AI-enabled gamification for learning and assessment

Abstract

Games and gamification can potentially inform and transform learning by providing meaningful and engaging learning environments. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and systems in education is envisaged as an opportunity to provide students with adaptive and personalized learning, especially in the context of mobile learning and assessment. However, such endeavors highly contrast with the provision of standardized test-driven curricula, which continue to force assessment practices to endure a meagreness of pedagogical innovation and transformation (Perrotta and Whitelock 2017) and which remain the fixation of formal educational institutions (Hazelkorn 2014). This short paper comprises of the initial theoretical framework for a proposed academic research, which seeks to critically analyze the traditional quantification of learning and the processes for measuring and certifying academic achievement, in view of a more adaptive, personalized and engaging learning and assessment experience, put forth and underpinned by gamification and AI. Consequently, the main research question that will be addressed is: What is the effect of AI-powered gamification on students’ learning and assessment experience? A mixed-methods approach involving both qualitative and quantitative data at different stages of the research will be adopted. A number of distinct data sources will be targeted, including students, educators, game designers and AI scientists. The proposed research, has the potential to contribute new and original insights to the body of knowledge and practice in the fields of Gamification and Artificial Intelligence, whilst providing a solid foundation for future academic studies.