Abstract: The goal of the study was to see if gamification of a Learning Management System (LMS) would increase a number of desirable outcomes: student interest, motivation, satisfaction, student learning and perception of pedagogical affect. These constructs were measured in a survey, except for learning, which was measured by grades. Gamification of the LMS included the addition of all of the following: (1) An illustrated hero’s adventure storyline with monsters to overcome by completing quests (assignments and assessments), (2) Olympic colored badges to represent individual grades as well as overall progress, (3) Points earned on a game-like scale—e.g., 100,000 points for the course, (4) A leaderboard with anonymous names and avatars, (5) Lives which allowed students to turn in a fixed number of late assignments without penalty. While open-ended responses suggested that students appreciated some gamification aspects, the quantitative data suggested that gamification has virtually no effect on the constructs measured. Only relatedness (a sub-construct of motivation) and student interest were found to be significant, although with small effect sizes. This study contributes to existing literature by exploring the impact of gamification of an LMS for a required introductory course in information systems.

Keywords: Gamification, Self-determination theory, Motivation, Game dynamics

Download this article: JISE - Volume 26 Number 1, Page 59.pdf

Recommended Citation: Frost, R. D., Matta, V., & MacIvor, E. (2015). Assessing the Efficacy of Incorporating Game Dynamics in a Learning Management System. Journal of Information Systems Education, 26(1), 59-70.