Why students love a game-based learning experience

For as long as children have preferred playing to sitting quietly and learning their ABCs, preschool teachers have been craftily devising games as Trojan horses to teach them concepts such as shapes, letter recognition, colors, seasons and relationships.

Gamification in learning is an established trend, and uses the core elements of what make games fun – mastery, narrative, instant feedback, competition, and reward, to create new ways for learners to internalize information. But while teenagers still find learning algebra nowhere near as much fun as playing Assassin’s Creed, successes in classrooms across the world abound.

Most students accept that when they advance beyond pre-school their studies will become less fun, and more the application of rigor, dedication and plain old hard work. However, the growing trend of gamification – defined as adding game elements to a non-game environment – has begun to inspire teachers to apply game elements to advanced grades, older age-groups and more challenging curricula.