Lessons learned from using gamification for teaching business informatics to first year undergraduate students

Abstract

© 2018 Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved. The paper aims at utilizing the learner-centered framework in game-based learning. While there has been a body of research on the application of games in teaching, the question, "how can games be integrated into learning theories to improve students' experience?" has largely been ignored. Therefore, there exist conflicting findings on the effectiveness of games for students' learning in the literature. The present article has reported the use of the Beer Game to teach basic concepts of business informatics to undergraduate students and provide insights on lessons learned for the successful deployment of game-based learning in classrooms. The paper describes an experiment from four perspectives of the learner-centered framework; namely cognition, motivation, social skills and assessment. The study found that although game-based learning is relatively motivational, to provide a sufficient level of cognition to learning outcomes, there should be a direct and descriptive link between the theoretical perspectives and the application of the game. This can be achieved by involving games in the assessment tasks. In addition, games that can be played in collaborative and/or competitive environments can also enhance student understanding of the learning objectives of the assignment