DATE: 10 a.m. July 23 to 4 p.m. July 24 (plus an optional Gradecraft workshop 9 a.m. to noon July 25)

EVENT: The second Gameful Learning Summer Institute is intended for higher education faculty, K-12 teachers, instructional designers, education technology administrators and others interested in the gameful learning method. Attendees will hear how to encourage student ownership of learning.

“Anyone who watches someone play video games or board games or compete in athletic competitions knows that games are great at keeping people engaged,” said Rachel Niemer, director of strategic initiatives at the University of Michigan’s Office of Academic Innovation. “We also know that well-designed games are great learning environments, so this group of U-M faculty and staff have been taking inspiration from game-design principles for their course designs.”

The teaching approach has made its way from higher education to K-12 classrooms.

At Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, paper rocket ships help students improve their reading comprehension. In addition to doing exercises as a whole class, students are split into groups based on specific needs related to improving their reading levels. As a student reaches a goal or strengthens a skill, he sees his rocket ship advance further into space.

The strategy encourages students to engage with coursework by promoting a sense of autonomy, belonging and competence. Through exercises that are similar to playing video games, students actively learn and feel motivated to challenge themselves.

Peter Pasque, U-M lecturer and Ann Arbor Public School instructional technology lead teacher, was involved with the rocket ship game and worked on moving parts of it online. He also helped bring gameful learning to a magnet class.

Bringing this teaching style to classrooms has its challenges, and Pasque found it important to be transparent with students, explaining how their classroom structure would change and addressing difficulties they may face. He thinks teachers and administration need to understand that gameful learning is a big pedagogical change and that additional time and training is needed.

“I think that in order for gameful learning to be successfully integrated in the K-12 environment, it really takes a teacher that’s ready to make a pedagogical shift or has already made strides in that area,” Pasque said.

GLSI also features a half-day workshop on Gradecraft, a management system that supports the gameful learning strategy. Developed at U-M, Gradecraft has been implemented into more than 115 courses across U-M and other campuses.

PLACE: Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor

SPONSOR: U-M Office of Academic Innovation

INFORMATION: Registration