In higher education, engaging students in foundational courses, especially those heavy in factual content can be a persistent challenge. In our foundation Nutritional Physiology course, we explored how gamified learning design can foster deeper engagement, active participation, and a stronger sense of ownership over learning.

Engagement needs a rethink

Traditional lecture-based approaches often struggle to sustain student interest, particularly in content-heavy disciplines. From a learning design perspective, we focus on backward design, where intended learning outcomes guide the structure and delivery of content. But outcomes alone don’t drive engagement — how students experience learning is equally critical.

What is gamified learning?

Gamified learning involves integrating elements from game design such as points, progress indicators, and team-based challenges into the learning environment. It’s not about playing games, but about creating conditions that encourage curiosity, persistence, and collaboration.

In our course, students didn’t play games for entertainment. Instead, they engaged with content as if they were playing a game, navigating quiz challenges, earning scores for teams, and working in teams in class.

“In-class quizzes were fun and helped me understand the topic better.”- Student voice 1

Designing for motivation: a psychological perspective

We drew on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to guide our design. This theory highlights three key psychological needs that drive motivation:

• Autonomy: Students had choices in how they approached tasks, such as selecting topics.
• Competence: Instant feedback and score-setting helped students track progress and build confidence.
• Relatedness: Team-based activities fostered a sense of community and collaboration.

“The competitive games helped me pinpoint how well I’m understanding and retaining the information. The first one really put me in check.” - Student voice 2

Examples from Practice

1. Murder Mystery Activity

Using Qualtrics, we designed an interactive mystery that required students to study course materials and apply reasoning to identify a fictional culprit. This activity promoted critical thinking and active engagement with content.

2. Canvas Scavenger Hunt

Students explored the Canvas modules to identify ingredients and guess a recipe during the first week of class. This activity helped them become familiar with the course structure while encouraging independent information-seeking.

Building Community Through Team Challenges

Students were randomly grouped into teams: Team Carbs, Team Protein, and Team Lipids. Each team received a fun mascot and took part in the “NutriQuest Championship Challenge,” earning a unique puzzle sticker for each week’s topic. Scores were tallied throughout the semester, with the overall winner announced at the end of the semester. This gamified approach created a more engaging and enjoyable revision experience for students with a team perspective.

“The in-class quiz that was designed was a fun way to implement what we have learnt.”- Student voice 3

Evidence of Impact

On the year that this activity was introduced, canvas analytics showed that 67.6% of students spent more than 20 hours engaging with course materials, an indicator of sustained participation and motivation. Gamification’s immediate capacity to boost student motivation and engagement encourages higher levels of active participation.

Final Reflections

Gamified learning is not just a trend. It’s a strategic approach to designing student-centred learning environments. While it may take considerable trial and error to determine what works best, when thoughtfully applied, game elements can enhance learning outcomes, foster motivation, and create a more dynamic and inclusive classroom experience.

As educators, we must ensure that these design choices serve clear pedagogical purposes. When they do, they can transform not just how students learn, but how they feel about learning.

Blog post Authors:

• Dr Jing Ye
• Dr Julia Low

Banner image generated by ChatGPT

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the collaborative support from the Learning Design and Development team at STEM College Learning Teaching Quality Portfolio in creating digital media assets for this course. Special thanks to:

• Tom Cotton, Senior Learning Designer
• Jody Cleaver, Learning Designer
• Louis An, Digital Media Developer

Their expertise and creativity were instrumental in bringing our gamified learning vision to life.