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Gamification in an Online Course: Promoting student Achievement through Game-Like Elements

Jacobs, Jennifer A
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3949-7259
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1468512095

Abstract Details

2016, EdD, University of Cincinnati, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Special Education.
Gamification, or adding game like elements to non-game activities, has been used widely in a variety of industries to motivate people and is a strategy that educators are now using to motivate students in coursework. Previous research on gamification applied to educational settings is limited, and most of the available literature on gamification that claim benefits are either hypothesized or experienced-based without empirical research to substantiate it (Kim, 2015c). Outcomes from gamification studies have been varied, and this is likely due to the fact that few of the education-related studies isolated any specific gamification component, but instead lumped various components together to evaluate the effect making it difficult to determine which gamification components may be beneficial to student achievement and/or motivation and which may be detrimental. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to contribute to the existing body of literature and answer four specific questions about gamification components: how do the specific gamification components of unlimited lives, badges, and level-locking affect student achievement; is there a significant difference in achievement in extrinsically motivated students versus intrinsically motivated students in a gamified online course; what are student perceptions of the gamified components of unlimited lives, badges, and level-locking in an online course; and how do student perceptions of a gamified course correlate with data regarding student achievement. Of the three gamification components evaluated, unlimited lives was the only one that did not show any negative effects in terms of student achievement measured. In the badges course section, achievement was lowest for the assignments that had badges connected to them, while assignments that did not have badges connected were often at a higher level of achievement compared to other sections. Badges may, in fact, have negative effects on student achievement and more research should follow to further investigate. The level-locking section had the highest grades for assignments that were part of the level-locking component, but this did not transfer over to assignments that required higher-order thinking. In fact, students in this section had the lowest scores on the higher order thinking assignments. Motivation orientation at the beginning of a course did not have a significant difference on student achievement between the gamified sections. Overall students had mostly positive views of the gamification components, though the students in the badging section were more likely than others to rate the gamification component as negative. Students perceived that the gamification components helped them learn the content and most thought other courses should offer these types of components. Although student perceptions of the gamified components were mostly positive, these perceptions do not always support the actual achievement data in the course.
Victoria Carr, Ed.D. (Committee Chair)
Catherine V. Maltbie, Ed.D. (Committee Member)
Mary Barbara Boat, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
184 p.
Educational Evaluation
gamification; gamified course; badges; content unlocking; freedom to fail

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jacobs, J. A. (2016). Gamification in an Online Course: Promoting student Achievement through Game-Like Elements [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1468512095

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jacobs, Jennifer. Gamification in an Online Course: Promoting student Achievement through Game-Like Elements. 2016. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1468512095.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jacobs, Jennifer. "Gamification in an Online Course: Promoting student Achievement through Game-Like Elements." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1468512095

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1468512095
1,421
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.