Abstract
This meta-analysis was conducted to systematically synthesize research findings on effects of gamification on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes. Results from random effects models showed significant small effects of gamification on cognitive (g = .49, 95% CI [0.30, 0.69], k = 19, N = 1686), motivational (g = .36, 95% CI [0.18, 0.54], k = 16, N = 2246), and behavioral learning outcomes (g = .25, 95% CI [0.04, 0.46], k = 9, N = 951). Whereas the effect of gamification on cognitive learning outcomes was stable in a subsplit analysis of studies employing high methodological rigor, effects on motivational and behavioral outcomes were less stable. Given the heterogeneity of effect sizes, moderator analyses were conducted to examine inclusion of game fiction, social interaction, learning arrangement of the comparison group, as well as situational, contextual, and methodological moderators, namely, period of time, research context, randomization, design, and instruments. Inclusion of game fiction and social interaction were significant moderators of the effect of gamification on behavioral learning outcomes. Inclusion of game fiction and combining competition with collaboration were particularly effective within gamification for fostering behavioral learning outcomes. Results of the subsplit analysis indicated that effects of competition augmented with collaboration might also be valid for motivational learning outcomes. The results suggest that gamification as it is currently operationalized in empirical studies is an effective method for instruction, even though factors contributing to successful gamification are still somewhat unresolved, especially for cognitive learning outcomes.
Highlights
This meta-analysis was conducted to systematically synthesize research findings on effects of gamification on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes
Clark et al (2016) included competition in their meta-analysis on digital games and found that combinations of competition and collaboration as well as single-player games without competitive elements can outperform games with mere competition. In this meta-analysis, we investigated whether different types of social interaction moderate the effects of gamification on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes
Before reporting the summary effect and moderator analyses, we report correlations of the presence of different learning outcomes and moderator levels in gamification studies included in the final sample to illustrate possible co-occurrences of outcomes and moderator levels
Summary
This meta-analysis was conducted to systematically synthesize research findings on effects of gamification on cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes. Many studies that have examined gamification have lacked a theoretical foundation (Hamari et al 2014; Seaborn and Fels 2015), some authors have attempted to explain the relationship between gamification and learning by providing frameworks such as the theory of gamified learning (Landers 2014) This theory defines four components: instructional content, behaviors and attitudes, game characteristics, and learning outcomes. Such mechanisms can be found in well-established psychological theories such as self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci 2002)
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