Toward a Mindful Application of Gamification

Abstract

The last decade has seen a rise in gamification, the application of game elements or principles in settings and contexts outside games, including inside the classroom. This chapter explores the use of game design processes and principles in writing classrooms at a STEM university, describing a mindful approach to gamification, and calling for greater attention to the intersection of game design and writing instruction. When used mindfully, games and game design have much to offer teachers of writing. Students benefit from participation in “[the] process of designing, playing, analyzing, and evaluating games,” which “requires modes of intellectual flexibility that have been a foundational feature of the humanities”. As well, scholars have argued that “composition scholars and teachers ought to take notice of how video games are designed,” as game design offers “a unique writing-and-teaching process that is remarkably similar to the ways we in composition studies think about our own professional goals and tasks”. In other words, game design principles, thoughtfully implemented, have the potential to increase student engagement, foster ways of thinking that promote student success in the humanities, and serve as curriculum-building tools for instructors.