A Course Gamification Model for the Development of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Creative and imaginative thinking skills are an important criterion for professional success. They must be developed purposefully and methodically. Bloom's Taxonomy defines six levels of cognitive skills - Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. Students go through these levels sequentially during the learning process. The first three levels are defined as lower-order thinking skills and the next - as higher-order thinking skills. The learning process can be more beneficial if there are different game elements that motivate students to learn actively. The article proposes a formal model for gamification of a training course. It aims to identify the main steps and activities for a structural and substantive change of the training course, with special attention paid to the various opportunities to stimulate and the development of higher-order thinking skills. The notation Generalized Nets is used to describe the model. The proposed model can be adapted and used as a framework for gamification of existing training courses, as well as for the creation of new ones.

I. Introduction

The idea of gamification of the education process is not a new one, but last year it became relevant again. The massive shift to online learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic motivated teachers to look for ways to intrigue students and keep them in the digital learning environment.