Exploring gamification as a teaching strategy in changing times

The use of active learning strategies, such as games, can have a positive impact on student learning, including processing and retaining information. In challenging times, teachers are expected to be equipped with such teaching strategies to help students adapt to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous study environment. In teacher education, it is necessary to provide guidance to preservice teachers concerning ways of designing courses that incorporate gamification as an instructional strategy to meet the needs of diverse students. This chapter reports on a case study of an undergraduate teacher education course concerning the application of gamification strategies. Specifically, the study explored the effectiveness of using a quiz-style PowerPoint games pedagogy to facilitate student teachers' learning, with the MDA framework: mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics of gamification referenced during the design process. Twenty undergraduate student teachers participated in the study. Students' opinions regarding the implementation of gamification were collected by a questionnaire employing the flow scale and through focus-group interviews. Findings revealed that the design elicited enjoyment, motivation, flow, and learning, with the design not appearing to cause exam anxiety. However, the experience was not entirely positive for all students; certain students expressed concerns regarding a decrease in motivation to learn caused by gamified assessments. Suggestions are made based on lessons learned to improve the gamification environment and the development of a quiz-style PowerPoint games pedagogy. This chapter closes with implications for teacher educators with respect to raising the awareness of preservice teachers concerning the importance of integrating gamification elements into their future teaching. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.