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

• In Event: 35.029 - Instructional Features of Online Learning Environments

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.

Authors

• Paul Alexander, University of Toronto

• Jim Hewitt, OISE/University of Toronto

• Preeti Raman, University of Toronto