There are two major things happening in my hybrid course redesign – pulling the content to be tighter with the learning outcomes, and trying to rethink the class to fit with the kinds of storytelling we teach. (Transmedia). The big idea that I am trying to think through is finding a way to make an entire course a game. There are several approaches:
Normally, I teach games in a limited sense. We play on a set day with teams. This works, but is confined to a single session of a class.
A second larger game can take multiple classes.
An illegal game would use student grades as a form of scoring. This would not be optimal, but it really would hot wire motivation into the core of the game.
A legal, but sort of boring game, would use a token economy. I am not sure that college students want to have bathroom passes…
There must be a way to make the entire course into a compelling game, my current idea might involve a yellow jersey type system from the Tour de France, but then, what do I tie that to?
Yes, unfortunately FERPA regulations prevent the public distribution of any kind of scoring system, but some workarounds that I’ve heard from other instructors suggest extra credit, or as you say, some kind of token economy. I wonder if you could tie that to assignment exemptions? If you email me, I can send you a principles handout that I picked up from Kevin Yee, who came to the POD conference last year. (steve DOT roberts AT oregonstate DOT edu)