Gamifying AI in Higher Education explores effective ways to leverage the affordances of generative AI through gamification in higher education classrooms.
The broad availability of artificial intelligence technologies has forced educators to consider their advantages and disadvantages in learning environments and their potential to support or disrupt student engagement. Driven by an original, evidence-based framework, these original chapters provide prompts, scenarios, roles for students and bots, game setup, and assessment while connecting AI use to digital literacies and learning outcomes. The book’s emphasis on critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills helps students experience firsthand the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the promises and threats, of generative AI within the safety of a try-fail-try-again learning environment afforded by gamification.
Teaching faculty and learning designers will find fresh, hands-on ideas and concrete scenarios to seamlessly integrate generative AI literacy into their lesson plans and courses.
Table of Contents:
Section 1: Exploring Generative AI & Gamification 1. Gamification 2. Generative AI and AI Fluency 3. Merging Generative AI into Gamification Section 2: Discovering Capabilities & Ethical Use 4. Breadcrumbs Don’t Always Lead to the Baker 5. Did They Come from Outer Space? 6. Environmental Disaster 7. The Great Debate 8. A Legendary Quest 9. Blinded by Science 10. The Curious Branching Case Study Section 3: Illuminating Accuracy & Hallucinations 11. Rockhound 12. The Case of the Inept AI Detective 13. GenAI’s Scandalous Research 14. AI Witness for the Prosecution or the Defense? 15. Embedded with Alexander’s Army 16. Escape! Escape if You Can! Section 4: Revealing Biases & Stereotyping 17. Diagnosis AI 18. On the Trail of the Notorious AI Artist 19. Conclusion
About the Author :
Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi is an independent consultant for AI-Ready Educator Lab, USA.
Review :
“Teaching has always been complex, but generative AI has added a new layer of disruption to many assumptions once taken for granted in higher education. At the same time, keeping students genuinely engaged has become increasingly elusive. The good news is that smart, practical resources are emerging, and Gamifying AI in Higher Education: Teaching Generative Artificial Intelligence Fluency is a standout among them. This book is a quick read, but it is anything but lightweight. Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi clearly names the challenges faculty face when integrating AI into teaching and offers a realistic path forward. Most importantly, the book provides concrete, adaptable games that help students build AI fluency while keeping learning active, purposeful, and as you might expect, fun.”
--Todd Zakrajsek, Director, ITLC-Lilly Conferences on Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning & author of a best-selling book, The New Science of Learning.
“This book offers one of the most innovative approaches I’ve seen to preparing students for an AI-powered future. By merging game-based learning with generative AI, it moves beyond basic AI literacy and helps students develop true AI fluency. As someone who has worked closely with faculty on integrating AI into teaching and learning, I am inspired by how this book transforms AI education into engaging, authentic learning experiences. The gamified activities don’t just teach students how AI works, but also develops critical thinking, ethical awareness, creativity, and confidence. These career readiness skills prepare students not just to use AI, but to use it professionally, ethically, and thoughtfully. This is the kind of book that helps move higher education toward meaningful, future-ready learning.”
--Vincent Granito, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology & AI Faculty Fellow; Teaching & Learning Center, Lorain County Community College, AI and OER Fellowship Program, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education
“Today’s college students grew up on video games. They are used to learning by doing, by failing and restarting, by turning to others for tips and tricks, and sharing what they know. These are all 21st century skills that every employer wants, so why aren’t we leveraging these important attributes to push them ahead in college? If colleges want to survive into the next generation, educators need to learn how to push the boundaries of education with serious games built with, about, and through GenAI. This book is a road map for doing just that. Written with a twinkle in her eye, this book carries the gamer’s creed: “First have fun!” Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi fills this book with practical knowledge, theoretical backing, and just enough easter-egg references to make a sci-fi lover smile. It’s a multidisciplinary look at how to use GenAI and games in everything from humanities to law to medical education. As a pioneer in teaching with GenAI, very few books surprise me or give me reason to read them cover to cover. This one invited me in and made me want to stay. Gamifying AI in Higher Education: Teaching Generative Artificial Intelligence Fluency will never be on my shelf--it will always be on my desktop within easy reach.”
--Michelle Kassorla, Ph.D., Implementing practical AI in writing courses, Associate Professor, Georgia State University
“Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi already has established herself as an expert in gamification, and this approach to encountering generative AI in the classroom illustrates how Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi can apply gamification to increasing generative AI fluency for students. Grounded in theory and best practice, this book presents scenarios to approach application of generative AI in ways that increase literacy and drive essential moments of reflection. From recipes to aliens to detective work, students employ generative AI tools in different ways but always with a critical gaze that embeds a practice of not taking initial output without inspection. In addition, the gamification helps students understand the importance of the nuances in prompting for students. Building on generative AI's strength in scenario building, this book provides opportunities for growth, reflection, and increased generative AI fluency at a time that is crucial for our students.”
--Jennifer Culver, Ph.D., Sr. Director of College Accessibility, Dallas College
“Gamifying AI in Higher Education: Teaching Generative Artificial Intelligence Fluency offers a groundbreaking roadmap for educators seeking to move beyond AI literacy toward true generative AI fluency. Through innovative, game-based scenarios, Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi demonstrates how AI can strengthen critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and human-AI collaboration. This book is an essential guide for instructors who want to harness AI responsibly while also preparing students for a future where creativity, skepticism, and discernment matter more than ever.”
--JJ Wallace, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Transylvania University
“Gamifying AI in Higher Education: Teaching Generative Artificial Intelligence Fluency is a timely and practical book that balances historical origins of AI and established educational literature with practice-based application. Informed by interests in science fiction and teaching and learning reality, Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi uses her humor and humanity to shed light on the promise and peril that portend the AI revolution we find ourselves in. Her insights regarding the possibilities of AI contributing in new and important ways to learning and teaching practices are tempered with cautionary notes regarding the limitations of this tool and need for critical use strategies. The examples for how to integrate GenAI into learning environments encompass and cross many disciplines and provide practical ideas ready to implement. Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi presents all of this with a cautious optimism of how to engage students in deeper and wider ways while also addressing potential limitations and sharing realistic cautionary tales. She does this with a sense of humor and a personal touch that draws one in, occasionally makes you smile, and pulls the reader through the book.”
--Dr. Bonnie B. Mullinix, Co-President of Jacaranda Educational Development, Core Committee, Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, Founding Moderator, AI in Education (SIG) Group & Spirit of POD Award winner 2025
"Adare-Tasiwoopa api’s book offers a broad selection of imaginative classroom activities to encourage creative GenAI interactions which guide students in testing the boundaries and limitations of GenAI while building critical thinking skills and digital literacy."
--Jennifer Duncan, Professor of English, Perimeter College, Georgia State University
