comunicación presentada en disconference 2013

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

Gamification and Learners’ Engagement in

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)

Rubén Gutiérrez Priego

([email protected])

Azahara García Peralta

([email protected])

Authors(Spain)

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 Gamification is successfully applied in different fields, such as:

- Marketing

- Public Health

- Leisure

- Politics

- Banking

- Education



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.


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

Thank you very much!

¡Muchas gracias!

Rubén Gutiérrez Priego

([email protected])

Azahara García Peralta

([email protected])

Authors

comunicación presentada en disconference 2013

Education

basic notionsthe

gamified proposals source

acting strategies source

gamified initiatives

flow channel diagram

fogg behavior model

research fieldsthe

successful gamified