Tara Kingsley | Indiana University Kokomo (original) (raw)

Papers by Tara Kingsley

College Teaching, 2021

Meaningful gamification is the use of game elements and play to build engagement and help learner... more Meaningful gamification is the use of game elements and play to build engagement and help learners find personal connections in real-world settings. This study examined the impact of meaningful gamification design on preservice teachers' perceptions, performance, and motivation levels within a gamified lesson planning unit. Participants were enrolled in a language arts teacher preparation course at a regional campus over five semesters. Results show meaningful gamification incorporating mastery learning and leveled curriculum created a learning condition where preservice teachers surpassed expectations and felt intrinsically motivated. Challenges to gamification included waiting on feedback and learning within a new format.

Computers & Education Open, 2023

Researchers and instructors are turning to gamification and self-determination theory for need-su... more Researchers and instructors are turning to gamification and self-determination theory for need-supporting, student motivation for learning. Using a mixed methods approach over two school years, we examined how an elementary science teacher successfully implemented gamification in a blended learning environment to meet students' psychological needs. Through observations and interviews, we analyzed the mechanics and dynamics within the gamification design. Next, for a deeper understanding of applied motivation theory, we examined the teacher's use of motivational and cognitive scaffolds in the design. Students participating in the gamified classroom experienced both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations but reported higher levels of autonomous motivation. Additionally, students reported high levels of the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, stating that the classroom was need-supporting. As a case study of an authentic, teacher-designed, need-supporting elementary classroom, this study adds a unique perspective to the educational gamification literature. Importantly for gamification exploration, we describe the cognitive and social scaffolds that created the need-supporting context, which illustrate the holistic aspects of gamification where multiple mechanisms produce a gamified environment.

Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology,, 2023

The growth in online education has prompted a focus on ensuring students are engaged, persistent,... more The growth in online education has prompted a focus on ensuring students are engaged, persistent, and successful in their studies. A recognized challenge with online learning is developing a community of learners, where students feel connected to their peers and instructor and experience a sense of belonging. In this article, we highlight using the platform Flip to engage students in videobased discussions. We describe our use of Flip in two online asynchronous courses and provide recommendations for instructors seeking to embed this tool in the learning experiences they develop for their students. In addition, we present our students' perspectives on belonging within the course and their use of Flip, collected using an anonymous survey. Last, we examine the advantages and challenges of using this tool and discuss the implications for promoting connection and belonging in online courses.

IACTE, 2021

Keywords Gamification

Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and e... more Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and engage students in the classroom. Given the engagement that students feel during gameplay, it is sensible to include elements of game design to motivate students and create a space for comprehensive vocabulary instruction. Designing a gamified vocabulary curriculum begins with clear learning goals, a careful selection of key terms, and the transformation of activities into quest challenges. This article shares how to design a gamified vocabulary curriculum to scaffold higher order thinking skills. Snapshots and examples of vocabulary gamification, along with suggestions for everyday practice, are included and aligned to the levels of Bloom's taxonomy. A discussion on how gamification supports student autonomy and mastery learning in a goal-oriented environment is provided.

This article explores VoiceThread as an online tool for supporting literacy and Higher Order Thin... more This article explores VoiceThread as an online tool for supporting literacy and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) within the top three levels of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. VoiceThread is a collaborative Web 2.0 tool allowing users to create, share, and comment on images, documents, and videos. Readers are first provided with an overview of VoiceThread followed by curriculum opportunities for using VoiceThread to analyze, evaluate, and create.

NERA, 2017

Although most often associated with printed text, providing students the opportunity to engage in... more Although most often associated with printed text, providing students the opportunity to engage in close reading with multimodal text is important for 21st Century learners.
This article shares three online platforms to expand the close reading experience from traditional-based practices to multimodal practices which include ActivelyLearnTM to enrich digital texts, EdpuzzleTM to guide video interaction, and ThinglinkTM to examine collections of images. An overview and sample close reading lesson is provided for each online platform.

The Reading Teacher, 2013

ABSTRACT This article showcases the online research and comprehension competencies students will ... more ABSTRACT This article showcases the online research and comprehension competencies students will need to successfully engage with Internet Inquiry. The Common Core State Standards, the research on new literacies skills, and the future of technology-based assessments require educators to fully take on the challenges of meaningfully embedding and supporting innovations in authentic, inquiry-based learning with digital texts. This manuscript focuses on four fundamental competencies that are important for Internet inquiry tasks: 1) generate high-quality inquiry topics, 2) effectively and efficiently search for information, 3) critically evaluate Internet resources, and 4) connect ideas across Internet texts. A rationale, what it looks like in the classroom, what scaffolds are needed to support and guide students to independence are provided for each competency.

The Reading Teacher, 2009

This article showcases the use of gamification as a means to turn existing curriculum into a Game... more This article showcases the use of gamification as a means to turn existing curriculum into a Game Based Learning (GBL) environment. The purpose of this article is to examine how gamification, coupled with effective pedagogy, can support the acquisition of 21st century skills. Gamifying content allows students to earn experience points (XP), badges, and awards to “level-up” through the curriculum by completing quests. We discuss the theoretical framework, New Literacies Theory, which has informed our case study of one teacher’s journey using gamification. We align our case study within two educational reforms and initiatives: Common Core State Standards, and Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Survey results and teacher interview data are provided.

This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Ce... more This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Century online research skills with a planned classroom intervention curriculum. The repeated measures quasi-experimental study randomly assigned all 5th grade classes in a Midwestern, suburban school (n=418) to a 12-week intervention or control condition. Analyses of the ORCA Elementary-Revised performance prior to intervention revealed significant correlations with traditional measures of reading achievement as well as limited influence from demographic variables. In the primary research question, results demonstrated that the intervention group showed significantly higher gains from pretest to posttest on the measure of online research skills. Focused analyses of the subskills in the online reading performance measure revealed these differences were durable in locating and synthesizing skills, but not critical evaluation of websites. We discuss both theoretical and instructional implications generated from this study.

Kingsley, T. (January/February 2015). How to speak in Google. Reading Today, 32(4).

The Reading Teacher, Jan 1, 2009

College Teaching, 2021

Meaningful gamification is the use of game elements and play to build engagement and help learner... more Meaningful gamification is the use of game elements and play to build engagement and help learners find personal connections in real-world settings. This study examined the impact of meaningful gamification design on preservice teachers' perceptions, performance, and motivation levels within a gamified lesson planning unit. Participants were enrolled in a language arts teacher preparation course at a regional campus over five semesters. Results show meaningful gamification incorporating mastery learning and leveled curriculum created a learning condition where preservice teachers surpassed expectations and felt intrinsically motivated. Challenges to gamification included waiting on feedback and learning within a new format.

Computers & Education Open, 2023

Researchers and instructors are turning to gamification and self-determination theory for need-su... more Researchers and instructors are turning to gamification and self-determination theory for need-supporting, student motivation for learning. Using a mixed methods approach over two school years, we examined how an elementary science teacher successfully implemented gamification in a blended learning environment to meet students' psychological needs. Through observations and interviews, we analyzed the mechanics and dynamics within the gamification design. Next, for a deeper understanding of applied motivation theory, we examined the teacher's use of motivational and cognitive scaffolds in the design. Students participating in the gamified classroom experienced both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations but reported higher levels of autonomous motivation. Additionally, students reported high levels of the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, stating that the classroom was need-supporting. As a case study of an authentic, teacher-designed, need-supporting elementary classroom, this study adds a unique perspective to the educational gamification literature. Importantly for gamification exploration, we describe the cognitive and social scaffolds that created the need-supporting context, which illustrate the holistic aspects of gamification where multiple mechanisms produce a gamified environment.

Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology,, 2023

The growth in online education has prompted a focus on ensuring students are engaged, persistent,... more The growth in online education has prompted a focus on ensuring students are engaged, persistent, and successful in their studies. A recognized challenge with online learning is developing a community of learners, where students feel connected to their peers and instructor and experience a sense of belonging. In this article, we highlight using the platform Flip to engage students in videobased discussions. We describe our use of Flip in two online asynchronous courses and provide recommendations for instructors seeking to embed this tool in the learning experiences they develop for their students. In addition, we present our students' perspectives on belonging within the course and their use of Flip, collected using an anonymous survey. Last, we examine the advantages and challenges of using this tool and discuss the implications for promoting connection and belonging in online courses.

IACTE, 2021

Keywords Gamification

Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and e... more Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and engage students in the classroom. Given the engagement that students feel during gameplay, it is sensible to include elements of game design to motivate students and create a space for comprehensive vocabulary instruction. Designing a gamified vocabulary curriculum begins with clear learning goals, a careful selection of key terms, and the transformation of activities into quest challenges. This article shares how to design a gamified vocabulary curriculum to scaffold higher order thinking skills. Snapshots and examples of vocabulary gamification, along with suggestions for everyday practice, are included and aligned to the levels of Bloom's taxonomy. A discussion on how gamification supports student autonomy and mastery learning in a goal-oriented environment is provided.

This article explores VoiceThread as an online tool for supporting literacy and Higher Order Thin... more This article explores VoiceThread as an online tool for supporting literacy and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) within the top three levels of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. VoiceThread is a collaborative Web 2.0 tool allowing users to create, share, and comment on images, documents, and videos. Readers are first provided with an overview of VoiceThread followed by curriculum opportunities for using VoiceThread to analyze, evaluate, and create.

NERA, 2017

Although most often associated with printed text, providing students the opportunity to engage in... more Although most often associated with printed text, providing students the opportunity to engage in close reading with multimodal text is important for 21st Century learners.
This article shares three online platforms to expand the close reading experience from traditional-based practices to multimodal practices which include ActivelyLearnTM to enrich digital texts, EdpuzzleTM to guide video interaction, and ThinglinkTM to examine collections of images. An overview and sample close reading lesson is provided for each online platform.

The Reading Teacher, 2013

ABSTRACT This article showcases the online research and comprehension competencies students will ... more ABSTRACT This article showcases the online research and comprehension competencies students will need to successfully engage with Internet Inquiry. The Common Core State Standards, the research on new literacies skills, and the future of technology-based assessments require educators to fully take on the challenges of meaningfully embedding and supporting innovations in authentic, inquiry-based learning with digital texts. This manuscript focuses on four fundamental competencies that are important for Internet inquiry tasks: 1) generate high-quality inquiry topics, 2) effectively and efficiently search for information, 3) critically evaluate Internet resources, and 4) connect ideas across Internet texts. A rationale, what it looks like in the classroom, what scaffolds are needed to support and guide students to independence are provided for each competency.

The Reading Teacher, 2009

This article showcases the use of gamification as a means to turn existing curriculum into a Game... more This article showcases the use of gamification as a means to turn existing curriculum into a Game Based Learning (GBL) environment. The purpose of this article is to examine how gamification, coupled with effective pedagogy, can support the acquisition of 21st century skills. Gamifying content allows students to earn experience points (XP), badges, and awards to “level-up” through the curriculum by completing quests. We discuss the theoretical framework, New Literacies Theory, which has informed our case study of one teacher’s journey using gamification. We align our case study within two educational reforms and initiatives: Common Core State Standards, and Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Survey results and teacher interview data are provided.

This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Ce... more This quantitative study was developed to explore the ability to impact elementary student 21st Century online research skills with a planned classroom intervention curriculum. The repeated measures quasi-experimental study randomly assigned all 5th grade classes in a Midwestern, suburban school (n=418) to a 12-week intervention or control condition. Analyses of the ORCA Elementary-Revised performance prior to intervention revealed significant correlations with traditional measures of reading achievement as well as limited influence from demographic variables. In the primary research question, results demonstrated that the intervention group showed significantly higher gains from pretest to posttest on the measure of online research skills. Focused analyses of the subskills in the online reading performance measure revealed these differences were durable in locating and synthesizing skills, but not critical evaluation of websites. We discuss both theoretical and instructional implications generated from this study.

Kingsley, T. (January/February 2015). How to speak in Google. Reading Today, 32(4).

The Reading Teacher, Jan 1, 2009