Didn't this happen a while ago? Maybe i'm thinking of something else.

Anyway, i wish i was graded this way, would've made my school years a lot better :/

I actually support that. Instead of a bad test holding you down on your grades, you could make up for it with actual growth.

An interesting idea. I don't see what the huge difference between the experience points system and an actual letter grade are, but meh. Sounds amusing, to say the least. What do you get when you level up?

Best.
Teacher.
Ever.

I want to go to that school

This is a bloody good idea IMO

So wait. Let me see if I understand this correctly. Instead of letter grades, which are based upon how many points you have, he has switched to an xp system, which will determine their final grade based upon...how many points they have?

This just reminds me of that XKCD comic about making the link between xp and levelling up and working out in real life. Just with education, not exercise.

Now if only they had achievements my uni work would be so much better.

50g - Perseverance: Attended uni with a hangover.

bz316:
So wait. Let me see if I understand this correctly. Instead of letter grades, which are based upon how many points you have, he has switched to an xp system, which will determine their final grade based upon...how many points they have?

But the points aren't based entirely on a final exam. It's mostly on the year's work. And if it appeals to his students and makes them work, then maybe that's what it takes.

No no no, instead of that, the grade should be based on our WoW characters.

The general idea behind this is perfect. It is better than the system where a pass or fail for a class is determined on one moment in time and space. Being ill at such a point is catastrophic.
A system where people get grades for smaller achievements to culminate is far better.

Bonelord:
Didn't this happen a while ago? Maybe i'm thinking of something else.

Anyway, i wish i was graded this way, would've made my school years a lot better :/

It did. I remember talking about this at least a month ago. I can only find a couple stories about it from february though, but I'm sure I'll find the old story in my feeds.

I think this would actually motivate me so much. To get through an essay I have to imagine its like a big boss fight, with each paragraph I write being an attack on it, the damage relevant to how good my points are. Then the conclusion of my essay is like a Limit Break.

By the way, the story should have mentioned Jesse Schell's video about the future of gaming somewhere. He mentions this idea specifically.

Imperator Nick:
HTML Fail

It's BBcode, not HTML.

IU, eh? Well, that college very well may have pushed itself up above Purdue now. Yay Indiana; GO CORN!

This would have helped me finish school I think. The idea of gradual and easy to understand progress through a course, even if only a thin veil over the curriculum, would have been refreshing. I do have an interesting thought. What if this practice were taken to it's furthest degree? In The Tao of Leveling Brett discusses his own personal level through life. He also takes the idea to stat points and skill points.. Could we one day, instead of getting grades, earn "specialties", like in the World of Darkness games? Get an A+ in Math 11, get a 3 dot specialty for Math 11.

Could a resume one day look like a character sheet for a Pen and Paper RPG?

Wow. That's a pretty awesome idea, I've got to say. I can definately see that being a motivation to get your work done.

1337 idea.

Certainly an interesting attempt at motivating student as since everything you do got you points you would feel like nothing is pointless. I know from my own experience you sort of prioritise the tasks/write-ups that influence the greater percentage of your final grades over the smaller tasks. If it all meant something I would certainly treat every task the same and give them all equal priority; I like it!

Sounds awesome. I'd love a system like that, just to watch my teacher's try to keep a straight face as I level up in front of them.

I'd be level 70 scholar by the end of the year!

People generally look at this in a much too shallow, abstract way.

The reason this works is that the reward structure is better designed. A typical course involves the following:

A long period of work. Several months, with little indication of how well one is doing beyond self-evaluation and minor bumps to the score/grade along the way.

A brief crunch period at the end in order to gather all the knowledge ("power", "energy"?) built up along the process in order to spend it in one chance at a score boost.

The actual skill-based challenge. One try, no extra lives, limited continues that send you back to the beginning of the stage.

A variable score depending on several factors, all tallied at once.

Now, a RPG like system based on XP as applied to education is more like this:

Several "active" quests simultaneously with different time lengths.

Mini or side-quests get completed early, provide xp boosts. Level-up starts to build up as the main quest is ongoing.

At some point through the main quest, subquests prompt a level-up. You go from D to C already. You get loot and skill points, so there is a medium sized reward early in addition to all the mini rewards for quest completion.

The grind goes on. Mid-sized guild raids (team work) are provided and solved. Levelling up happens again.

If there is a final exam, it is built like a boss fight... but since players have been grinding for a year, failure is not catastrophic. You still have your level (a B?) rather than losing all your progress if you die.

So, beyond the gaming-based wording, this is an application of a clever psychological trick. You feel more rewarded by small real bonuses than by the potential of a big one at the end (it's the reason why people lose all their savings on slot machines, but not in the lottery). This works in classes that are not gaming-related because it is built with the reward structure of games. Games are self-contained, self-explanatory systems. They are systems that explain themselves to players by rewarding them for learning the game with in-game prizes. This is nothing new, marketing types have been using this to make sure you eat in the same restaurant (buy five meals, get one free!) and buy in the same supermarket (get a 20% off in your next visit for a purchase over 20$!) for ages. What is happening is games are becoming an accepted industry and, like the narrative techniques of film were implemented to education and politics, the reward and information devices of videogames are now being considered for other areas.

Phew. I think I got a bit carried away there. It's an interesting subject...

JRCB:
An interesting idea. I don't see what the huge difference between the experience points system and an actual letter grade are, but meh. Sounds amusing, to say the least. What do you get when you level up?

Hmm... from what I can tell, the main difference is that the EXP. system is almost purely a point-based system, rather than a percentile grade system (which is what the traditional letter grade system is like). Ideally, however, for an "Experience Points" system to work, and make sense with in-game experience points systems... I think each "quest" or project/assignment/quiz/whatever, would need to have its "EXP gain" based on how difficult the assignment generally is. If the teacher/prof. implementing such a system wanted to take it further... additional EXP points could be awarded for students challenging themselves, or coming up with especially clever solutions to various problems that a given project would present.

Sorry... I'm the child of two teachers.

Greg Tito:
And then when I finally level up, I could tell my manager to f*ck off and give that job to the noobs.

Ah, yes, the Fuck-You Perk. Comes in handy.

Wow, that's actually pretty awesome.
Now I feel really stupid, since I'm leaving for Pennsylvania when I could just stay home here in Indiana and get taught by this guy. He seems to definitely know what he's doing.

So explain to me how this is any different from how we currently measure aptitude? This just seems like we've rebranded Shine-o-la here...am I wrong?

buy teh haloz:

This pretty much sum the whole thing up. I just wish they did this over here (the xp in lieu of grades thing, not the picture)

I bet this would work better than new math....