The potential of gamification in education is based on the hypothesis that it supports and motivates students and can thus lead to enhanced learning processes and outcomes. Gamification in software engineering (SE) education is in its infancy. However, as SE educators we are particularly interested in understanding how gamification is pollinating our field and the extent to which the above claim is valid in our context. A systematic literature mapping has underscored the difficulty in fully corroborating the above claim because few empirical data are available so far. However, key trends and challenges have been identified. We found that the purpose of applying gamification in the SE field is mostly directly related to improving student engagement and, to a lesser extent, to improving student knowledge, although other targets are the application of SE best practices and socialization. We have also discussed insightful issues regarding the implementation cost of gamification, patterns in the most often used gamification elements, and the SE processes and teaching activities addressed. Of the identified challenges, we should highlight the complexity of deciding which gamification approach to follow, the lack of information for choosing gamification elements and the need to control the impact of gamification.

Software process improvement (SPI) initiatives have contributed for a long time to the progress of software development. However, the outcome of such initiatives has not always been as effective as expected. The literature of SPI points out that motivation of practitioners involved in SPI initiatives is a critical factor for its success. On the other hand, gamification has been perceived as motivational and has the potential to improve people's engagement. Thus, researchers have been recently investigating the impact of gamification in increasing the motivation and commitment of the organization members involved in SPI. Despite the novelty of the field, we see the integration of gamification and SPI as an opportunity of study and research. The aim of this paper is to investigate and report the state of the practice in this field, identifying key challenges faced by organizations wishing to incorporate gamification into their SPI initiatives. One of the main challenges identified is related to the complexity of gamifying SPI because it involves different organizational roles and aspects that may require designing different gamification strategies. Another relevant issue is the need of more empirical data to provide sound evidence about the real impact of gamification on improving SPI initiatives.

The potential of gamification is based on the hypothesis that it improves user engagement, motivation, and performance. Gamification has already been used in software development with promising results. Our aim is to get a snapshot of the state of the practice of gamification and agile software development, and to discover what evidence there is about the benefits of this integration. A literature review revealed that current research in the field is at the very early stages, and there are very few studies, some of which do not provide empirical evidence of the impact of gamification on the agile process. Therefore, results will always be inconclusive. However, we found that the impact of gamification on agile team performance is perceived to be positive. Examples of other interesting issues that have arisen are that user stories are the most gamified agile practice or that the most frequently adopted gamification elements are points and badges.

I wish to express my gratitude to King Saud University and the government of Saudi Arabia for offering the incredible opportunity to pursue higher education with a full scholarship.My biggest thanks go to my lovely family. Special thanks to my mom Kaydah, from whom I learned patience, dedication, and commitment. To my dad Mubarak, who always inspires me to be a better person and a researcher.To my partners in this journey, my husband Abdullah, and my son Faris, without whom this thesis would have been completed two years earlier, thank you for being amazing. vi

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