Gamification’s impact on the intrinsic motivation for physical activity

Abstract. In the modern days physical activity among the children and adolescents have generally decreased and, in turn, increased the prevalence of obesity and different health issues caused by obesity. There have been several attempts to motivate the young to start exercising and having a healthier lifestyle by making it more engaging and fun. One of the methods of inspiring the young people to get moving stems from video games. Gamification has been trendy in the last century and it is still talked about. The primary objective of the gamification is to decrease the threshold of doing something and repeating it by implementing different gamifying elements like point scoring. There have been many different attempts to implement gamifying elements into various activities. But in some cases the motivation to exercise wanes once the user’s interest towards the game itself decreases. In this paper I explore the cases of using gamification to improve peoples’ physical activity and promote better health. The objective of this paper is to use a systematic literature review to find out and map the amount of research that has been done about gamification and its impact on the intrinsic motivation for physical activity

User perception of gaming element effectiveness in a corporate learning application

This Conversion Masters in Information Technology thesis gathered users' perceptions about eight gaming elements to determine their effectiveness on aspects of playability, enjoyment and intrinsic motivation needed in a gamified corporate learning application. The study focused on user opinions about a Progress Bar, Individual Leaderboard, Departmental Leaderboard, Timer, In-Game Currency, Badges, Storyline/Theme and Avatar. A gamification application containing these gaming elements was designed and developed to make the evaluation. The application entailed users learning four Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes needed to manage an information technology department in a telecommunications company. The application design process considered the business goals, rules, target behaviours, time limits, rewards, feedback, levels, storytelling, interest, aesthetics, replay or do-overs, user types, activity cycles, fun mechanisms and development tools needed to create a coherent, addictive, engaging and fun user experience. Player types were determined using the Brainhex online survey. Federoff's Game Playability Heuristics model was used to measure the users' perceptions about the playability of the application. Sweetser and Wyeth's Gameflow model was used to measure perceptions about the gaming elements' contribution toward creating an enjoyable experience. Malone and Lepper's Taxonomy of Intrinsic Motivation for Learning was used to measure the gaming elements' ability to promote an intrinsically motivating learning environment. Masterminds, Achievers, Conquerors and Seekers were the most prominent player types found in the Brainhex online survey for which the gamification application design then catered. The staff in the department play-tested the application to evaluate the gaming elements. Overall the Storyline/Theme, suited to Seekers and Masterminds, ranked as the most effective gaming element in this study. The users perceived artwork as an essential component of a gamified learning application. The Individual Leaderboard, suited to Conquerors, ranked very closely as the second most effective gaming element. The Storyline/Theme and Individual Leaderboard both performed the strongest against the criteria measuring the playability. The Storyline/Theme was by far the strongest from a gameflow perspective and the Individual Leaderboard from a motivation perspective. The Avatars ranked the worst across all the measurement criteria. Based on quiz results, 86 percent of the staff in the department had learned the material from the gamified training prototype developed in this work. The findings from this study will therefore serve as input for developing a full-scale gamification learning application

Formative Research on an Instructional Design Theory for Fostering Self-Efficacy Through Gamification

The merits of gamification as a learner-centered pedagogy that positively influences learner engagement and motivation are widely established in the literature; yet, few studies have ventured beyond motivation to consider the impact gamification has on self-efficacy. Moreover, guidance for the effective design and development of gamified instruction is lacking. This study describes formative research conducted on the Gamification for Enhancing Learner Self-Efficacy (GELSE) instructional design theory, which was developed to guide the design of gamification aimed at fostering self-efficacy. The goal of formative research is to identify improvements for an instructional design theory based on a designed instance of the theory. The GELSE theory was applied to an undergraduate community health nursing course in a fully online, accelerated degree program. The theory was evaluated by answering the following questions: 1) What methods of the GELSE instructional design theory were perceived to be more effective?, 2) What methods of the GELSE instructional design theory were perceived to be less effective?, and 3) What improvements can be made to the GELSE instructional design theory?. Data was collected in this qualitative study through open-ended questionnaires, focus group interviews, semi-structured one-on-one interviews, and observations of online learner activities and social interactions. The results show that the GELSE instructional design theory is effectual for guiding the design of gamified instruction intended to foster learner self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings from the research yielded a number of recommendations for improving the GELSE theory

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

Jumanji Extremism? How games and gamification could facilitate radicalization processes

While the last years have seen increased engagement with gaming in relation to extremist attacks, its potential role in facilitating radicalization has received less attention than other factors. This article makes an exploratory contribution to the theoretical foundations of the study of gaming in radicalization research. It is argued that both top-down and bottom up gamification have already impacted extremist discourse and potentially radicalization processes but that research on gamification in other contexts points to a much wider application of gamification to extremist propaganda distribution tools in the future. The potential influence of video games on radicalization processes exceeds the transfer of the popular argument that exposure to violent media leads to desensitization to the context of radicalization and includes the exploitation of pop culture references, increases in self-efficacy regarding violence, and the direct experience of retropian visions through the content of games

The Agony of Choice – Analyzing User Preferences regarding Gamification Elements in Learning Management Systems

Gamification is an approach to motivate users of information systems by implementing game elements. Despite its potentials, the use of gamification in practice has also received criticism because most gamification elements are integrated into systems without considering the preferences of the respective users and without considering contextual aspects. Hence, we aim at identifying which elements users of learning management systems prefer. Furthermore, we want to identify their preferences regarding the amount and combination of gamification elements. To identify user preferences, we conducted a discrete choice task among learning management system users following the best-worst scaling method. Our results show that users prefer a bundle of four gamification elements: level, goals, status, and points. This is especially interesting since popular elements, such as a leaderboard or badges, are not most preferred. This highlights the need to consider user preferences and contextual aspects to ensure a successful implementation of gamification elements

Avatar design types and user engagement in digital educational games during evaluation phase

Avatar design types can range from human representations to abstract representations. In digital educational games (DEGs), avatars are frequently used to encourage users to play the game. However, the role of avatar design types and their engagement in digital games are still unclear and empirically under research. Therefore, a bespoke digital educational game in geography was developed and validated by six expert users. Then forty-five users participated in the evaluation phase to investigate engagement and avatar types on digital educational games using the user engagement scale (UES). The results reported aesthetics and satisfaction factors somehow influenced the avatar design types, but none of the UES subscales was influenced by preferred avatar design types. Moreover, the human-cartoon avatar, which was not entirely human and cartoonish, was the most popular avatar design type among young adults. Other issues discussed for future developers and research included incorporating more avatar design selections into the study, integrating social interaction features into the game, using the same drawing style for avatars and provide easy access to the bespoke game during data collection

Studying and designing the incorporation of gamification into a menstrual cycle tracking application in collaboration with a game company

Abstract. This thesis focuses on two topics of study. The first part will cover a study focused on exploring the needs and expectations game development businesses have for university collaboration. As part of this it will be investigated what kind of experience and knowledge game development businesses look for in students. Secondly, the thesis will look into utilizing gamification as a way of improving menstrual cycle tracking applications. Materials for these studies have been gathered during a research internship at the INTERACT research unit. The research methods utilized comprise of a literature review and qualitative research. This study was motivated by the traineeship at INTERACT, and by participation in a gamification project through Ikune Ltd. The first study consisted of reaching out to game development companies in Finland and conducting semi-structured interviews with them. The study had one respondent but nevertheless provided useful results. Students should have practical knowledge of programming languages, enthusiasm towards the company’s projects, and a portfolio showcasing their skills. Companies can benefit from collaboration by scouting the talent of students, networking with the university and students, and potentially utilizing student resources to prototype ideas. The second study consisted of practical user interface prototype design, along with a user study investigating gamification and the participants perspective of the topic in menstrual cycle tracking applications. Participants were limited to two due to schedule constraints. This study still provided useful results, with many of them agreeing with earlier literature. As an interesting new finding, participants were not opposed to unusual experimental features when they seemed like medical tools or interventions. A list of important considerations for future application development was collated, with the ability to customize both the appearance and functionality of the application being among the most key findings. The findings of the first study are useful to a multitude of groups, namely university students, companies considering university collaboration, persons interested in working in the game development industry, and possibly universities if they want to provide courses more directly related to game development. The study offers students relevant skills they should learn if they aim to work in the game development industry. Likewise, the study offers companies with what they could stand to gain from collaboration with universities and students. The second study is more contained, ultimately providing a list of application design considerations for gamified menstrual cycle tracking applications. These findings should be useful for future application developers and possibly for academia for the sake of future research into the topic

A meta-analysis: Gamification in education

“Gamification has been used in a variety of contexts including education. In order to understand the effects of gamification in education, a meta-analysis was conducted. A bottom-up approach was used to analyze the effects of game design elements on learning outcomes found in the literature search. The result suggests that gamification can enhance student learning outcomes. Elements such as points, leaderboards, competitions, progress bars, feedback, and collaboration have medium to large effect sizes. Gamification also has larger effects on young children in elementary education than learners at other education levels. The study offers suggestions and guidelines for educators on the use of design elements in gamification”--Abstract, page iii

Explore the relations between personality and gamification

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Successful gamification motivates users to engage in systems using game-like experiences. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to gamification is often unsuccessful; prior studies suggest that personality serves as a key differentiator in the effectiveness of the approach. To advance the understanding of personality differences and their influence on users’ behavior and motivation in gamification, this dissertation is comprised of three studies that: 1) explore the relationships among individuals’ personality traits and preferences for different gamification features through an online survey; 2) investigate how people with different personality traits respond to the motivational affordances in a gamified application over a period of time through a diary study; and 3) reveal how individuals respond differentially to different kinds of leaderboard experiences based on their leaderboard rankings, the application domain, and the individuals’ personality traits through their responses to 9 dynamic leaderboards. The results from the first study show that extraversion and emotional stability are the two primary personality traits that differentiate users’ preferences for gamification. Among the 10 types of motivational affordances, extraverts are more likely to be motivated by Points, Levels, and Leaderboards. However, the results from the second (diary) study indicate that, after the first week, extraverts’ preferences for Points decreased. The motivation effects of Points and Leaderboards changed over the course of using the gamified application. The results from the third study confirm the findings from the first two studies about extraversion and revealed that ranking and domain differences are also effective factors in users’ experiences of Leaderboards in gamification. Design guidelines for gamification are presented based on the results of each of the three studies. Based on a synthesis of the results from these three studies, this dissertation proposes a conceptual model for gamification design. The model describes not only the impact of personality traits, domain differences, and users’ experience over time, but also illustrates the importance of considering individual differences, application context, and the potential significance of user persistence in gamification design. This research contributes to the HCI and gamification communities by uncovering factors that will affect the way that people respond to gamification systems, considered holistically