Analysis of gamification elements. A case study in a computer science course

Abstract

Nowadays, researchers are increasingly interested in the study of gamification. Gamification is the application of typical game elements in other areas. This technique can be used in different sectors like health, marketing, politics or education. In this paper we have focused on education. There are many papers related to the impact that this methodology has on the student’s learning, but only a few of them delve into the gamified elements. They pay attention to other aspects such us engagement, flow, or motivation. A gamified course can be made up of a great variety of components which provide students with a game experience. The aim of our research is to compare and evaluate a list of components. Our results can serve as guidance for choosing components in educational environments and, furthermore, they can be a great support for teachers to design gamified courses.