Gamification in education means adding game design elements, such as points, badges, levels, progress bars and leaderboards, to learning that isn't itself a game. The research supports it, with conditions. A 2020 meta-analysis found small positive effects on what students know, how motivated they feel and what they can do, and the effect on knowledge held up in the most rigorous studies.
Gamification can also backfire. In one 16-week university course, students given a leaderboard and badges ended the semester less motivated, and scored lower on the final exam, than students who took the same course without them.
Five gamification elements and what research found
| Element | What it looks like | What the research found |
|---|---|---|
| Prizes for points | Points that can be swapped for a prize or extra screen time | Across 128 experiments, tangible rewards people expected for doing a task lowered their interest in it (Deci, Koestner and Ryan, 1999). |
| Leaderboards | A class ranking that updates after every quiz | Students on a 16-week course with a leaderboard and badges ended the semester less motivated, and scored lower on the final exam, than students on the same course without them (Hanus and Fox, 2015). |
| A story | Each unit framed as a quest in a story world | A story wrapped around the tasks was linked to stronger effects on skills in a 2020 meta-analysis (Sailer and Homner). |
| Team challenges | Teams compete, and members work together inside each team | Pairing competition with collaboration was one of the most effective designs for skills in the same meta-analysis (Sailer and Homner, 2020). |
| Instant feedback | A quiz that shows the right answer straight after each question | Positive feedback raised people's interest in a task in the same 1999 analysis that found expected rewards lowered it (Deci, Koestner and Ryan). |
Full references are listed at the end of this article.
What gamification in education means
Sebastian Deterding, Dan Dixon, Rilla Khaled and Lennart Nacke defined gamification in 2011 as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts”. In a classroom, the lesson stays the same. The game layer sits around it: points for finished tasks, a badge for each skill, levels a child moves up through in a unit, or a class leaderboard after each quiz.
Common elements include points, badges, levels, progress bars, leaderboards, streaks for days in a row, quests and avatars. Most gamified apps and classrooms combine a few of them.
Gamification and game-based learning
The two terms get mixed up. Gamification adds game elements to ordinary learning, so a child still does the same worksheet but earns points for it. Game-based learning uses an actual game to teach, so playing is the learning, as in a maths game where solving equations moves you through the levels.
Does gamification work? What the research shows
The largest review of the evidence, by Michael Sailer and Lisa Homner, pooled controlled studies of gamified learning and was published in Educational Psychology Review in 2020. They found small positive effects on three kinds of outcome:
- Knowledge: an effect size of 0.49, from 19 comparisons covering 1,686 learners.
- Motivation, including engagement and students' belief in their own ability: 0.36, from 16 comparisons covering 2,246 learners.
- Skills, meaning what students could do with what they learned: 0.25, from 9 comparisons covering 951 learners.
The effect on knowledge held up when the authors looked only at the studies with the strongest methods. The effects on motivation and skills were less stable. Two design choices stood out: wrapping the game elements in a story, and pairing competition with collaboration. Both were linked to better results for skills.
When gamification backfires
In a study published in 2015, Michael Hanus and Jesse Fox compared two runs of the same university course over a 16-week semester, one with a leaderboard and badges and one without. Students in the gamified course reported less motivation, satisfaction and sense of empowerment as the semester went on, and they scored lower on the final exam. The lower exam scores were linked to their lower motivation.
An older finding helps explain why. A 1999 analysis of 128 experiments by Edward Deci, Richard Koestner and Richard Ryan found that tangible rewards people expected for doing a task lowered their interest in it, while positive feedback raised it. Points and prizes that feel like payment can pull a child's attention from the subject to the reward.
Gamification examples in education
Duolingo
The language app gives experience points for each lesson, counts streaks of days in a row, and places learners in weekly leagues that work as leaderboards.
Kahoot!
Teachers run multiple-choice quizzes that students answer on their own devices. Points depend on accuracy and speed, and a leaderboard appears between questions.
A classroom version without apps
A teacher turns a term's topics into levels, gives a badge for each skill a student can show, and splits the class into teams that earn points together for quiz scores and homework.
How to use gamification at home or in class
The research above points to a few rules:
- Give points for finishing a topic or correcting mistakes, and leave speed out of the scoring, since points for speed can reward rushing.
- Rank teams, or show children their own progress against last week, before you try a class leaderboard.
- Add a story. A unit becomes a quest, and each worksheet moves the story on.
- Pair competition with collaboration, so teams compete while members help each other.
- Give feedback straight away, keep prizes small or skip them, and drop the points if your child starts caring more about them than the subject.
Gamification and online school
Feedback, the element with the clearest support, doesn't need a game. CambriLearn students learn in live, timetabled lessons with specialist subject teachers who give feedback in class, and parents follow attendance and progress in CambriCommand, part of CambriOS. A points chart or a streak at home works best alongside that feedback.
For more study methods with research behind them, read how to focus when studying and our guide to active recall.
Questions about gamification in education
What is gamification in education?
Gamification in education is the use of game design elements, such as points, badges, levels, progress bars and leaderboards, in learning that isn't itself a game. The lesson stays the same, and the game elements sit around it to make progress visible and give students a reason to keep going.
What is an example of gamification in education?
Duolingo is a common example. The language app awards experience points for lessons, tracks daily streaks and ranks learners in weekly leagues. In a classroom, a teacher might turn a term's topics into levels, award a badge for each skill a student can show and let teams earn points together.
Does gamification improve learning?
On average it helps a little. A 2020 meta-analysis in Educational Psychology Review found small positive effects on knowledge, motivation and skills, and the effect on knowledge held up in the most rigorous studies. Design decides the result: story frames and competition paired with collaboration did better, while one study found a leaderboard and badges lowered motivation and final exam scores.
What is the difference between gamification and game-based learning?
Gamification adds game elements, such as points or badges, to ordinary learning, so the task itself stays the same. Game-based learning teaches through an actual game, so playing the game is the learning.
What are the disadvantages of gamification in education?
Points, badges and prizes can pull a child's attention from the subject to the reward. A 1999 analysis of 128 experiments found that tangible rewards people expected for a task lowered their interest in it, and a 2015 study found students on a course with a leaderboard and badges ended up less motivated, with lower final exam scores, than students on the same course without them.
Sources
- Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R. and Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining “gamification”. Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference, 9-15.
- Sailer, M. and Homner, L. (2020). The gamification of learning: a meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 77-112.
- Hanus, M. D. and Fox, J. (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: a longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance. Computers & Education, 80, 152-161.
- Deci, E. L., Koestner, R. and Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627-668.
About CambriLearn
CambriLearn is an accredited online school for students aged 4 to 19, with live, timetabled lessons taught by specialist subject teachers across six curriculum pathways: the International British Curriculum, Pearson Edexcel, US K-12, CAPS, KABV and the IEB. CambriLearn is accredited by Cognia and Pearson Edexcel, registered with SACAI and the IEB, and NCAA approved. We have taught more than 80,000 students in more than 100 countries.
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