Search

Gamification has been used in a wide variety of subject-specific education contexts. Examples of such usage in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) context include the oft-played beer distribution game, developed by MIT Sloan School of Management (Forrester, 1961), which simulates the coordination of typical problems in supply chain processes, promoting information sharing and collaboration throughout a supply chain (Sterman, 1984). Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM), a subset of this wider SCM area, focuses on the direct relationships between organisational buyers and suppliers, covering aspects such as establishing trust, identifying and selecting suitable suppliers, managing supplier performance and the overall relationship. A systematic review of the PSM gamified learning literature establishes that there has been limited research to date and that which there is tends to focus on quantitative representations of managing overall supply and demand, using wider SCM elements. This suggests that there are opportunities to gamify PSM learning, in particular focusing on the human element in PSM and developing soft skills, as strong buyer-supplier relationships can generate significant benefits to both parties. To provide a more focused PSM contribution, a second systematic literature review distils the relevant principles, techniques and processes to inform the development of two gamified PSM learning activities. Negotiation and supplier relationship management rely heavily on personal interactions and are both seen as key activities at different stages of the PSM process. The development of the two gamified learning activities is strengthened by being underpinned by a synthesis of the literature review’s key findings, ensuring they are domain-meaningful abstractions of reality, contain rewards and rankings based on clear objectives and have appealing gameplay. It is hoped that this paper provides a platform for future domain specific PSM research and will be of use to educators in this field in developing their own gamified learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamification has been defined, with minor variations, as the use of game elements in non-game contexts. Fields with gamified practices range from business (to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction or foster productivity) to others, such as health, personal well-being and, regarding education, improvement of classroom management (in which gamification aims to promote positive behaviours). The community around Wikipedia Project has decided to use some of these practices to promote author participation and create new content. This work reviews some of these attempts, with a focus on the experiences at Wikipedia Spain, analysing the impact of including different game elements and proposing strategies to improve results in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of learning processes within higher education strongly depends on the student's motivation. Therefore, gamification focuses on increasing the motivation by using game elements during the student's introductory phase to higher education. Today every institution of higher education provides at least one learning management systems (LMS) for learning and organizational support. This situation opens a multitude of opportunities to increase student motivation through gamification using existing digital infrastructure. How can educational technologies such as LMS be gamified? How can you address different kinds of students? The answer to this question lies within game thinking and how it helps to reshape digital learning at institutions of higher education. Presenting gOPAL will give an insight into a gamified LMS as an online support service for first-year students. gOPAL users continuously receive helpful information for their studies at Technische Universität Dresden and their regional surroundings. But how are users motivated to stay in the system and access this information? In order to stimulate a continuous usage of the service, it has been gamified. Different game design principles and elements, such as storytelling, quests, rewards, achievements, visual presentations, feedback, surprise, and curiosity were embedded in the scenarios and scientifically investigated. The usage of gOPAL has been evaluated through an online survey and the analysis of user data. The paper describes the elements of gOPAL, as well as the results of the evaluation in detail. In addition, the findings of a quantitative study on user types in academic education are used to show different user types among first-year students as well as differences among students in terms of gender and their faculties. During this study, 249 first-year students were asked about their game preferences based on Marczewski's HEXAD questionnaire. Furthermore, the contribution will deliver an insight into the gamification of running systems, how student services or academic educational programs can be gamified through LMS and which game design elements increase the attractiveness of such systems for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postgraduate research students can feel lonely/isolated while studying their own research topic. The long-term effects of isolation in the research study can have a negative impact e.g. dropping out and delays in completion of the research program. Loneliness can be a devastating psychological condition and chronic loneliness leads to health issues and stress. The objective of this project is to guide the postgraduate research students on their research journey using gamification techniques. This project proposes a system, incorporating game elements to increase the sense of progression and social connectedness among postgraduate research students. Little empirical evidence has been gathered on using game elements to address the problems of progression and social connectedness among postgraduate research students. This study aims to deepen the understanding of the effect of using game elements on postgraduate research students' sense of progress and their sense of social connectedness. To do this, we identified game elements using narrative synthesis literature review approach and proposed a gamified system model that integrates Self-Determination Theory (SDT) which will form the basis of an app. We developed a prototype of an app using the User-Centred Design process. In interviews with postgraduate research students, 87% reported a lack of progression and 80% a lack of social connectedness and 87% were interested in a social tool for progression (e.g. a 300-word daily goal would help achieve the long-term goal of chapter completion of a literature review). We tested two versions of the prototype on users to measure the effective game elements. Progression game elements including progress bars, graphs, points/badges as rewards and surprise gifts can motivate users to write a literature review. Social game elements such as personalised social display and messaging menu-bars could persuade users to build an emotional connection among postgraduate research students, sharing thoughts and experiences. From the results of this study, we are developing a system featuring some of these selected game elements: goals, points, badges (assessment), social display platform, messaging menu (social interaction), and progress bars and graphs, gifts/vouchers, and a motivational message (progress and surprise). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious games which deal with human rights topics have been on the rise for the last 15 years. Digital games show some unique properties that make them valuable for inducing social change. Some of the game elements that can be used to integrate values are as follows: Narration, which is one of the elements that is most obvious to players and is part of most of today's digital games, is a proper way of presenting human rights topics and can also include ideological messages. However, there are also other ways of creating empathy for certain groups as the example of Ayitii - The Cost of Life shows: If players feel responsible for the game characters, games can make players think about the topic presented. Being able to take meaningful decisions which influence the player's avatar, other non-playable characters, the narration or the gameworld is a property of many recent games. Thus, ethical decisions are included in games and put players into the shoes of those who are oppressed or put in other situations where there is no easy way of deciding if something is right or wrong. Finally, the article also discusses if these serious games can affect players' real lives and change their way of thinking and attitudes. The serious game This War of Mine shows that some players think about their decisions and the topic of the game even after having stopped playing. However, there are also restrictions to transferring game contents into players' lives and induce social change. Quite often it is not enough just to play the game, teaching which must take place in a non-game context, is needed to make players aware of human rights (violations). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Games can be structured by means of game elements. Any element that can be found in the game is a game element. Not all of these elements are necessary in order to generate engaging game experience, but they all serve a purpose. Therefore it is important to know what elements the games can have. Researchers and designers have different opinions about what elements games should have. There is a need for a proper list of game elements used in different games and mentioned in different research reports. To find out what are the central game elements, a quasi literature review was conducted. All together 103 different game elements were found. In order to orientate in so big number of game elements, a more refined structure was needed. For this purpose a network analysis of game elements was conducted and a concept map was created. The network shows the central elements and connections between game elements. According to the results of the analysis - the central game element is challenges. Third outcome of this study was a concept map of frequently used and central game elements in order to give a simplistic and holistic view. This study can be useful for game designers in selecting suitable game design elements and justifying their selection. It is also helpful for instructional designers who are interested in gamification (selecting and using game elements in education). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current programming practical classes are individual based, and consequently an opportunity is being missed to include a more collaborative learning environment. This work sets out to explore how a collaborative environment might be encouraged. One approach to achieve this is to use anonymous peer review of code. Peer review needs to be integrated into the completion of the practical and not seen as a separate entity. Game elements have the potential to allow for the extra work to be part of the practical in a motivating, timely and relevant manner. This paper presents a web-based system with game elements in a computer programming practical lab environment for students in third level education. The system locks later parts of the lab until each student’s code has been reviewed anonymously by his/her peers and/or a lecturer. The locking mechanism encourages students to review each other’s code. The aim is to create a team atmosphere among the students where collaboration and knowledge sharing is as important as technical completion of the lab practical. A user test has been carried out and our initial findings indicate an increase in student engagement. The study consisted of a class of 23 students in a Computer Graphics two hour programming practical class; there were six steps to complete. In conjunction with the students filling in a feedback form at the end of the lab, the data from the practical was analysed and the effectiveness of the approach is gauged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of game elements in non-game contexts (often labelled as gamification) _offers great possibilities in formal, non-formal and informal education. However, despite several academic efforts, there is no consensus on what a game element is. This makes it difficult to decide what parts of games could be used in gamified experiences. In this work, document analysis is carried out in order to identify, extend and adjust the terminology used by different authors to study video games. It reviews some of the academic approaches that describe those elements that can be identified by the players, focusing on dynamics and mechanics, comparing them in order to build a new model (CCAE). The article concludes by mentioning the emergence of interfaces and game forms (particularly pervasive games) that challenge these classifications. With this work we hope to consolidate a common vocabulary for video games that also works as a starting point for building qualitative and quantitative instruments that help to gather designers’ and players’ perceptions on game experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lot of potential exists for systems that enhance learner engagement using game elements. In particular, elements that support the activity of learning, that are designed around learning but that are distinct from the subject matter a learner is studying. This paper describes such a system, the particular support focussed on is goal setting - setting custom learning goals, independent of the course being undertaken, and tracking progress on these goals in a game like way. Students' approaches to study have been classified by a number of different inventories, perhaps the most popular is Biggs' Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) which divides students into one of three categories - Utilising (studying no more than is necessary), Internalising (where studying is an intrinsically motivating activity), and Achieving (getting grades for their own sake). Is it possible to facilitate the state of flow, to enable more students to experience study as an intrinsically motivating activity more often? This work explores the design of a system with the goal of answering this question. This system has been trialled with a class of final year BSc computing students in order to assist them with the activity of studying for exams. The aim of the trial was to determine the degree to which the game-like system succeeded in making studying for exams more engaging. This paper describes the design of the system, and the design and results of the trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courses on research methods are usually part of every university curriculum. In most cases research methods are taught in the traditional way – through lectures and presentations. Even if the more active format of seminars is used, students still perceive the content of the course as dry and boring. Can gamification make studying research methods more engaging? Does the use of game elements make the students immerse themselves in learning activities and experience a state of "flow" as described by Csikszentmihalyi? To answer these questions three courses on Research Methods were designed in a gamified fashion - one for Educational Technology and IT management master students and two for ICT bachelor level students. Several game elements were used for course management and for learning activities in order to create the atmosphere of a game. In the end of each course feedback was collected and aspects of flow were measured. The quantitative estimations and qualitative comments show that flow was achieved in most of the cases. The majority of the students were happy with the format of the course but some of them did not enjoy the game-like aspects at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Project Based Learning, learners work in teams to produce a series of artefacts culminating in a final product, which is usually organised around a driving question. Many students over-emphasise the product of a project to the detriment of learning, and this is something that continues into the workplace. That is, once the goals of the project are reached, the project is immediately dismissed, and little of what they learned is available to the students in future projects. The problem is compounded by a typical characteristic of such projects - that even with the same project brief, the learning outcomes required by different students can vary greatly. So how can we encourage more of a focus on mastery rather than mostly focusing on the product? A promising approach to addressing this problem is to design a game-like system. A set of requirements for the system were identified, chief among them were: (i) to represent a changing set of learning outcomes and (ii) to motivate students to achieve these outcomes, and (iii) to motivate students to help other students master those learning outcomes they themselves have already mastered. We have designed, developed, and deployed a prototype of a system of game elements to meet these requirements. One such game element is a progression loop in which the learner's learning outcomes are depicted using graphical representations which animate to show his/her growth and journey to mastery over time. Another is an engagement loop motivating the learner by enabling him/her to create custom sessions of bite-sized learning outcomes, in a way that facilitates the key conditions of flow to be met (custom sessions have appeared in recent successful commercial games such as Arkham City). Another is using social game element in which learners can interact we other learners indirectly. To motivate students to assist other students, they can create learning resources for learning outcomes they mastered and these are assessed by other students and lecturers using a game like interface, where the learner obtains points from the learning objects depending on the quality and quantity, giving rise to a status structure similar to that of stackoverflow. A study was carried out with a group of 60 international learners for an Erasmus Intensive Programme to determine the degree to which the game-like system succeeded in encouraging more of a focus on mastery rather than mostly focusing on the product. This paper describes the goals of the system, its design, and the design and results of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]