Led by Lauren Davidson and the Learning Lab Team
Schedule: Wednesdays, 1:30–3:30 pm, February 6–March 13
Location: 50 Church Street 308 (Learning Lab)
Category: Methods

We all know games, at least in some sense. In particular, we know how good they are at motivating and engaging us—games are addictive! But most of us haven’t given any real thought to the mechanics that make games so engaging: challenge level that adapts to our skill; continuous feedback via rewards and penalties; timers; stories and surprises; structured interactions with other people, to name a few. Through these mechanics, games have much to teach us about designing classroom experiences. While we won’t necessarily design games in this seminar, over the course of six weeks in the Learning Lab we’ll build a toolkit of game mechanics and principles that we can incorporate into our assignment and course design. As we build this toolkit, we’ll also deploy it. Each week we’ll (1) explore a new mechanic or principle, (2) reflect on how this mechanic might be used in the classroom to generate excitement, add challenge, or structure activities, and (3) design assignments and activities that incorporate the mechanic for our courses. Along the way, we’ll be getting feedback from the Learning Lab Undergraduate Fellows who test the materials we produce in the Learning Lab.