Gamification

Constructionist Gaming blends the core themes of Constructionism, Maker Education, and Games and Learning to focus on student learning through making their own games. It is oriented by the conviction that making games contributes to the development of technical skills and supports the development of social skills.

“Learning as acquisition” – the Acquisition Metaphor – is probably the most commonly invoked learning metaphor in English. It is evident in such phrases as “grasping the point,” “taking things in,” “getting it,” “picking things up,” “hard to swallow,” “remember this stuff,” and “cramming for the test.” It is not theoretically sophisticated, relying on the assumption that knowledge comprises externalized objects, and asserting that learning is a process of moving those objects from the outside to the inside.

Games and Learning encompasses research into the use of games in learning environments. Subtopics include creation of social and cultural worlds, communities of game play, and use of game-generated data. Currently the most prominent themes revolve around design principles to support student engagement, Meaningful Learning, learner self-concept, brain development, social interaction, and collaborative knowledge production.

Learning Transfer refers to instances of applying what is learned in one setting/task to an identifiably different setting/task. The extent to which it happens depends on such factors as the similarity of the situations, the motivations of the learner, mastery of the content, and prompts and interpretive assistance from a knowledgeable other. Various taxonomies (of types of transfer) and strategies (to encourage transfer) have been developed.

Self-Efficacy has to do with one’s belief in one’s capacities to meet challenges and reach goals. High Self-Efficacy is linked to effort, strategizing, persistence, and resilience on tasks. Low Self-Efficacy manifests as over-estimating task difficulty, sometimes-unpredictable behavior with engaged in tasks, and tendencies to link both successes and failures to luck or others.