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Session 1. Game Elements and Full Games
Objective. Tell game elements from full games, state the learning goal first, and decide which size of play serves it.
Most teachers already use play: a sticker, a quick quiz, a race. The question is not whether to use games but which size of play serves which goal. A star on a notebook and a Silk Road trading game are very different tools, with different costs and different results. This lesson gives you a way to look at any classroom activity, name what is game and what is not, and decide whether the play is helping the learning or only filling the minutes.
Key ideas
Two ways to use play
- Gamification means adding game elements (points, a timer, levels, a story) to an activity that is not a game, such as a drill or homework.
- Game-based learning means pupils play a full game, with a goal, rules, choices and an outcome, and the game itself teaches the content.
- Many classroom activities sit between the two. The names matter less than knowing what you added and why.
Goal first, game second
- Write the learning goal as something you can see: 'pupils can add fractions with different denominators', not 'pupils enjoy fractions'.
- Fun and noise are not evidence of learning. A game can be loud, popular and still practise the wrong thing.
- Ask before every game: what will each pupil THINK about during play? If the answer is 'speed' or 'luck', redesign.
What makes a full game
- A clear goal, a few rules, real choices for players, quick feedback and an outcome players care about.
- Elements are the parts: points, timer, levels, badges, a story, a team goal. A sticker chart has one element; a trading game on the Silk Road with cards has all of them.
- Adding elements is cheaper and quicker; a full game costs more preparation but can carry a whole lesson.
Choosing the size of play
- Routine practice (tables, spelling, homework tracking) often needs only one or two elements, such as a timer with a personal best.
- Review, applying ideas and problem solving often suit a full game, because pupils must decide and explain, not only recall.
- Research reviews find small positive effects of gamification on average, with big differences between designs, so judge by your own evidence.
Game element or full game?
Game element
One part added to a normal activity
- Stars, timer, personal best
- Quick to prepare
- Good for routine practice
- Goal stays the same
Full game
Goal, rules, choices, outcome
- Silk Road trading, escape puzzles
- Needs rules and preparation
- Good for review and applying ideas
- Pupils decide and explain
Elements are ingredients, not a recipe
It is tempting to add points, badges and a leaderboard to everything, because they are quick. But a game element is only an ingredient. Points can show progress, or they can turn a lesson into a race for the fastest hand. The same star can mean 'you mastered this step' or 'you beat your neighbour'. Before adding any element, say in one sentence what pupils should think about because of it.
A useful habit is to describe the element in terms of pupil behaviour: 'the timer makes pupils check their work', 'the story makes them keep a long chain of reasoning'. If you cannot finish the sentence with thinking about the content, the element probably decorates rather than teaches.
When a full game earns its cost
A full game costs preparation time and lesson time, so it must give something that a worksheet cannot. Games are strong where pupils must decide, explain, bargain, estimate or defend a choice: reviewing a unit, applying a rule in new situations, practising a conversation, or working through a sequence of steps. They are weaker for first-time explanation of new ideas, where a clear teacher explanation usually comes first.
Plan the game to follow, not replace, the teaching. A review game after two lessons on fractions is useful; a game that tries to introduce fractions from nothing often leaves half the class guessing. The evidence on gamification is mixed on average, so keep your own record of what pupils could do before and after.
Examples from the classroom
The timer with a personal best
Scene. Dilnoza teaches Grade 5 in Samarkand. Pupils practise the 7 times table for five minutes every morning, and many are bored. She adds one element: a two-minute timer and a strip where each pupil colours a box when they beat their own last score. There are no prizes and no ranking. After two weeks, most pupils answer five random products without a table.
Insight. One element tied to a clear goal (recall) and to personal progress can be enough for routine practice.
A game that is not about the goal
Scene. Aziz runs a buzzer quiz for Grade 7 in Fergana on the Silk Road cities. The same six pupils answer, the rest wait, and the class is loud and happy. In the next test, pupils can name the cities but cannot explain why trade made them grow. Aziz realises the quiz practised naming, while the goal was explaining.
Insight. A popular game can still practise the wrong thing; check the goal before the fun.
Making a full game from a review lesson
Scene. Malika in Tashkent teaches Grade 6 science and needs a review of the water cycle. She prepares nine question cards at three levels, a 16-square paper path and a key sheet for each group of four. Pupils choose card levels, check answers on the key and move forward. The lesson takes one evening of preparation and fits 45 minutes.
Insight. A full game is worth the cost when pupils choose, explain and check answers about the content.
Common pitfalls
- Adding points and badges to everything without saying what pupils should think about.
- Choosing a game because it was popular online rather than because it fits the goal.
- Using a full game to introduce brand-new ideas before pupils have had any explanation.
- Counting noise and smiles as evidence that pupils learned.
Sort and Redesign Classroom Activities
- Open the Activity Kit: 12 activity cards from Uzbek classrooms. Work in pairs and read them all (5 minutes).
- Pairs (10 min): sort each card into 'not a game', 'game element added' or 'full game'. For each card, write the learning goal it could serve and a one-line reason for your choice.
- Pairs (10 min): choose two cards where the game does not serve a goal. Redesign each with one change (a different element, a rule or a question type) so that every pupil thinks about the content.
- Groups (10 min): compare. Then take one topic from your own textbook, write a learning goal in the form 'pupils can ...' and decide: element or full game? Give a reason.
- Alone (5 min): write your classroom action task from the Kit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which cards were hard to sort, and what did that show about the difference between an element and a game?
- In which card did the fun have nothing to do with the learning goal?
- What is the one thing every pupil must think about during your chosen game?
Reflect
- Which game or game element have you used before, and what did pupils actually learn from it?
- Which topic do your pupils practise too little because it is dull?
- What would make you stop a game halfway through a lesson?
Try it tomorrow
- Pick one routine activity this week and write its learning goal as 'pupils can ...'.
- Add ONE game element that serves it and tell pupils why you added it.
- At the end ask three short questions on the goal and compare with the last time you taught it.
Further reading and links
Name the learning goal first, then add only as much play as that goal needs.