Chilean Student Teachers’ Willingness to Learn with Gamified Systems

Abstract

In recent years, the use of gamified systems in education has increased due to the growing empirical evidence of their usefulness in improving motivation and participation in learning processes, resulting in sustainable social development. To take advantage of the opportunities for improvements in the sustainability of education presented by gamification, in addition to the decision to create gamified systems in higher education, this article investigates the willingness of student teachers to learn with gamified systems. The research method is quantitative, with validated instruments used to measure: (1) student perception of gamification; (2) player profile; and (3) screen time, with n = 569 student teachers from the fifteen regions of Chile. The results show that students prefer to learn with gamified systems rather than in a traditional way, with a significant difference (Wilcoxon z = −18.86, p < 0.01). There are significant positive and negative relationships corresponding with the gamer profiles. However, as a finding, a negative relationship was found between the number of hours spent playing video games and the perception of learning through gamified systems. In conclusion, Chilean student teachers present a favorable disposition to teacher training with gamified systems. However, the disposition varies in relation to the number of hours spent playing video games.