Grrrrrr! There’s that sensation again! That burning feeling. The feeling of being powerless. You want to study, but you can’t seem to think straight. Everyone goes through this stage when studying a particular topic that feels impossible. In times like these, you need a more powerful means to motivate yourself to conquer your workload. One way to achieve this is to use the principle of “gamification.” If this term sounds alien to you, read this article and learn how you can gamify your studies and study more productively than you’ve ever studied before.
What is Gamification of Learning?
Have you ever experienced the addictive qualities of video games? When you become absorbed in games like Assassin’s Creed and Tomb Raider motivating yourself to work your way through different levels seems effortless. You force yourself to continue and before you know it hours have passed by and you have worked your way through various levels. Now, don’t you wish if only there were a way to make studying as compelling as playing games?
The good news is that there is! Its called gamification of learning and it involves applying principles of video games to studying. Incorporating elements of gaming such as narrative, design, leaderboard and reward schemes can make learning more fun, and it can help boost your motivation and develop productivity. In the rest of the article, we will discuss ways to gamify your study routine and how you can reap benefits from it?
Incorporating Narrative Into your Studies
One of the strong elements of video games, what makes them compelling is the narrative. There is a storyline that carries you along that makes you curious to find out what happens next. One way of incorporating a narrative into studies involves learning via invented scenarios. For example, while studying simple harmonic motion, create a scenario where you are trapped in enemy territory and you are placed in a room with a huge swinging pendulum. Now, to make the pendulum to stop swinging, you have to learn about SHM to get out of the room. It takes a bit of effort and creativity, but it is worth it because it makes studying more fun and cooperative.
Creating A Gamified Study Environment
If you consider yourself too old for childish games, then they are a few things that you can do to gamify your study environment. The method works particularly well when you do it with friends. One way of doing this is to take on a persona as they would do in video games. You could do this with a theme based on the subject that you are studying. For example, if you are studying science concepts like the dimensional formula and quantum mechanics, each one of your friends can take on the persona of different scientists and represent the views of the scientists that each one of you all have chosen.
So next time you find yourself struggling and you need some stimulus to help you get back on track, think about ways to incorporate your favourite video game into your learning. Gamifying your studies alter your perspective on education by equating it with something you associate as fun. So what are you waiting for? Start practicing the tips mentioned in the article and score better marks in the exam this time.
