Leveling Up for the Teacher-Practitioner

The literature on the uses of gamification in education is increasingly popularizing the implementation of game elements in nongame environments, but the scholarship tends to remain theoretical and lacks a focus on practical application for educators seeking to utilize gamified methods. This article focuses on the design and implementation of gamified leveling-up systems that promote greater student motivation. A previous qualitative study was conducted in which 15 high school teachers were interviewed to discover their perceptions on their use of gamification methods in their curricula. Among all teacher participants, five of them specifically utilized leveling-up systems. I conducted a secondary analysis of a larger qualitative study on the implementation of secondary school educators’ use of gamification methods. Some examples of gamified leveling-up frameworks include the use of additional associated applications such as thematic instruction, incentivized point systems, badging, and leaderboards. Results of this secondary analysis helped me identify and define three different models of gamified frameworks.