It is all fun and games: Using gamification and serious gaming to bridge the practice‐theory gap in a creative industries school

The Department of Digital Creative Industries of the Haute École Albert Jaquard in Belgium is officially designated as a technical school, as opposed to, for instance, an art school or a university. As such, the type of student attracted to the school generally fit the style of teaching offered, in that they tend to show a low interest in theory and are mostly eager to acquire practical skills. In recent years, two pedagogical experiments have been conducted to try and bridge that practice vs. theory gap. One with first-year students to try and raise their motivation towards learning art history, the other with fourth-year video games specialization students, trying to introduce reflexive practices in their skills and intuitional approach, which at this point in their course is strongly ingrained. In both cases, the use of either gamification or serious gaming helped the students access knowledge to which they were usually initially reticent.