEBGs with QR codes to turn the flipped classroom into a game has a number of advantages, such as low start-up costs and ease of use. But the study also found some problems, like not being able to measure the results of learning a language. This study showed that playing TEBGs on personal mobile devices is in line with the BringYourOwnDevice trend of integrating technology into higher education. Commercial board games might not allow for this, but teacher-made board games for flipped classrooms enable the teacher-designer to connect game goals with deliberate learning material. This finding suggests that teachers can leverage the popularity of mobile gaming to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Additionally, it highlights the potential benefits of personalized and teacher-designed educational games. Hung’s 2018 study tells us a lot about how teachers can improve the flipped classroom by using game-based learning strategies and about the possible benefits of using technology like QR codes to make learning more engaging and enjoyable for students. For example, to excite students, teachers should use game elements other than question-and-answer. This could include incorporating challenges, rewards, and competition into the learning experience (Zainuddin et al., 2020). Additionally, using technology like QR codes can also provide opportunities for students to engage with content in a more interactive and hands-on way.
References:
Bishop, J., & Verleger, M. (2013). The Flipped Classroom: A Survey of the Research. 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2–22585
Matsumoto, T. (2016) The Flipped Classroom Experience of Gamified. Creative Education, 7, 1475-1479. doi: 10.4236/ce.2016.710152.
Sailer, M., & Sailer, M. (2020, May 3). Gamification of in‐class activities in flipped classroom lectures. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(1), 75–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12948
Zainuddin, Z., Chu, S. K. W., Shujahat, M., & Perera, C. J. (2020, June). The impact of gamification on learning and instruction: A systematic review of empirical evidence. Educational Research Review, 30, 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100326