The Contradiction and Unity of Group Difference and Individual Characters in Gamification Education

Abstract

Gamification Education (GE), by combining game concepts like game elements with scaffolding and other teaching methods, can effectively stimulate students’ learning interest, cognitive thinking, and emotional expression. However, due to the diversity of student groups, individuals within and between groups also exhibit unique characteristics due to differences in cognitive abilities and other factors. These differences lead to conflicting educational goals, hindering the effectiveness of GE in education. Therefore, this paper uses a literature review method to study the generation, manifestation, and application of the contradiction between group differences and individual characteristics in GE. After that, it proposes a framework based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and a dynamic process based on adaptive learning, combining the two through swarm intelligence. UDL increases the breadth of gamified instructional design, ensuring it fully accounts for the differences and needs of groups, while adaptive instruction increases the depth of general education, tapping into the unique characteristics of each individual within the group. Through the collective discussion and screening of swarm intelligence, combined with UDL and adaptive instruction, it can achieve a balance between group differences and individual characteristics.