Gamification of Online Discussions: Examining Student Participation Patterns Involving Award Badges and Leaderboards

Abstract

A 12-week online education course involving graduate-level students was the subject of inquiry as gamification elements concerning achievement and participation were implemented and analyzed.This mixed-method study utilized a variety of automatically-generated data, as well as student reflections, to offer a deeper awareness of how gamification potentially affected student online participation.Findings illustrate the benefit of microanalytic case study analysis for gaining valuable insights of how students respond to and view the use of award badges and participation leaderboards in online courses.Finally, further commentary is offered by the authors to others wishing to utilize gamification as a method for students to engage in online discussions and tasks beyond its gamified nature, and which may offer something of academic value. ObjectivesA significant body of research suggests that students in online courses often suffer from feelings of social isolation (Yuan & Kim, 2014; Phirangee & Malec, 2017;Dawson, 2006), uncertainty (Author, 2008), frustration (Kim et al., 2014), disconnectedness (Boling et al., 2012), and even boredom (Baker, 2003).In response to these problems, some researchers are exploring the pedagogical possibilities of gamification.Within an educational context, gamification is an approach to motivate students and influence their behaviour by using game elements to maximize enjoyment and engagement (Kapp, Blair, & Mesch, 2014).A variety of course elements can be gamified using points, badges, leaderboards, levels, and other devices.Some recent studies of gamification within online courses suggest that it may offer a means of motivating students and making their learning experience a more positive, interesting, and practical one.For instance, Alabbasi (2017) examined 47 graduate students enrolled in a gamified LMS and found that 86% of the participants had a positive perception toward the utilization of leaderboards and their inherent ranking system, which they believed to be effective in promoting competition, hard work, and success.These results are in line with other studies (Azmi & Singh, 2015;Fotaris et al., 2016;Landers & Landers, 2014) involving leaderboards that reported similar findings of a motivating and enriching student experience.Other research (Hurst, 2015;Gibson et al., 2015) on the use of achievement badges has seen mostly positive results in terms of promoting specific types of student behaviours by incentivizing students to develop practical skills and continue academic exercises, or even showcase one's skills to others (Dijkstra et al., 2008).