Learning and engagement in a gamified course: Investigating the effects of student characteristics

Abstract

The current study investigated college students' experiences of a gamified informatics course. We surveyed 139 students aged 18–31 years (M = 20 years, SD = 1.5) enrolled in an undergraduate informatics course focused on social networking technologies. Surveys were conducted at 3 time points during the course (beginning, middle, and end). Overall, we found positive trends with respect to students' perceptions of gamification's impact on their learning, achievement, and engagement in the course material. Although students who played and identified variously with recreational games were more alike than not, we did uncover one notable difference with respect to how students' gaming frequency impacted their engagement in the course. Nongamers expressed somewhat less motivation to do well in the course than frequent gamers. For all other measures of engagement, however, nongamers appeared to be equally engaged by the gamified format of the course as gamers. There were virtually no differences between male and female students' perceptions of gamification. This study contributes new insight into the conditions under which gamification succeeds or fails in educational settings. These insights will be useful to designers and instructors of gamified learning environments as they seek to engage and support a variety of learners.

Overcoming the novelty effect in online gamified learning systems: An empirical evaluation of student engagement and performance

“…Third, user characteristics and user needs/preferences are underexplored (Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, ). There are exceptions (Davis, Sridharan, Koepke, Singh, & Boiko, ), but most system designers assume that users' characteristics follow gamer typologies (e.g., Bartle, ), that is, imaginary personae rather than data‐driven profiles (Deterding, ). Final limitation is the distinct possibility that gamified learning systems may not sustain learners' individual interests and engagement longitudinally (Davis et al, ; Rodríguez‐Aflecht et al, ), a phenomenon that we have labelled here as the novelty effect (Clark, ).…”

“…There are exceptions (Davis, Sridharan, Koepke, Singh, & Boiko, ), but most system designers assume that users' characteristics follow gamer typologies (e.g., Bartle, ), that is, imaginary personae rather than data‐driven profiles (Deterding, ). Final limitation is the distinct possibility that gamified learning systems may not sustain learners' individual interests and engagement longitudinally (Davis et al, ; Rodríguez‐Aflecht et al, ), a phenomenon that we have labelled here as the novelty effect (Clark, ). This novelty effect has been documented in different bodies of literature: from the introduction of novel technology, the introduction of new IT systems to gamification systems (Hamari et al, ).…”

Gamifying a Simulation: Do a Game Goal, Choice, Points, and Praise Enhance Learning?

“…Courtois et al., 2014) or students’ gaming frequency (cf. Davis, Sridharan, Koepke, Singh, & Boiko, 2018). This study clearly showed that the computer science students performed better and liked the learning experience more than did the other students (who might have less positive attitudes toward ICT).…”

The Use of Game-Based Student Response Systems during Revision Class to Access Students Performance in Operating System Course

“…In spite of that, educators realize that their students enjoy playing games which influence their attention and satisfaction which stimulate and sustain students' motivation to learn. The application of gamification techniques in a curriculum can support a more comprehensive activity through its effect on students' sense of interaction, competition and motivation (Asikoy, 2017; Davis et. al, 2018).…”