Gamifying Art Education: Scavenger Hunts using Bot

Department: Aesthetics

Leaders: Nicole Ning

Members: Jane Hoe

1.  What was the current need/gap that you were addressing?

Students’ engagement with school artworks was largely passive, with limited opportunities to observe, interpret, and appreciate the meaning behind the works. Traditional approaches to art appreciation did not sufficiently motivate students or sustain their interest, resulting in shallow engagement. There was also a lack of meaningful connection between artworks and the school’s culture, values, and identity, which limited students’ understanding of how art reflects the school’s history and ethos. Additionally, art learning experiences were often static and one-directional, offering little real-time interaction, feedback, or personalised pathways to support deeper inquiry and reflection.

2.  How had it been experimented and enacted?

The approach was experimented and enacted through the design and implementation of an interactive Art Scavenger Hunt powered by a Telegram/WhatsApp bot built using Python and AI logic. The bot was deployed on familiar messaging platforms and guided students through curated artworks located around the school using quest-based prompts, riddles, and multimedia clues. Students interacted with the bot in real time, receiving instant feedback, hints, and adaptive question paths based on their responses, which encouraged close observation, discussion, and problem-solving. Gamification elements such as progressive clues, collaborative challenges, and narrative framing were integrated to sustain engagement, while artworks were deliberately mapped to the school’s core themes of Belonging, Discovering, Serving, and Leading. This hands-on, school-based trial allowed students to physically move through the space, interact with peers, and experience art appreciation as an immersive and playful learning journey rather than a static activity.

3.  Which group(s) had benefited?

Students (Entire Cohort), All Teaching Staff, All Non-Teaching Staff, Others

4.  What was the positive impact?

The implementation had a positive impact by significantly increasing students’ engagement and attentiveness when viewing artworks, as they actively observed details, discussed interpretations, and connected visual cues to meaning rather than passively passing by displays. The gamified, bot-guided experience made art appreciation enjoyable and accessible, motivating students through real-time feedback, hints, and a sense of progression. Students also developed a deeper understanding of the school’s culture and values, as artworks were intentionally linked to the themes of Belonging, Discovering, Serving, and Leading. In addition, the collaborative nature of the scavenger hunt fostered peer interaction, communication, and shared problem-solving, while the use of familiar messaging platforms lowered barriers to participation and supported seamless integration of digital learning into the physical school environment.

5.  What is a future need that this IdEas@work could meet?

To meet is the growing demand for scalable, student-centred and technology-enabled experiential learning across the school. As schools seek to deepen engagement beyond the classroom, the interactive bot framework can be adapted to support interdisciplinary learning, large-scale school events, and self-directed exploration without significantly increasing teacher workload. It can also address the need for more inclusive and differentiated learning experiences by offering personalised pathways, adaptive hints, and multimodal prompts that cater to diverse learners. In the longer term, this approach can support whole-school culture building by being extended to areas such as student orientation, values education, open house programmes, CCAs, and sustainability initiatives helping students and stakeholders meaningfully connect with the school’s environment, history, and identity through immersive, gamified experiences.