Gamification in higher education and stem : a systematic review of literature

In recent years, gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, has drawn the attention of educators due to the possibility of making learning more motivating and engaging; this led to an increase of research in the field. Despite the availability of literature reviews about gamification and its effects, no work to this date has focused exclusively on Higher Education (HE). Next, worldwide there is an increasing demand for skilled Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals that meet the challenges related to scientific and technological innovations of the 21st Century. This lead to the need of strengthening STEM Higher Education. This brings us to the purpose of this work: presenting a systematic literature review of empirical studies about gamification STEM related Higher Education. This review study started from a systematic mapping design of 'Web of Science' articles, with following inclusion criteria: empirical gamification studies set up in HE, published between 2000 and 2016; focusing on undergraduate or graduate students; in the STEM knowledge field, and set up in authentic settings. An initial search resulted in 562 potentially relevant articles. After applying all selection criteria, only 18 studies could be retained. 12 additional articles were included by analyzing references from earlier literature reviews, resulting in 30 studies to be included. Analysis results show how a combination of game elements (e.g. leaderboards, badges, points and other combinations) positively affects students' performance, attendance, goal orientation and attitude towards mostly computer science related subjects. The analysis results also point at a lack of studies in certain STEM areas, a lack of studies that identify the particular game element associated with the positive differential impact on student performance; a lack of validated psychometric measurements, and lack of focus on student variables that could/should be taken into account as mediating/moderating variables clarifying the impact of gamification in the HE focus on STEM learning and teaching

Autonomy in Video Games and Gamification

In the past decade, gamification (using game elements in non-gaming tasks to enhance motivation and engagement) has become a popular concept in many industries, but few studies have explored the principles under which it works. Self-determination theory suggests three psychological needs that gamification fulfills: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Autonomy, a person\u27s perception that they have the ability to act however they choose, has emerged as an important, yet less-studied aspect in gamification. Inclusion of autonomy in gamification should foster engagement, enjoyment, and better performance. An experiment inspired by the above was carried out in which a sample of college students (N = 57) played a video game called Super Mario Bros. Crossover with either the choice to customize the aesthetics of their character and background (autonomy-supportive) or no choice of aesthetics (non-supportive). It was hypothesized that conditions involving more choice would lead to higher perceived autonomy and performance, and that perceived autonomy would be positively correlated with engagement, enjoyment, and performance. The manipulation resulted in no significant difference in perceived autonomy or performance, and perceived autonomy was only significantly positively correlated with enjoyment. Prior Super Mario Bros. experience was also found to positively correlate with perceived autonomy in the autonomy-supportive condition. The choice of aesthetics does not appear to have been sufficiently strong enough to increase perceived autonomy in this context

Maximising gain for minimal pain: Utilising natural game mechanics

This paper considers the application of natural games mechanics within higher education as a vehicle to encourage student engagement and achievement of desired learning outcomes. It concludes with desiderata of features for a learning environment when used for assessment and a reflection on the gap between current and aspired learning provision. The context considered is higher (tertiary) education, where the aims are both to improve students’ engagement with course content and also to bring about potential changes in the students’ learning behaviour. Whilst traditional approaches to teaching and learning may focus on dealing with large classes, where the onus is frequently on efficiency and on the effectiveness of feedback in improving understanding and future performance, intelligent systems can provide technology to enable alternative methods that can cope with large classes that preserve the cost-benefits. However, such intelligent systems may also offer improved learning outcomes via a personalised learning experience. This paper looks to exploit particular properties which emerge from the game playing process and seek to engage them in a wider educational context. In particular we aim to use game engagement and Flow as natural dynamics that can be exploited in the learning experience

Using Gamification to Motivate Students with Dyslexia

The concept of gamification is receiving increasing attention, particularly for its potential to motivate students. However, to date the majority of studies in the context of education have predominantly focused on University students. This paper explores how gamification could potentially benefit a specific student population, children with dyslexia who are transitioning from primary to secondary school. Two teachers from specialist dyslexia teaching centres used classDojo, a gamification platform, during their teaching sessions for one term. We detail how the teachers appropriated the platform in different ways and how the students discussed classDojo in terms of motivation. These findings have subsequently informed a set of provisional implications for gamification distilling opportunities for future pedagogical uses, gamification design for special education and methodological approaches to how gamification is studied

Company-university collaboration in applying gamification to learning about insurance

Incorporating gamification into training–learning at universities is hampered by a shortage of quality, adapted educational video games. Large companies are leading in the creation of educational video games for their internal training or to enhance their public image and universities can benefit from collaborating. The aim of this research is to evaluate, both objectively and subjectively, the potential of the simulation game BugaMAP (developed by the MAPFRE Foundation) for university teaching about insurance. To this end, we have assessed both the game itself and the experience of using the game as perceived by 142 economics students from various degree plans and courses at the University of Seville during the 2017–2018 academic year. As a methodology, a checklist of gamification components is used for the objective evaluation, and an opinion questionnaire on the game experience is used for the subjective evaluation. Among the results several findings stand out. One is the high satisfaction of the students with the knowledge acquired using fun and social interaction. Another is that the role of the university professors and the company monitors turns out to be very active and necessary during the game-learning sessions. Finally, in addition to the benefits to the university of occasionally available quality games to accelerate student skills training, the company–university collaboration serves as a trial and refinement of innovative tools for game-based learning

Gamificacion in education and active methodologies at Higher education

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in applying Gamification in Education, which can be defined as the application of game design elements to learning activities. Its purpose is to motivate students by creating an engaging learning experience that can keep students focused on the learning task and its application in the classroom, is still in its emergent stages. Gamification is a great challenge for education, particularly in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in such a traditional context, as is the case with courses like Management and Administration Business, Finance and Accounting, Marketing and Market Research, Chemistry, Accounting and Administration and Business Communication. This paper presents a study, applied in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years, in which the teaching method focuses on a blended learning approach, through the implementation of a flipped classroom model and also through the introduction of online gamification activities such Kahoot! application. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology that can easily be used for initial, formative and summative assessment of students’ knowledge using individual or collaborative team work mode, adding vitality, student engagement, and also meta-cognitive supports to higher education classrooms with limited instructor or student training required. The participants, in the study, were about 3 000 students of 17 different subjects from the aforementioned courses, of the Malaga University and Polytechnic of Porto. The results of this study suggest that this model improves student learning and are of relevance to researchers, educators and game-based learning designers.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Using Gameplay Patterns to Gamify Learning Experiences

Gamification refers to the use of gaming elements to enhance user experience and engagement in non-gaming systems. In this paper we report the design and implementation of two higher education courses in which ludic elements were used to enhance the quality of the learning experience. A game can be regarded as a system of organised gameplay activities, and a course can be regarded as a system of organised learning activities. Leveraging this analogy, analysing games can provide valuable insights to organise learning activities within a learning experience. We examined a sample of successful commercial games to identify patterns of organisation of gameplay activities that could be applied to a course design. Five patterns were identified: quest structure, strategic open-endedness, non-linear progression, orientation, and challenge-based reward. These patterns were then used to define the instructional design of the courses. As a result, courses were organised as systems of quests that could be tackled through different strategies and in a non-linear way. Students received frequent feedback and were rewarded according to the challenges chosen, based on mechanics common in quest-based games. The courses involved two lecturers and 70 students. Learning journals were used throughout the term to collect data regarding student perceptions on the clarity and usefulness of the gamified approach, level of motivation and engagement in the courses, and relevance of the activities proposed. Results show that students felt challenged by the activities proposed and motivated to complete them, despite considering most activities as difficult. Students adopted different cognitive and behavioural strategies to cope with the courses’ demands. They had to define their own team project, defining the objectives, managing their times and coordinating task completion. The regular and frequent provision of feedback was highly appreciated. A sense of mastery was promoted and final achievement was positively impacted by the gamified strategy

Exercise as Labour: Quantified Self and the Transformation of Exercise into Labour

The recent increase in the use of digital self-tracking devices has given rise to a range of relations to the self often discussed as quantified self (QS). In popular and academic discourse, this development has been discussed variously as a form of narcissistic self-involvement, an advanced expression of panoptical self-surveillance and a potential new dawn for e-health. This article proposes a previously un-theorised consequence of this large-scale observation and analysis of human behaviour; that exercise activity is in the process of being reconfigured as labour. QS will be briefly introduced, and reflected on, subsequently considering some of its key aspects in relation to how these have so far been interpreted and analysed in academic literature. Secondly, the analysis of scholars of “digital labour” and “immaterial labour” will be considered, which will be discussed in relation to what its analysis of the transformations of work in contemporary advanced capitalism can offer to an interpretation of the promotion and management of the self-tracking of exercise activities. Building on this analysis, it will be proposed that a thermodynamic model of the exploitation of potential energy underlies the interest that corporations have shown in self-tracking and that “gamification” and the promotion of an entrepreneurial selfhood is the ideological frame that informs the strategy through which labour value is extracted without payment. Finally, the potential theoretical and political consequences of these insights will be considered