Primary students' enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of video games and gadgets is unmatched and a joy to see in full flow. The team that came up with the project titled: “Effective Learning through Gamification of Education Material for Students” funded by the Government of Uganda and the Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund (RIF) has ably demonstrated this.
A team of seven brilliant minds led by Professor Benjamin Kanagwa have turned learning materials of STEM (Science, Technology and Mathematics) subjects and fused them into a gaming experience for students. Topics like digestion, blood circulation, and mathematics have been developed into a full gaming experience to the appeasement of learners.
Professor Benjamin Kanagwa, Principal Investigator on the project
“In Gamification, we look at the fun and entertainment elements and put them into the learning environment,” says Prof. Kanagwa. The objective of the project is to improve the learning, motivation and retention of Science and mathematics so that the students can enjoy the subjects with creativity and fun.
Pupils at Nakasero Primary School, Kampala play one of the games
The composition of the games was done with the participation of teachers and programmers who played a vital role in design, set up and objective of the games. The three gamification technologies developed for the learners are:
● Gasto trick: Looks at the process of digestion in humans
● Kamati: Mathematics game
● Blood Cruise: Blood circulation game
Usergame interfaces
A component of motivation is embedded within the game, whereby one earns points after exceeding a particular level. This is intended to provide the kind of appreciation students obtain at school when they excel in a particular subject or topic.
(Video of game demonstration)
The project seeks to continue developing more games for STEM subjects with the aim of achieving an increase in appreciation, uptake and enjoyment of these subjects from an early learning stage.
The project team led by Professor Benjamin Kanagwa (fourth from Left)
You can watch the video below to see how gaming works.
