Comunicación presentada en Disconference 2013

Gamification and
Learners’ Engagement in
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)

Authors
(Spain)
Azahara García Peralta

Rubén Gutiérrez Priego

(azahara.2.0.rienta@gmail.com)

(vluxaurea10@gmail.com)

The 8th International Conference DisCo (Prague, June 2013)

Index

I. Gamification: Basic Notions
II. Motivation, Educational games and GBL
III. Research: Planification and characteristics
IV. Research: Results and Conclusions
V. Future Perspectives and Research Fields


Section I:
Gamification: Basic Notions


I. Gamification: Basic Notions (1)
Definition:
"The use of playful techniques in non-game contexts"
(Deterding, 2011a)

Benefits:

○

It highly influences on how systems motivate their users and modifies
their performances and levels of satisfaction.

○
○

An useful way to model people's behaviour.
Let the instructional designers develop funny educational projects where
the learners get engaged quickly.
(Hamari and Järvinen, 2011)


Advantages:
Optimal "weisure" (working + leisure) by means of an interactive proposal
describe as "playbor" (play + labor)
(Anderson y Rainie, 2012)

Multidisciplinary character
fields, such as:
- Marketing
- Public Health
- Leisure
- Politics
- Banking
- Education


Gamification is successfully applied in different


In successful gamified activities there are three interaction levels:
1. Individual
2. Community
3. Institutional
(Werbach, 2012)



Figure 1. Seven strategies in gamified proposals Source: Authors' own work


1. Flow:
“A human state in which a human being is so engaged in an activity that he/she
can’t pay attention to nothing else. That experience is as funny and gratifying
as to make the participants take part in its defiance just because of the
satisfaction; even when such a challenge implies an enormous cost or effort.”
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1996)



Figure 2. Fogg Behavior Model Source: Adapted from (Fogg, 2003 and 2011)


Figure 3. Flow Channel Diagram Source: Adapted from (Lee and Hammer, 2010)


Figure 4. Strategies in gamified initiatives (1) Source: Authors' own work



Figure 5. Strategies in gamified initiatives (2) Source: Authors' own work



Figure 6. Taxonomy of players and acting strategies Source: Adapted from (Jo Kim, 2010)


Figure 7. Three-dimension diagram of players’ personalities Source: Adapted from (Bartle, 2003)


Figure 8. Game Requirements Source: Authors' own work


Section II:
Motivation, Educational games and GBL


II. Motivation, Educational games and GBL (1)
In virtual learning environments, MOTIVATION will include:
- students’ personal aspects
- elements from the formative setting
because any individual selects a concrete behavior or strategy for action just
based on the established goals and expected benefits.
(Deci, 2004; Heckhausen, 1991; Song, 2000; Wlodkowski, 1999)

There are 3 main groups of motives that can impel people to cooperate and,
at the same time, satisfy three different kinds of needs as it is showed in the
next slide.
(Polaino, 2011; Rianudo, 1997; Sandoval, 2006)



Figure 9. Motivational factors and human needs
Source: Authors’ own work based on (Polaino, 2011; Rianudo, 1997; Sandoval, 2006)


This motivation –with its three faces- is an essential factor in learning:

“Motivation is not only important because is an unforgettable and necessary
causal factor to let learning appear but because -at the same time- is a
consequence from such learning”
(Wlodkowski, 1985)



Educational games when are well built in Virtual Learning Environments:
- include playful mechanics capable of creating funny and enjoyable
experiences which are intrinsically motivating.
- promote a meaningful, engaging and practical learning (“playing is
acting”)
- make much easier develop practical critical thinking, collaborative
working and creative problem solving.

(Barab et al., 2005; de Freitas, 2006; Gee, 2003; Papastergiou, 2009; Pavlas, 2010;
Ryan, 2002 y 2006; Wilson et al., 2007)


Section III:
Research: Planification and characteristics


III. Research: Planification and characteristics (1)

Figure 10. Planification of the full research process Source: Authors’ own work


Figure 11. Research: planification and characteristics
Source: Authors’ own work based on (García, 2003; Hernández et al., 1997; Osorio, 2006; Wright and Rosenbaum, 1979)



Table 1 General overview of the questionnaire and types of questions Source: Authors’ own work

Section IV:
Research: Results and Conclusions


IV. Research: Results and Conclusions (1)

The results from the questionnaire were gathered in thematic sections and
analyzed through simple frequency tables and graphical interpretations.

As a result, in relation to demographic and professional hypothesis:
i. There are no differences between male-females or among age intervals
when the subject comes to identify relevant motivational factors in
learning.
ii. There is no relation between the ages of the survey respondents and their
levels of familiarity with the newest tools for designing multimedia
didactical materials.



Comparing
the most relevant intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors with an
affirmative answer frequency > 95%
with
those coming from the literature review
it may be concluded that:
The motivational aspects which should be particularly kept in mind
when teaching with playful or "funny" techniques are the ones shown in
the three following figures.



Figure 12. Intrinsic motivational elements: Dimension A.1: Human factors Source: Compiled by the authors


Figure 13. Intrinsic motivational elements: Dimension A.2: Methodological-procedural factors Source: Compiled by the authors


Figure 14. Extrinsic motivational elements Source: Compiled by the authors

Other interesting conclusions:
a. The survey respondents remark the motivational reinforcement due to
interactive

presentations

and

learning

materials

developed

as

combinations of text and video.
b. There is a unanimous agreement on how important establishing a grade
of difficulty coherent with the learners’ prior level of knowledge is,
when the matter comes to turn learning into a remarkable experience.
c. Offering a suitable diversity in learning materials is an appropriate
strategy to personalize the educational process.
d.The use of playful techniques in learning activities is confirmed as a
good mean to promote an effective meaningful learning.


Other interesting conclusions (cont.):
e. Those educational competencies linked to planning learning strategies (“learn how to learn”)
as well as socio-communicative skills and abilities related to the use of computers and
information management are the three attitudinal groups where GBL principles have been
more used so far.
f. On the other hand, the rest of the basic educative competences (linguistic, scientific, artistic
and proactive skills) have not already been developed by means of gaming techniques in a
generalized way (only 15% of affirmative answers).
g. Progressive demotivation and decreasing of learners’ engagement are two of the main
obstacles that must be overcome through an appropriate instructional design reinforced by
playful strategies.
h. Personalizing the formative paths is essential to keep the learners engaged in the activity.
Therefore, offering meaningful choices in the progression loops may increase learners’
motivation.


Section V:
Future Perspectives and Research Fields


V. Future Perspectives and Research Fields (1)

1. Building a guide devoted to help educators when gamifying traditional
formative resources in order to:
- reinforce learners’ motivation,
- enhance teaching-learning processes, and
- increase fun and entertainment in learning.
based on the main motivational factors identified and instructional design
recommendations.


V. Future Perspectives and Research Fields (2)
2. Investigating how it could be overcome some of the common problems
identified in e-Learners’ engagement, particularly by means of implementing
new procedures to let students “enjoy while learning and learn while having fun”.
3. Help educators who work with disabled students since gamified techniques
make easier retain attention and highly contribute to keep those learners
focused on their educative activities.
A research on how and why get involved students suffering from Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) could be developed through an
empirical quantitative method with two sampling groups (target and control)
and interviews before and after the research in both groups.


Thank you very much!
¡Muchas

gracias!

Authors
Azahara García Peralta

Rubén Gutiérrez Priego

(azahara.2.0.rienta@gmail.com)

(vluxaurea10@gmail.com)

2013 The 8th International Conference DisCo (Prague, June
2013)

Comunicación presentada en Disconference 2013

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