Design and development of gamified teaching and learning activities (TLAs) for quantity surveying (QS) students in learning measurement

Abstract

Current teaching methods do not seem to align with the needs of modern learners, prompting the adoption of innovative approaches such as gamification and technology integration. The aim of this study is to design and develop gamified Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) for Quantity Surveying (QS) students in learning measurement, which is achieved through the following objectives; [1] identifying the students’ characteristic and preferences; [2] designing TLAs with Learning Mechanics (LMs) and Gamification Elements (GEs); and [3] developing and proposing gamified TLAs. The research strategy employs Design and Development Research (DDR) and ADDIE (ID) model phases comprising; Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. The data collection techniques involve questionnaire surveys and structured interviews. As for the first research objective, the identified LMs and GEs that align with students’ characteristics and preferences are: discover, explore, generalisation, objectify, question and answer, task/ action, demonstration, analyse, identify, observation, shadowing, hypothesis, incentive, motivation, reflect and discuss, accountability and responsibility, ownership, as well as planning; and theme, narrative/ story, on-boarding, signposting, progression and feedback, curiosity/ mystery box, time dependent reward, fixed reward schedule and random reward, respectively. The students’ preferred Player Type (PT) is Philanthropist, leading to the integration of GEs: meaning/ purpose, caretaking, access, collect and trade, gifting/ sharing and sharing knowledge. The learning environment analysis discovered that most students have good access to the internet, able to participate and submit online task, own a laptop and a smartphone as a learning tool and prefer blended learning as the study mode. Overall, most students agreed with the integration of GEs into the design of TLAs in learning measurement. For the second research objective, the evaluation with the experts lead to adjustments of the structured design of TLAs i.e., LM, and the inclusion of element repetition as a new GE into the design. While for the third research objective, students agreed with the proposed development of the gamified TLAs and the integration of GEs into the TLAs, which would potentially help increase motivation and engagement, induce positive learning attitude and aid students to feel more excited in learning measurement.