Assessing the impact of a gamification design model on students' learning, participation, and motivation : a design-based research study

Abstract

In contrast to fully fledged games, gamification makes use of game-like elements in non-game contexts to engage users and to encourage desired behaviors. Despite numerous efforts to examine whether game mechanics impact learners’ motivation to acquire knowledge and to participate in class, a gap remains between theory and practice. Whilst exploring the theoretical underpinnings of gamification may increase the likelihood of creating successful designs, few studies have empirically validated the resulting theories. Therefore, this study empirically examined a theory-based gamification design model in two tertiary level courses. In the pilot study, a quasi-experiment was conducted in the 3-week SPSS module of the Research Methods and Inquiry course to gain an initial understanding of the impacts of the goal-access-feedback-challenge-collaboration (GAFCC) design model on students’ participation and learning, and to identify problems which may have occurred in its implementation. In total, 21 students from the treatment group and 19 students from the control group participated in the experiment. In the main study, a design-based study was conducted in iterative cycles to test the effectiveness of the model. The test-bed was a 10-week introductory information management course operated in the first term of the Science in Information Management program. Participants were recruited from the course in three consecutive years. Freshman in year 2015 was assigned to the control group (n= 48) using the conventional learning approach, freshman in year 2016 was assigned to treatment group1 (n=48) using the GAFCC gamification design model, and freshman in year 2017 was assigned to treatment group2 (n=50) using the updated GAFCC gamification design model. Quantitative data and qualitative data, e.g., pre- & post-activity completion, survey questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, were collected and analyzed. It was hypothesized that gamification designs, which followed the proposed GAFCC design model, would enhance learners’ participation, learning, and motivation. With that in mind, the study sought to answer the following questions: 1) what are the impacts of the GAFCC design model on students’ participation; 2) what are the impacts of the gamification design model on students’ learning; 3) what are the impacts of the gamification design model on students’ motivation; 4) what are the differences in the impacts when using the GAFCC design model and the updated GAFCC design model? The collective results of the design-based study indicated that the gamification designs were effective in enhancing students’ learning and participation. Treatment group1 and treatment group2 produced higher-quality artifacts than those in the non-gamified group. Treatment group1 and treatment group2 completed more pre- and post-class activities before the weekly due date than the non-gamified group. Furthermore, treatment group2 using the updated GAFCC model had less low-quality submissions than treatment group1. The interview results indicated that most of the students preferred to study in a gamified environment rather than a non-gamified environment. Overall, this study provided evidence of the effectiveness of the theory-grounded GAFCC gamification design model, and demonstrated how this model could be used to enhance students’ learning experience. The limitations of the study and future directions for research are also discussed here.