Game-Based Learning and Gamification Technologies in the Preparation of Future Mathematics Teachers

Abstract

Our paper advocates the preparation of future mathematics teachers for the use of game-based learning and gamification technologies. For this purpose, we created a university course that is dedicated to familiarizing the students with basic concepts of game-based learning and gamification and to conveying direct experience with their use. We support the concept and activities in this course by the positive results of the research on the opinions of 115 students. We hope that the positive results and our description of the course will be an inspiration for the broader incorporation of game-based learning and gamification technologies into the training of future mathematics teachers. Limitations of our research are the research sample, we investigated students’ reactions only at the author’s home university. Therefore, in the future, the research could be done with a broader sample and studying more in detail the students’ beliefs related to game-based learning and gamification before and after the course to get a better view of their development.