Using Gamification to Promote Accurate Data Entry of Practicum Experience Hours in Graduate Students

Abstract

The current study evaluated the effects of a gamified package intervention on the accurate data entry of practicum experience hours by 15 behavior analysis graduate students at a small private university. The gamified intervention (Practicum Slayer) included feedback, added reinforcement in the form of points to access putative primary reinforcement, badges, and thematic enhancement. We compared this intervention to a feedback-only condition using a multiple-baseline design across classes. We collected weekly data on the percentage of students per class who entered data into the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Fieldwork Tracker with 100% accuracy. The intervention was effective at increasing accurate data entry for all classes, and 93.33% (14 of 15) of participants reached 100% accuracy in their data entry by the end of the study. Social validity data indicated that participants received the gamification package with moderate positivity. We discuss limitations of the study and areas for future research.