Abstract:

The quest for a curriculum delivery method that increases student learning and application of learned concepts is an ongoing process. One of the more promising tools in this area is the use of games in education, where teachers are engaged in creating numerous games that contain didactic and pedagogic qualities. Beside the huge popularity for the techniques, also known as gamification, there are also the studies that show some dangers arising from the use of these techniques. To better evaluate the potential of gamification it is important to focus on three pivotal issues, starting by specifying which of the stages of the didactic process can be supported by gamification and what are the premises for this (Q1), to then answering a question of the emotional risks involved in using gamification for teaching (Q2), as well as, how gamification strategy can be further improved (Q3). This article presents results of the research that attempts to answer the above questions. The main research methods are participant and non-participant observation. In the participant observation the author became the participant in the course, where the techniques of gamification were used. On the other hand, in the non-participation observation the author is the academic teacher who applied the techniques of gamification in the university curriculum for information technology and statistics. The results of the observations indicated important conclusions about the methods of selection of gamification techniques and competing teams.

Keywords:

Gamification, higher education.