Experience points (XP) and our classroom
If you have ever played a video game that involves the use of experience points (XP) and leveling a character, then you already have a good idea what this is about. In these types of games you generally gain XP for doing different tasks and accomplishing certain things. You could screw up along the way and almost die in the process or you could walk right through the task and accomplish it with ease. And as you move through the game, some tasks get harder, and other remain easy. But those harder tasks are much more worth it because they give you more XP and help you level faster. Yet in the end, what matters most is the XP you gain and the leveling up you can do.
That leads us to the first large change to our class - the use of XP, or Experience Points. In a "Normal" class you would receive a grade, and your grade is based on how many you got correct and how many you got wrong. Most of the time it is written as a fraction, like 8/10 or 27/40. The grade you have in the course is based on the addition of all these different grades, and over the course of an entire trimester your grade could go up and down and up and down. You could start at 90%, drop to 72%, go back up to 86% and finish with a 79% at the end of the trimester. You keep trying to raise your grade, and one assignment here or there and back down it goes.......
Well, XP is a little different. You will still get a grade at the end of the course - I have to do that (more on how you get your grade on the Grade page). However, during the course each Quest (another word for assignment) has a XP value that ranges from 25 XP to 300 XP. What you do on the assignment will earn you XP, no matter how many questions you got right and how many you got wrong. The more you get correct, the more XP you can earn.
But unlike traditional grading systems you can help your grade and earn XP even if you get things wrong ... as long as you know what you did wrong and how to correct it.
And you can also earn XP for being creative in your approach to solving problems - thinking outside the box and coming up with alternative solutions. The way I see it, learning involves both success AND failure, and both can help you get better.
The XP that you earn on assignments will ultimately determine your Level, and your Level will determine your grade. The more Quests (assignments) you do, the more XP you can earn. The better you do on Quests, the more XP you earn. The more XP you earn, the higher your Level will be. The higher your level, the higher your grade. It's that simple. Just like in video games, you never go down in levels. So this means your grade will never go down - it can only go up.
But unlike traditional grading systems you can help your grade and earn XP even if you get things wrong ... as long as you know what you did wrong and how to correct it.
And you can also earn XP for being creative in your approach to solving problems - thinking outside the box and coming up with alternative solutions. The way I see it, learning involves both success AND failure, and both can help you get better.
The XP that you earn on assignments will ultimately determine your Level, and your Level will determine your grade. The more Quests (assignments) you do, the more XP you can earn. The better you do on Quests, the more XP you earn. The more XP you earn, the higher your Level will be. The higher your level, the higher your grade. It's that simple. Just like in video games, you never go down in levels. So this means your grade will never go down - it can only go up.
Student choice for XPThe final component to the XP approach we are taking is student choice. See, in most video games where you earn XP, there are storylines you can follow and choose to move along at your own pace. You can follow the main storyline as quickly as possible to get to the end of the game and "win," or you can take your time and check things out along the way.
The same will hold true in our classroom. There is a main "storyline" that you can follow and complete quickly if you want, moving through Quest Levels as quickly as possible to get to the end and "win." However, there is also the ability to take your time, do more at the lower levels and still enjoy the game we call STEM. It's up to you and what you want to do. But remember, ultimately your final grades rests on how much XP you earn..... so you don't want to go too slow and not get enough XP..... |