Effects of competition in gamified online distance learning on intrinsic motivation: A comparative case study

Effects of competition in gamified online distance learning on intrinsic motivation: A comparative case study

Effects of competition in gamified online distance learning on intrinsic motivation: A comparative case study

By Klaudia Bovermann, Sebastian Habla and Joshua Weidlich

Abstract

“Gamification is a popular instructional approach to foster students’ motivation in distance education. However, there are still open questions regarding the effectiveness of different gamification designs. The aim of this study (N=145) was to compare three gamified designs with different levels of competition in relation to intrinsic motivation. We designed three settings for distance education bachelor’s degree students of educational science: (1) Badges for an individual gamified learning without group work, (2) points to focus on cooperative learning between groups to achieve a summarized result shown on a matrix, and finally, (3) points and leaderboards for collaborative learning with friendly competition using leaderboards and a winning group. In doing so, three gamified levels were obtained, which we labeled for our gamified environments in the order (1) to (3): no competition, some competition, and strong competition between groups. A one-way analysis of variance found a significant difference between the three gamified approaches for intrinsic motivation. The highest mean for intrinsic motivation was found for a strong competition between groups. Surprisingly, the lowest mean for intrinsic motivation showed the environment with some competition between groups. Conclusions were derived from the results, then limitations were described, and future research was recommended.”

Reference

Bovermann, K., Habla, S., & Weidlich, J. (2021, July 06). Effects of competition in gamified online distance learning on intrinsic motivation: A comparative case study. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from https://www.learntechlib.org/noaccess/219761/

Keyword

Distance education, gamification designs, collaborative learning, intrinsic motivation, competition, research