"An interactive program delivered an image of a token on the screen when she completed an assignment. She could then trade in those tokens to play games. To Dr.

"An interactive program delivered an image of a token on the screen when she completed an assignment. She could then trade in those tokens to play games. To Dr. Boyd, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins, it looks more like a video game than a math class." I think this is a core part of the problem. Gamification, perceived usefulness, and enjoyment are being used in lieu of actual learning gains. I believe, however there is too much focus on "enjoyment" rather than learning. As an example, my research is on rote practice of writing code. Literally retyping syntax, because I believe the technical literacy is the foundation to conceptual understanding. This is no different than a cook, musician, athlete, even doctors. However, retyping syntax is not "fun". It's not "interactive". It's not meta-cognitive. It's drilling. But the responses I get are near bimodal. Some people fully understand the logic and others outright argue against it. However, rote practice is (in my opinion) the first step to high-level learning. Meta-cognitive skills like self-explanation are great but only if you have the prior knowledges to utilize them. They should not be given to a pure novice; however, no one wants to admit to being a novice. Somehow, that's for children, but I'm an adult / young-adult / "big boy"! True novices should be given the chance to learn these lower level skills without feeling like its beneath them or treated as "lesser" than higher level skills.