Towards Scalable Gamified Assessment in Support of Collaborative Problem-Solving Competency Development in Online and Blended Learning

Abstract

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an important competency for life and career success. Promoting the development of CPS skills requires robust CPS assessment. This paper describes a gamified stealth CPS assessment used within a collaborative inquiry science curriculum. A pilot deployment included 196 middle school students from multiple schools in the United States. Results showed the sample was balanced in terms of measured skill performance and completion time. Future directions include the extension to teacher authoring and the deployment of this gamified assessment approach to additional contexts, such as workforce training and credentialing in large-scale online courses.