Learning Theories

Tag: motivation

  • Dopamine, Games, and Motivation

    Dopamine, Games, and Motivation

    Summary: Dopamine plays a role in motivation, and this role is important to understand in the context of game design. Understanding how dopamine motivates can help game designers produce games that are interesting, effective, and ethical.

    Originators and Key Contributors: Henry Chase and Luke Clark presented a study in 2010 that suggested that dopamine was not linked to pleasure as previously understood. By studying groups of gamblers, they found that release of dopamine occurred whether there was a stressful situation presented or a rewarding one[1]. In 2012, a team of Vanderbilt researchers published a study with influential repercussions on our understanding of dopamine and its relationship to motivation. They found a difference in dopamine’s effects based on which areas of the brain expressed higher levels of it[2].

    Keywords: dopamine, motivation, addiction, game, reward

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  • Gamification in Education

    Gamification in Education

    Summary: Gamification describes the process of applying game-related principles — particularly those relating to user experience and engagement — to non-game contexts such as education.

    Originators and Key Contributors: In 1980, Thomas Malone published the study “What Makes Things to Learn: A Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games.”[1] Later, in 2002, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, based in Washington D.C., established the Serious Games Initiative to explore the application of game principles to public policy issues. From that initiative, gamification for education emerged and gradually evolved into a field of study. The term gamification was coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling[2][3]. Today, many game researchers including Katie Salen, founder of the Quest to Learn public school, Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute for the Future, and Joey J. Lee, Director of the Games Research Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University, have extended serious advancements in the application of gamification (or “gameful thinking”) to educational contexts.

    Keywords: gamification, education, learning, classroom, engagement, motivation

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  • Self-Theories (Dweck)

    Self-Theories (Dweck)

    Summary: Carol Dweck and others have Identified two implicit theories of intelligence.  Those learners who have an “entity” theory view intelligence as being an unchangeable, fixed internal characteristic.  Those who have an “incremental” theory believe that their intelligence is malleable and can be increased through effort.

    Originators: Carol Dweck, based on over 30 years of research on belief systems, and their role in motivation and achievement. 

    Key Terms: entity theory, incremental theory

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  • Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan)

    Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan)

    Summary: Self-Determination Theory is a theory of motivation and personality that addresses three universal, innate and psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and psychological relatedness.

    Originators: Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, psychologists at the University of Rochester.

    Key Terms: motivation, competence, autonomy, relatedness

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