Gamification of vocational distance courses for students of specialties 181 ‘Food technologies’ and 241 ‘Hotel and restaurant business’

Abstract

The necessity and expediency of using game elements in e-learning is substantiated. The difference
between the concepts of gamification and game-based learning is defined. The article presents an analysis of
the experience of using game elements (gamification), as well as game-based learning in various educational
establishments around the world. The main advantages and disadvantages of the use of game elements and
game-based learning in educational establishments are analyzed. The main advantages for students include
increase in the level of motivation to study, improvement in the level of students’ involvement in the
studying process and their academic performance, decrease in the level of fatigue, enhancement of the
interaction between course participants, and development of soft skills. The main disadvantages include high
cost of creating game content, significant time spent on transforming educational information into game
content, necessity to engage IT specialists, and difficulty evaluating game results. The most popular
platforms for creating game content among teachers are considered. The results of the analysis of the
application of game elements created on the Quizlet, Wordwall, and Baamboozle platforms during the study
of distance courses "International ethnic cuisines", "Restaurant production technology", "Introduction into
the specialty" by the students of the bachelor's and junior bachelor's degrees majoring in Food Technologies and Hotel and Restaurant Business at Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy during 2019-2022
academic years are presented. The article sheds light on the beneficial effect of the use of the specified game
elements on student motivation and engagement, information retention, in particular retention of new terms
and classifications, and on the increase in the level of academic performance.