TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF GAMIFICATION USING PRINCIPLES OF COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY THEORY

Abstract

It is the faculty of human brain called Cognitive flexibility that helps people to think divergently and arrive at solutions to the problem they face by multiple paths. The cognitive tasks are often considered as effortful and frustrating and hence the inclusion of game elements in the cognitive tasks helps students to motivate themselves and engage in a particular task. People who have greater flexibility in thinking find solutions of a problem by creative thinking and analysing different choices before they reach a conclusion. This increases the self -efficacy of the students which is one of the main theories behind gamification. Here is a study to analyse the relation between cognitive flexibility and gamification in learning two different subject areas-Science and English. The researchers selected a sample of 30 students and 30 teachers in private and public schools of Kerala. The Researchers used Kahoot, Moodle and Duolingo to design the learning tasks. The researchers used experimental study to collect quantitative data, and qualitative data is collected through survey method. Questionnaires were emailed to the teachers and students of samples selected. Data collected is analysed by statistical t-test. The results of the study reveal that students’ think more creatively and retain more information if the teachers include gamification in their lesson plans. Keywords: Gamification, Cognitive flexibility, academic achievement, Moodle, Kahoot, Duolingo.