A Proposal to Use Gamification Systematically to Nudge Students Toward Productive Behaviors

While gamification in education has been used to increase motivation and engagement, it can also be used to nudge students to change behavior. This paper describes work in progress on a holistic gamification design for an introductory computer programming course that encourages students to adopt five core self-regulation skills: time management, incremental development, self-checking, persistence, and planning. We encourage growth mindset beliefs by reinforcing that skills can be increased and improved through targeted effort and practice. The self-regulation skills chosen are all associated with successful scholastic performance and present a model of “working smarter, not harder”. They relate to the student’s process of working, rather than the assignment solution being produced. A combination of role-playing game character development, experience points, leveling, daily missions, energy management, and a booster-based reward system are used as game mechanics. The goal is to communicate to students that mastery of these skills is valued by the course’s community, to encourage students to aspire to master these skills, and to recognize and reward students as they progress and eventually achieve these goals. The design leverages existing work on measuring student effort and progress as they work on assignments to drive game mechanics.