ALES Gamification for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Lead and Host Institution: Lietuvos inžinerijos kolegija (Lithuania) — Dovile Valantiejiene, PhD

Gamification is everywhere in higher education right now: points, badges, leaderboards, quests. But does it work? The honest answer: it depends entirely on how thoughtfully it’s designed. Recent research shows gamified teaching reliably lifts motivation and engagement. However, its impact on genuine learning remains unpredictable; courses designed without a clear understanding of how motivation operates often fail, regardless of their game-like appearance.

Two hours won’t turn anyone into a game designer, and this session doesn’t pretend otherwise. By the end, participants will have a clearer sense of what makes a learning activity, assignment, or feedback-and-assessment moment feel motivating rather than merely being decorated with game elements. Also, why so many well-intentioned attempts quietly backfire, including rewards that undermine students’ own interest in the material. Participants will leave with a simple way to judge whether a design choice will help or hurt, both for individual students and for groups working together, as well as a few concrete starting points worth experimenting with in their own teaching. It is designed for educators from all disciplines and requires no prior expertise in gamification or game design.

• Understand what makes gamification effective in higher education.
• Recognise the difference between meaningful gamification and the simple use of points, badges, or leaderboards.
• Identify common gamification mistakes that can reduce student motivation.
• Apply basic gamification principles to their own teaching activities.
• Reflect on how gamification can support student engagement and learning.
• Develop an initial idea for using gamification in their own course or learning activity.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the core psychological and design principles behind effective gamification, and their relevance to teaching and learning in higher education.
• Apply gamification in the practical context of learning activities, assignments and feedback or assessment moments.
• Critically evaluate gamification choices, identifying design pitfalls that undermine intrinsic motivation, exclude some learners, or lack a clear theoretical grounding.
• Sketch an initial idea for their own teaching context, to develop and try out further after the course.

This course is designed for teaching staff from ACE²-EU partner universities across all disciplines who want to move beyond superficial gamification techniques toward evidence-based, motivation-focused design. It is particularly suitable for educators seeking to strengthen student engagement and reflect critically on when and why to introduce gamification into their teaching.

Apply here: https://forms.gle/BJs5gq7UsKo2D2Qh7

Deadline for receipt of applications: 24 September 2026

A Microsoft Teams calendar invitation will be sent to all registered teaching staff.