Digital Gamified Learning Platform for Advancing Creative and Entrepreneurial Competences

Challenge

Creativity is a skill that is hard to advance through traditional teaching approaches. It requires deliberate and continuous practice, something that is hard to support in ordinary classroom teaching and even harder to support in out-of-class study activities. How could it be possible to develop a digital learning platform to help support students in higher education advancing their creative skills in a fun and engaging way?  

Partners

Chinese Academy of Sciences, Complutense University, The Edward de Bono Institute for the Development and Design of Thinking.

Approach

We developed a systematic approach for the continuous development of creativity through digital gamified learning. In this project, we focused on advancing the creative skills related to originality, fluency, flexibility, elaborative and persuasive skills, imagination and creative self-efficacy. The practice was designed as a game platform using avatars, story outline, instant feedback, achievements and point systems. The learning platform has ten games and is equivalent to about 50 hours of educational study time focused on the development of creativity to become like second nature. 

Obstacles/outcomes

The digital gamified learning was tested on 200 students in higher education using a controlled experimental research design. It showed significant effects on the increase of the students’ creative skills. Also, a series of questionnaires and interviews have been conducted with educators and students to understand better the effects and for better understanding the potential for integrating the learning platform in existing educational activities. The results showed that students and educators found it useful, fun and meaningful, but also that it was difficult to integrate into existing educational activities.