An Empirical Study Gender-Based Perception of Gamification and its Impact on Programming Skill Enhancement

Abstract

Over the past decade, the utilization of gamification in education has become increasingly prevalent as a means of enhancing students' learning experiences. Despite its growing popularity, educators still harbor concerns about the acceptance of gamification techniques among students. However, game-based activities have been shown to improve both student learning and attitudes in undergraduate engineering courses, regardless of the evaluation method employed. As a potential technique for increasing student participation and improving learning outcomes, utilization of gamification has been recognized as a valuable strategy. The current study focuses on measuring gender-based student perceptions regarding the adoption of gamification and its impact on learning programming skills. The results indicate that there is a notable gender gap in the perception and acceptance of gamification, emphasizing the need to take gender into account when implementing gamification in courses. Furthermore, the study highlights that gamification can effectively enhance the programming skills of engineering students.