Gamification suffers from the novelty effect but benefits from the familiarization effect: Findings from a longitudinal study

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education

Marcela Pessoa¹  Filipe D. Pereira²  Alexandra I. Cristea³  Elaine H. T. Oliveira⁴  David Fernandes⁴  Leandro Silva Galvão Carvalho⁴  Seiji Isotani⁵  Luiz Rodrigues⁵  Armando M. Toda⁶  Paula T. Palomino⁷ 

[1] Amazonas State University, Manaus, Brazil;Institute of Computing, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil;Department of Computer Science, Federal University of Roraima, Boa Vista, Brazil;Durham University, Durham, UK;Durham University, Durham, UK;Institute of Computing, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil;Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo, Avenida Trabalhador São Carlense, 400 - Centro, 13566-590, São Carlos, SP, Brazil;Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo, Avenida Trabalhador São Carlense, 400 - Centro, 13566-590, São Carlos, SP, Brazil;Durham University, Durham, UK;Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of São Paulo, Avenida Trabalhador São Carlense, 400 - Centro, 13566-590, São Carlos, SP, Brazil;HCI Games Group, University of Waterloo, Stratford, Canada;

关键词: Gameful;    Education;    Learning;    Quasi-experiment Repeated-measures;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41239-021-00314-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

There are many claims that gamification (i.e., using game elements outside games) impact decreases over time (i.e., the novelty effect). Most studies analyzing this effect focused on extrinsic game elements, while fictional and collaborative competition have been recently recommended. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, no long-term research has been carried out with STEM learners from introductory programming courses (CS1), a context that demands encouraging practice and mitigating motivation throughout the semester. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to better understand how the impact of a gamification design, featuring fictional and competitive-collaborative elements, changes over a 14-week period of time, when applied to CS1 courses taken by STEM students (N = 756). In an ecological setting, we followed a 2x7 quasi-experimental design, where Brazilian STEM students completed assignments in either a gamified or non-gamified version of the same system, which provided the measures (number of attempts, usage time, and system access) to assess user behavior at seven points in time. Results indicate changes in gamification’s impact that appear to follow a U-shaped pattern. Supporting the novelty effect, the gamification’s effect started to decrease after four weeks, decrease that lasted between two to six weeks. Interestingly, the gamification’s impact shifted to an uptrend between six and 10 weeks after the start of the intervention, partially recovering its contribution naturally. Thus, we found empirical evidence supporting that gamification likely suffers from the novelty effect, but also benefits from the familiarization effect, which contributes to an overall positive impact on students. These findings may provide some guidelines to inform practitioners about how long the initial contributions of gamification last, and how long they take to recover after some reduction in benefits. It can also help researchers to realize when to apply/evaluate interventions that use gamification by taking into consideration the novelty effect and, thereby, better understand the real impact of gamification on students’ behavior in the long run.

【 授权许可】

CC BY