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

Learning through play: an educational computer game to introduce radar fundamentals

The information exchange has evolved from traditional books to computers and Internet in a few years' time. Our current university students were born in this age: they learn and have fun with different methods as previous generations did. These digital natives enjoy computer games. Thus, designing games for learning some selected topics could be a good teaching strategy for such collective and also for undergraduate university students. This paper describes the development and test of an educational computer game revolving around radar. The objective of the game RADAR Technology is to teach students about the fundamentals of radar, while having fun during the learning experience. Based on the principle that you learn better what you practice, the authors want to induce students to discover a difficult to understand topic by proposing them a different experience, in a format better adapted to their generation skills. The computer game has been tested with actual students and the obtained results seem to be very promising

Gamification in IT Service Management: A Systematic Mapping Study

Despite the benefits of adopting IT Service Management (ITSM) reference models, such initiatives do not always produce the expected results. The research literature in this area concludes that motivation, engagement, skills, experience, performance and willingness to change of the personnel involved are among the critical factors for an effective ITSM implementation. Gamification has the capability to improve people's motivation and engagement and to drive people's behavior to meet the objectives set. Besides, gamification is widely used in learning systems for increasing students' skills and competences. In the last years, many researchers have added gamification to their process improvement initiatives to increase the motivation and engagement of process participants and to address their behavior throughout the process. Thus, we consider that adopting gamification in ITSM processes can be an interesting area of study. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to analyze the actual state of research in the field of ITSM gamification and identify the key challenges that justify future research. The results of our study highlight the positive impact of adopting gamification in ITSM processes and that ITSM gamification is a novel an attractive research area with many action possibilities

Designing and Evaluating a Collaborative Writing Process with Gamification Elements: Toward a Framework for Gamifying Collaboration Processes

In this study, we examine the influence that gamification elements have on collaboration processes in terms of whether they increase intention to continue to use the system based on meaningful engagement and hedonic motivation as well as outcome quality. Therefore, we review gamification models and principles for information systems and consolidate them in a preliminary framework. We then evaluate how one can supplement the collaboration process for collaborative story writing with gamification elements based on the framework. Additionally, we consider specific gamification elements to successfully accomplish the process. To do so, we conducted action design research in a common iterative structure. First, we observed and reflected on the analog collaborative writing process. Next, we derived design principles and remodeled and implemented the process via a Web application instantiation to evaluate them. In the evaluation, we identified the developed design principles’ ability to reach higher hedonic motivation and meaningful engagement, which led to an enhanced intention to continue to use the system. Additionally, we found the potential to manage the shift toward digital collaboration processes that motivate people to participate and produce promising outcomes that do not vary much from outcomes in an analog setting

Learning computing heritage through gaming – whilst teaching digital development through history

This paper analyses the potential of computer games and interactive projects within the learning programmes for cultural heritage institutions through our experiences working in partnership between higher education and a museum. Gamification is cited as a key disruptive technology for the business and enterprise community, and developments in games technology are also driving the expansion of digital media into all different screen spaces, and various platforms. Our research aims to take these as beneficial indicators for pedagogic development, using gaming to support knowledge transfer related to a museum setting, and using the museum as a key scenario for our students to support the practice of game development. Thus gamification is applied as both a topic and a methodology for educational purposes

Gamifying the First Programming Class: Outcomes and Antecedents of Continued Engagement Intention

Gamification is applying games in non-game contexts. This study uses card game plays to gamify assessment activity in the first programming class. An experimental study with one-group and post-test are conducted to test the perceived usefulness of the gamifying evaluation method and verify the proposed research model, based on Expectation Confirmation Theory; IT Continuance Model. Students perceive the usefulness of gamifying take-home exams in terms of increasing understanding, problem solving, creativity, and confidence more than the traditional ones. This study provides empirical supports for the relationship between performance and satisfaction and the influence of satisfaction on continued engagement intention of the game plays in classroom settings. The results could be applied to relax students’ anxiety in the programming course\u27s testing

Gamifying Information System Testing–Qualitative Validation through Focus Group Discussion

This paper presents the evaluation of a developed gamified Information System Testing platform through results obtained from focus group sessions with software developers and testers. The purpose of this study is to understand if the developed tool and platform can help Information System Testing to be interesting while increasing the engagement of software testers in a rewarding testing environment. Findings suggest that choosing suitable game elements to design a gamified environment for performing serious tasks is very important. Moreover, findings suggest that the developed tool and gamification may be a solution to increase testers’ engagement and testing experience. Furthermore, participants suggested that game elements such as feedback and comparison may increase testing motivation, engagement and experience of software testers. The majority of participants rated the feedback element as a vital element in a gamified Information System Testing environment

Leveling Up by Gamifying Freshman Engineering Clinic

This Work-In-Progress paper describes the development of a gamification platform for the Freshman Engineering Clinic II course at a North Eastern university and its proposed assessment strategy. Freshman Engineering Clinic II is a course designed to teach engineering students about multidisciplinary project design, with special focus on developing skills associated with teamwork, software application, and ethics. An important part of learning is receiving feedback as part of the learning cycle and studies have shown that increased feedback can be helpful in supporting student reflection and developing the intrinsic motivation necessary for mastering a task. One method of encouraging students to master material is by providing students with immediate feedback through gamification platforms. The gamification platform being employed in this implementation uses interactive learning techniques to provide students with clear cut goals as well as immediate feedback as an indicator of the student’s performance. Gamification transforms the traditional homework layout into an entirely new entity. Students can work to earn badges by completing assignments that interest them within the platform. Students also have the power to learn at their own pace and mechanics such as experience points, badges, leaderboards, and achievements can be used as motivating factors to encourage student completion of activities. In addition, the system acts as a scaffold for the students starting with activities that are easier and become progressively more challenging as their knowledge increases, while allowing them to repeat tasks as necessary to encourage mastery of course material. The effectiveness of this platform will be assessed by a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. Student activity completion, accrual of badges and achievements, and the process through which students select the activities to pursue will all be monitored. Students will also complete the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) to measure their perception of the classroom environment with the addition of the gamification platform. Qualitative feedback from students will be collected through open ended survey questions to gain a better appreciation for how the gamification platform impacted their course experience