Gamification in Education: Where Are We in 2015?

Abstract: This paper presents a follow-up of a systematic mapping study of the empirical research on applying gamification to education, covering the period July 2014-June 2015. Its goal is twofold: to complement the previous survey by reviewing the papers published within the last year and to identify the shifts and emerging trends in this research field by comparing the new results to the previous data. The study also confirms that the penetration of gamification in education is still fast growing and the practice has outpaced researchers’ understanding of its mechanisms. But it indicates that it has passed the “peak of inflated expectations” in Gartner’s hype cycle and is sliding down into the “trough of disillusionment”. The rise of the number of studies with inconclusive or negative results suggests that the gamification has passed its early phase and is considered in a more critical and analytical way instead of ‘riding the hype’. Introduction Gamification has been a rising technology trend since 2010. Its growing popularity is stemming from the belief in its potential to foster motivation, behavioral changes, friendly competition and collaboration in different contexts, such as customer engagement, employee performance and social loyalty. As a result, it has been applied in various domains including marketing, health care, human resources, training, environmental protection and wellbeing. One key sector where gamification techniques are being explored is education. Gamification in education refers to the

[1]  Jouni Ikonen,et al.  Increasing collaborative communications in a programming course with gamification: a case study , 2014, CompSysTech.

[2]  C.-H. Cheng,et al.  A mobile gamification learning system for improving the learning motivation and achievements , 2015, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[3]  Jeffrey Earp,et al.  Gamification and Education: a Literature Review , 2022 .

[4]  Harry B. Santoso,et al.  Development of gamification-enriched pedagogical agent for e-Learning system based on community of inquiry , 2015 .

[5]  Jozef Tvarozek,et al.  Engaging Students in Online Courses through Interactive Badges , 2014 .

[6]  Athanasios Mazarakis,et al.  Interaction and Reflection with Quantified Self and Gamification: an Experimental Study , 2014 .

[7]  Darryl Charles,et al.  An Investigation of Gamification Typologies for Enhancing Learner Motivation , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Interactive Technologies and Games.

[8]  Usef Faghihi,et al.  How Gamification Applies for Educational Purpose Specially with College Algebra , 2014, BICA.

[9]  Katie Davis,et al.  Digital badges in afterschool learning: Documenting the perspectives and experiences of students and educators , 2015, Comput. Educ..

[10]  Barry Fishman,et al.  Planning for success: how students use a grade prediction tool to win their classes , 2015, LAK.

[11]  Alham Fikri Aji,et al.  Gamifìed E-Learning model based on Community of Inquiry , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Advanced Computer Science and Information System.

[12]  Monica Aresta,et al.  Peer-supported badge attribution in a collaborative learning platform: The SAPO Campus case , 2015, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[13]  G. Ravid,et al.  Academic Course Gamification: The Art of Perceived Playfulness. , 2014 .

[14]  Carlos Delgado-Kloos,et al.  Gamification for Engaging Computer Science Students in Learning Activities: A Case Study , 2014 .

[15]  Hiromi Ban,et al.  An English vocabulary learning support system for the learner’s sustainable motivation , 2015, SpringerPlus.

[16]  Lei Shi,et al.  Contextual Gamification of Social Interaction - Towards Increasing Motivation in Social E-learning , 2014, ICWL.

[17]  Julita Vassileva,et al.  Does gamification work for boys and girls?: An exploratory study with a virtual learning environment , 2015, SAC.

[18]  Galia Angelova,et al.  Gamification in Education: A Systematic Mapping Study , 2015, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[19]  Martin Sillaots,et al.  Gamification of Higher Education by the Example of Course of Research Methods , 2014, ICWL.

[20]  Maciej Laskowski,et al.  Gamification in Higher Education: A Case Study , 2014 .

[21]  Celine Latulipe,et al.  Structuring Flipped Classes with Lightweight Teams and Gamification , 2015, SIGCSE.

[22]  Ivica Boticki,et al.  Usage of a mobile social learning platform with virtual badges in a primary school , 2015, Comput. Educ..

[23]  Renée A. McCauley,et al.  Facilitating Programming Success in Data Science Courses through Gamified Scaffolding and Learn2Mine , 2015, ITiCSE.

[24]  Mária Bieliková,et al.  Motivating Learners by Dynamic Score and Personalized Activity Stream , 2014, 2014 9th International Workshop on Semantic and Social Media Adaptation and Personalization.

[25]  Dario Maggiorini,et al.  Creating software engineering student interaction profiles for discovering gamification approaches to improve collaboration , 2014, CompSysTech.

[26]  Carlos Delgado Kloos,et al.  Gamification for Engaging Computer Science Students in Learning Activities: A Case Study , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

[27]  Bernadette Perry,et al.  Gamifying French Language Learning: a case study examining a quest-based, augmented reality mobile learning-tool , 2015 .

[28]  Yigal Attali,et al.  Gamification in assessment: Do points affect test performance? , 2015, Comput. Educ..

[29]  Jesse Fox,et al.  Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance , 2015, Comput. Educ..

[30]  Mun Yong Yi,et al.  Gamification of Online Learning , 2015, AIED.

[31]  Joseph Jay Williams,et al.  A Playful Game Changer: Fostering Student Retention in Online Education with Social Gamification , 2015, L@S.

[32]  Sonja Martin Poole,et al.  Get Your Head in the Game: Using Gamification in Business Education to Connect with Generation Y , 2014 .

[33]  Ari Korhonen,et al.  The Effect of Achievement Badges on Students' Behavior: An Empirical Study in a University-Level Computer Science Course , 2015, Int. J. Emerg. Technol. Learn..

[34]  Martin Sillaots,et al.  Gamification of Higher Education by the Example of Computer Games Course , 2015 .

[35]  Lise McCoy,et al.  Student perceptions of gamified audience response system interactions in large group lectures and via lecture capture technology , 2015, BMC Medical Education.

[36]  Lauri Malmi,et al.  Increasing Students’ Awareness of Their Behavior in Online Learning Environments with Visualizations and Achievement Badges , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

[37]  Joaquim A. Jorge,et al.  Identifying Student Types in a Gamified Learning Experience , 2014, Int. J. Game Based Learn..

[38]  Amy K. Landers,et al.  An Empirical Test of the Theory of Gamified Learning , 2014 .

[39]  Katheryn R. Christy,et al.  Leaderboards in a virtual classroom: A test of stereotype threat and social comparison explanations for women's math performance , 2014, Comput. Educ..

[40]  Christa R. Nevin,et al.  Gamification as a tool for enhancing graduate medical education , 2014, Postgraduate Medical Journal.

[41]  Sandra Schamroth Abrams,et al.  Gamified Vocabulary: Online Resources and Enriched Language Learning. , 2014 .

[42]  Guido Makransky,et al.  Improving biotech education through gamified laboratory simulations , 2014, Nature Biotechnology.

[43]  Vincent Aleven,et al.  Gamification of Joint Student/System Control over Problem Selection in a Linear Equation Tutor , 2014, Intelligent Tutoring Systems.