Gamification in a Laboratory Course

Gamification in eLearning is a new concept in higher education recently. This new approach will provide alternative learning tools and assessments to students, but also promote self-regulated learning and in-depth thinking in their learning journey. A mobile app incorporating games and course materials of each lab session is developed to facilitate virtual teaching and learning beyond the classroom. In the game, players are requested to complete the assigned laboratory quests on an island. To purchase appropriate equipment and unlock the next lab session, they have to gain enough experience and money by following the instructions and attending the quizzes. A leaderboard feature is also available for tracking students’ progress to boost preparation and identify students who need additional support. This new learning experience strengthen students’ pre-laboratory preparation and adopt active learning in a fun and interactive way.

Speaker:

Dr. Cindy Lam Assistant Professor of Science Education Department of Ocean Science, HKUST Dr Cindy Lam is currently an Assistant Professor of Science Education under the Department of Ocean Science at HKUST. She has strong enthusiasm to develop innovative teaching tools teaching science. One of the examples is to develop an interactive mobile app incorporating augmented reality (AR) to facilitate teaching and learning experience in marine biology laboratory. Another example is the HKUST biodiversity map, which is a student-staff co-creation project between the department and Dean of Students’ Office, promoting unique biodiversity and habitats using visual tools and virtual trails to HKUST community. Current project on gamification allows her to continue adopting innovative strategy in eLearning in future.