Applying Gamification to a Mobile Application to Motivate Children to Learn Math

Abstract: Understanding math is an important part of school, yet it is a common source of anxiety as many children find the subject difficult to grasp. One approach to encourage children to learn math is to implement game elements (gamification) in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) systems. However, designers must consider what motivates children to use such systems to better encourage them to learn. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to investigate how gamification can be implemented in the design of a mobile TEL application, in this case the Albert application, to motivate children to learn math. This was researched by designing a concept focusing on avatars for Albert and letting users between the ages of 10 and 12 evaluate it. The design process followed the Double Diamond model, and the game elements were designed according to three core drives from the Octalysis framework. The results showed that children who like math are more likely to become motivated by the presented gamification concept than the children who have a more negative attitude towards math. As a conclusion, one can motivate children to learn math using a TEL platform by including avatarism as a form of gamification.