Effects of a collaborative gamification on learning and engagement of children with Autism

Abstract

Gamification, i.e., the use of game elements in non-game contexts, is an effective tool to help children learn using educational technologies. When properly utilized together with pedagogical approaches that foster students' interactions with learning materials, gamification has consistently been shown to increase students' participation, motivation, engagement, and learning gains. Nevertheless, when we consider children with autism, there is little evidence about the benefits of gamification for learning. In addition, to develop gamified educational technologies for this public, it is necessary to know a method of psychology, and few practitioners in this area have this knowledge. A collaborative design in which the collaborators come from different knowledge backgrounds, known as co-design, may deal with this issue. We conducted a single-subject design experiment to assess the effect of a gamified co-design. In this co-design, one practitioner in game design and two psychology experts in autism elaborated a prototype of an application, and DTT (Discrete Trial Training) approach was used to support the learning activities. DTT is a psychology method that demonstrated effectivity in children with autism, and it Article Title is based on the use of response to stimuli through repetition and reinforcement. Findings indicated that the developed prototype fosters correct answers, reduces undesired behaviors, follows ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) skills, and presents positive behaviors. We concluded that codesign is a promising approach to be used in gamification in a context that requires expert knowledge, as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).