Evaluating the Effects of Introducing Three Gamification Elements in STEM Educational Software for Secondary Schools

Abstract

Gamification aims to enhance the educational experience by enabling students to have fun with technology. Although research in the field has previously looked into the effectiveness of gamification, reviews of existing studies show that in the context of education, gamification has been largely applied at the university level, with diverse pedagogical approaches and outcomes. Furthermore, reports often refer to interactions with gamification elements in contexts outside STEM education. To bridge these research gaps, this paper reports on an empirical study involving 199 students from two secondary schools. Students had the opportunity to receive a digital reward (in the form of points, badges, or rankings) for their participation in an online physics lesson. Although no significant differences were found regarding student motivation, results confirm an impact-depending on the gamification element being introduced in the software-on three other important aspects: (i) perceived usability, (ii) student engagement, and (iii) learning performance.CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI.

Can Educational Software Support Learning in the Global North and South Equally? A Comparison Case Study

“…Additionally, linear regressions showed no influence of the students' previous attitudes (ATS) and motivations towards science (SMQ), their user engagement (UES-SF), and their perception of software usability (SUS) on the learning gains, supporting the null hypothesis H2b. Nonetheless, results of the one-way ANOVA (F(1,340)= 4.839, p=0.028) showed a significant difference with a low effect size (Cohen's d= 0.241, r= 0.119) on the learning gains of the Ecuadorian students studied in this report, compared to the learning gains of British students in a similar published study (see [4]) rejecting the null hypothesis H3b.…”

“…Results of the Mann-Whitney test showed significant differences between schools Y and Z for the ATS (U= 2298, Z= -4.404, p< 0.001) and the SMQ (U= 1949, Z= -5.538, p< 0.001). In addition, results of the Mann-Whitney test showed significant differences between the Ecuadorian schools studied in this paper and British data previously collected [4], both for the ATS (U= 14579, Z= -2.884, p= 0.004) and the SMQ (U= 15310, Z= -2.044, p= 0.041), rejecting the null hypothesis H3a. Significant differences were found between the self-reported motivations (SMQ) and attitudes (ATS) of students prior the experimental sessions, depending on their country of origin (Figures 5 & 6).…”

“…When comparing the outcomes of the Ecuadorian students reported in this study to the previously collected results of the British students (see [4]) significant differences were found between the selfreported motivation (SMQ, Figure 5) and attitudes of students (ATS, Figure 6) prior to the start of the experimental sessions (Section 4.2). For instance, as private schools with higher household incomes (School B in the UK and School Z in Ecuador) scored significantly higher in both scales than their counterparts in each respective country.…”

“…Schools Y and Z in Ecuador had access to fair scientific and technological facilities, compared to their counterparts Schools A and B in the United Kingdom which had very good technological facilities. School A was a public and secular secondary school, whereas School B was a private boarding school in the same geographical area [4].…”

“…In an attempt to contribute to the understanding of how educational software influences learning in the context of the digital divide. this paper mainly collects responses from students in two secondary schools in a Global South country (Ecuador), but it also contrasts these results with those collected (see [4]) from two secondary schools participating in a similar study in a Global North country (The United Kingdom).…”