Presentation provided to the St. Louis Metropolitan Chapter of ASTD. It used an interactive story format to convey the message that thinking like a game developer is critical to creating engaging instructional design.

1. Creating Learner
Engagement Through
Gamification
By Karl M. Kapp
Bloomsburg University
Gamification of Learning &Instruction
EMAIL: kkapp@bloomu.edu
TWITTER: @kkapp
BLOG: http://karlkapp.com/kapp‐notes/

2. Covert Takeaway Challenge

3. Notes
Slides
Additional Ideas
www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes

8. We’ve learned and struggled for a few
years here figuring out how to make a
decent phone. PC guys are not going
to just figure this out.
They’re not going to just walk in.
--Palm CEO Ed Colligan, 16 Nov 2006

9. This is our best iPhone launch yet — more than
9 million new iPhones sold — a new record for
first weekend sales—Tim Cook, 2013.
Palm sold to HP in 2010, by 2011
Palm was done.

10. ENIAC's main control panel

15. 4
2
3

19. What variables do I
balance to keep my
person happy?
Work Life Harmony
How should I
manage my time?

20. What leadership
strategy should I
use?

24. Not another
online
lecture.

25. Sorry, had you
on mute, could
you repeat the
question.

26. I am going to
need more
coffee.

27. “Study of 2,300 people found only 6% of
organizations are successful in influencing
behavior change among employees.”
‐‐Al Switzler

28. New
Instructional
Approaches
are Needed

29. Gamification

30. Gamification
Lots of Hype

31. Gartner Group predicts by 2015, 40 percent
of Global 1000 organizations will use
gamification as the primary mechanism to
transform business operations.

32. Gartner Group predicts that by 2014, 80
percent of current gamified applications
will fail to meet business objectives,
primarily due to poor design.

33. What is this “game” stuff?
Gamification is
the use of gaming
elements
integrated into a
training program
aligned goals to
promote change
in behavior
Game-based
Learning is the
use of a game to
teach knowledge,
skills and abilities
to learners using
a self-contained
space.
Simulation
Learning is a
realistic, controlledrisk environment
where learners can
practice specific
behaviors and
experience the
impacts of their
decisions.

34. Adding points, badges and
leaderboard to any training
does not instantly make it
awesome!

35. Fishy… if it was that easy…this would be the most engaging
game in the world.

36. 20% increase in profile completion.

37. What can you do?
Intelligently add game elements to
instruction. Use points, rewards
and badges to convey
meaning…not simply completion.

38. Gamification
Elements that
Aid Learning
1. Story
2. Challenge
3. Mystery
4. Characters/Avatar
5. Challenge
6. Levels
7. Feedback
8. Replayability
9. Freedom to Fail
10.Asethetics
11.Time
12.Rewards

39. Gamification
Elements that
Aid Learning
1. Story
2. Challenge
3. Mystery
4. Characters/Avatar
5. Challenge
6. Levels
7. Feedback
8. Replayability
9. Freedom to Fail
10.Asethetics
11.Time
12.Rewards
NOT Enough Time 

40. The Dragon Slayer Mission

41. Rules
• A statement is presented
– Choose the best response
• Text Keyword Response:
– To 37607
Standard Texting Fees
Apply!
Take out
your text‐
machines

42. How To Respond via Texting
Amaze
Inamaze
alright
TIPS
1. Polleverywhere has no access to your phone number
2. Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling do
Amaze

43. The Dragon Slayer Mission

44. You are a game designer at ABC
Corporation which has hit some hard times lately.

46. As a game development company, we
are competing for a major project.
So we are going to break into teams
and see which team earns the right
to work on the project.
The game is about
slaying dragons.

47. Each team will be confronted with a
series of questions. The team that
answers the questions correctly wins
the work.

48. What about the other team?

49. Losers polish off their resumes
and hit the pavement. Times
are tight.

50. Harsh!

51. Let’s get started. Divide
into teams.

52. Two Development Teams
teama
teamb

53. First decision about this dragon slaying
game is how to start the game…what
should the players first in-game
experience be?

54. We have two choices, Begin:
by telling the player three things he/she needs
to know about slaying dragons.
or
with a fight between the player and a small,
dangerous dragon.

55. Why does this answer make
sense?
Action draws in the player right away.
Slaying dragons is fun.
Creates an awareness of the unknown.

56. Good game designers know that games
are engaging because they require action
right away.
Action is not passive, it draws in the
player and encourages further
engagement. Start by battling the small
dragon.

57. Ok, next decision.
Provide a map with the location of all
the dragons.
or
Reveal location information about the
dragons only discovered.

58. A sense of suspense, mystery and
intrigue draws people into games.
Inevitably, when playing a game,
players become curious. It is always a
good idea to build curiosity into a
game. Reveal locations and information
“as needed.”

59. Why did you make this choice?
Curiosity evokes cognitive dissonance.
or
Not knowing everything at once is fun.

60. Here are some of my
notes on the subject.

61. OK, next decision, should we:
Make the game easy so we don’t discourage the
players.
or
Make the game challenging, knowing some
players will fail the first few times.

62. It needs to be challenging.
Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology
for educational reform. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing
better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Chapter 2
“The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

63. In fact, give them the
Kobayashi Maru of challenges.

64. Harsh!

65. Look! Good games give players a set of
challenging problems and let them solve those
problems until they can do it automatically.
Then those same games throw a new class of
problem at the players requiring them to rethink, their now—taken for granted—mastery.
They must learn something new and integrate
into their old mastery.

66. Well said!

67. Actually, my good friend James Paul
Gee said those words, I’m quoting
him.

68. Always good to cite
sources!

69. Well, the next decision, should we:
Put the player at risk, they could die at any
moment.
or
Let the player safely explore the environment.

70. Seriously, you are asking me
this question. The player needs
to be at risk.

71. No risk, or danger equal no skin in
the game.
Get the player emotionally involved
by putting him or her at “mock”
risk.

72. Last decision, should we:
Give player choices about what level to enter
the game.
or
Create one path for every player.

73. Choices, players need choices. Look,
let me tell you what motivates
people.

74. People are motivated when they have
autonomy, mastery and relatedness.

75. Hey, isn’t that the Self-Determination Theory?

76. Why, yes…yes it is.

77. Ok, so which team won?

78. Well, there all winners to me….

79. Ugh….

80. How about a re-cap…

81. Here are five tips to help an instructional
designer to think like a game designer:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Begin with activity
Create curiosity, mystery, intrigue
Create a challenge for the learner
Put learners at “mock” risk
Give learners choices

82. In addition, we used some
other elements to help you
learn about gamification:
Story
Characters

83. Researchers have found that the
human brain has a natural affinity for
narrative construction.
Yep, People tend to remember facts
more accurately if they encounter
them in a story rather than in a list.
And they rate legal arguments as more
convincing when built into narrative
tales rather than on legal precedent.
Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green
http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and
Instruction.

84. Avatar as Teacher
Research indicates that learners perceive,
interact socially with and are influenced by
anthropomorphic agents (avatars) even when
their functionality and adaptability are limited.
Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

85. Putting it All Together

87. ExactTarget is a global marketing organization focused
on digital marketing tools – email, mobile, and web
and was recently purchased by Salesforce.com.
ExactTarget is a leading cloud marketing platform
used by more than 6,000 companies including Coca‐
Cola, Gap and Nike.

88. Introducing a new product, MobileConnect and
wanted to bring the sales force up‐to‐speed on the
features and functionality of the product.

89. VENDOR
http://www.theknowledgeguru.com/

96. Player Results
“I can’t tell you how many people are coming to me wanting another
game solution.”
“The repetition of the different paths helped me retain the information.”
“I’m a pretty competitive person so challenging myself to get one of the
top scores added a layer of fun to learning about the MobileConnect
product.”
“The game was a fun way to learn about MobileConnect. I enjoyed the
scenario‐type questions, which put it all into context.”

97. Business Results
Average contract value 2x higher than for previous mobile product.
First call resolution ($35 a call/average) is up 45%.
Of all the launches done in the previous two years prior to
MobileConnect, the sales team built the quickest pipeline for this
product.

98. Business Results
Average contract value 2x higher than for previous mobile product.
First call resolution ($35 a call/average) is up 45%.
Of all the launches done in the previous two years prior to
MobileConnect, the sales team built the quickest pipeline for this
product.
Larsen DP, Butler AC, Roediger HL 3rd. Repeated testing improves long‐term retention relative to repeated study: a randomized controlled
trial. Med Educ 43: 1174–1181, 2009.
Dobson, J. L. (2013) Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information Advances
in Physiology Education 37: 184–191, 2013; doi:10.1152/advan.00174.2012.

99. One study revealed retention
benefits of between 35% and 61%
with average of 41%.
Dobson, J. L. (2013) Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information Advances
in Physiology Education 37: 184–191, 2013; doi:10.1152/advan.00174.2012

100. Agenda
• Five Bottom Line Case Studies
– Retail
– Marketing Product
– On Boarding
• Quick Engagement Case Studies
• Lessons Learned

101. Pep Boys has over 700 stores in 35 states and
Puerto Rico; those stores have more than 7,000
service bays. Does over $2 billion dollars of
business a year by focusing on meeting the needs
of the do‐it‐yourself crowd as well as people who
come in for routine and emergency services and
sales to professional garages.

102. Associates received daily reinforcement of
the monthly safety and loss prevention
training.
In a quiz‐type game, associates answer quick,
targeted questions related to risk, loss
prevention, safety, and operational policies
and procedures—standard questions in these
areas.

103. If they answered correctly, they played a slot‐
machine game titled “Quiz to Win” for a chance to
win cash prizes
If answered incorrectly, the system immediately
presented a short training piece designed to
specifically address the topic covered in the initial
question. Questions repeated at various intervals
until the associate demonstrated mastery of the
topic.

104. Business Results
• Voluntary participation rate of over 95 %.
• Safety incidents and claim counts reduced by more than 45%
with an increase in the number of stores and employees.
• Reduction in shrinkage has been at a level of 55 %.
• In the case of internal loss, each time a burst of content related
to employee theft is pushed out, they see at least a 60%
increase in their “Integrity Pays” hotline calls, resulting in a
direct reduction in inventory loss.

105. A study using a randomized control group conducted a
trial between Aug 10, 2009, and Nov 30, 2012, at ten
sites in southeast India with over 500 subjects.
Working Indian men (aged 35—55 years) with impaired
glucose tolerance were randomly assigned to either a
mobile phone messaging intervention or standard care.
Ramachandran, A. et. al. Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in
India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11
September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

106. “Use stairs instead of
an Elevator”
“Avoid snacks while watching
TV; you may overeat. “
Ramachandran, A., et. al.., Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in
India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11
September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

107. Lowered risk of developing
Type 2 diabetes by 36%.
Ramachandran, A., et. al.., Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in
India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11
September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

108. Covert Takeaway Challenge

110. Copy of Slides and Notes available at
www.karlkapp.com
Contact Karl at:
kkapp@bloomu.edu

111. Covert Takeaways
•
•
•
•
Learning should be engaging.
Stories provide a context for learning.
It is ok for a learner to struggle.
Simply adding points, badges and
leaderboards does not make learning
effective.