Identifying game elements suitable for MOOCs

Abstract

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have increasingly become objects of research interest and studies in recent years. While MOOCs could be a means to address massive audiences, they suffer from high drop-out rates and low user engagement. Gamification is known as the application of game design elements in non-gaming scenarios to solve problems or to influence a user’s behaviour change. By applying gamification to MOOCs, we aim to enhance users’ engagement and goal achievement within a MOOC environment. To define our gamification strategy, we asked 42 experts in the fields of game design, learning science and technology-enhanced learning to rate 21 selected game design patterns according to their suitability within a MOOC environment application. The data collected allowed us to identify a set of nine game design patterns as promising candidates to be tested in MOOC environments.