Gamification in Secondary Education - A User-Centered and Interdisciplinary Approach

Abstract: The present study concerns an innovative approach to education; applying game elements as a blended learning strategy in secondary education. An exploratory case study of a gamified mathematics course in a secondary school in Sweden was conducted. The implementation lasted for seven weeks and consisted of a blended learning approach, were traditional education was combined with a gamified Google Classroom. The present study aimed to investigate student and teacher experiences of the implementation. Two semi-structured interview sessions were conducted with all three teachers involved in the implementation. Three semi-structured interview sessions were conducted with 12 of the 88 students involved in the implementation and two surveys were sent out to all the students for descriptive statistics purposes. The results were analyzed from a user-centered and interdisciplinary approach combining gamification design, motivation psychology and adoption of innovation approaches. The results showed that teachers and students experienced different but positive behavioral and psychological outcomes. Student motivation was related more to extrinsic motivation than intrinsic motivation. For the teachers there were difficulties in identifying the effects of the implementation. In addition, the teachers highlighted the need for sufficient resources and to clarify the use of gamification. From the findings presented, implications for research and practice are discussed.