Benefits & challenges to gamification. Scholars continue to search for the validation of gamification and how the positive principles of gamified frameworks may be applied to education as possible alternatives to the traditional curriculum (Erenli, 2013; Hamari et al., 2014; McGonigal, 2011a). From those who advocate the return to a more engaged school experience often encountered in early elementary education (Johnson, 2013), to those who promote higher order engagement through games concepts (Gee, 2003; Sheffield, 2005), the literature on gamification continues to explore the benefits of implementing gamified frameworks. In the article entitled “The Gamification of Education,” Terrel Heick points out the positive principles of gamification
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Much of the literature focuses on the theoretical utilization of gamification methods without offering data on its real-world application. Simões et al. (2013) made a call for further empirical research on the impact of game-based learning and the real effects gamification may have on student cognition. In comparing gamification and social networking, de-Marcos et al. (2010) suggested that a traditional e-learning approach was more effective in assessing knowledge than a gamified approach. In their attitudinal survey given to physics and nursing students who used a gamified mobile application, discrepancies arose between the teenagers and adult students when rating their motivation and performance. Achievement levels remained higher for the teen students due to greater ease and comfort with the technology in comparison to the adult subjects who were not as familiar with the use of electronics. Despite any challenges where researchers have criticized gamification, scholars expressed the need for further research as they recognized the positive effects gamification has on educational curricula (Bahji et al., 2013; L. de-Marcos et al., 2014; Domínguez et al., …show more content…
Teachers’ understanding of their individual students in order to properly differentiate instruction is key to promoting motivational learning. Due to the nature of cognitivism, this theoretical approach to educational psychology concerns itself with intrinsic motivation. Vallerand et al. (1992) define intrinsic motivation as “doing an activity for itself, and the pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation” (p. 1004). Value and effort are important factors in stimulating academic motivation. Value refers to the importance a student places on an activity, whereas effort denotes the time and energy a student invests in the
Much of the literature focuses on the theoretical utilization of gamification methods without offering data on its real-world application. Simões et al. (2013) made a call for further empirical research on the impact of game-based learning and the real effects gamification may have on student cognition. In comparing gamification and social networking, de-Marcos et al. (2010) suggested that a traditional e-learning approach was more effective in assessing knowledge than a gamified approach. In their attitudinal survey given to physics and nursing students who used a gamified mobile application, discrepancies arose between the teenagers and adult students when rating their motivation and performance. Achievement levels remained higher for the teen students due to greater ease and comfort with the technology in comparison to the adult subjects who were not as familiar with the use of electronics. Despite any challenges where researchers have criticized gamification, scholars expressed the need for further research as they recognized the positive effects gamification has on educational curricula (Bahji et al., 2013; L. de-Marcos et al., 2014; Domínguez et al., …show more content…
Teachers’ understanding of their individual students in order to properly differentiate instruction is key to promoting motivational learning. Due to the nature of cognitivism, this theoretical approach to educational psychology concerns itself with intrinsic motivation. Vallerand et al. (1992) define intrinsic motivation as “doing an activity for itself, and the pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation” (p. 1004). Value and effort are important factors in stimulating academic motivation. Value refers to the importance a student places on an activity, whereas effort denotes the time and energy a student invests in the