The Effectiveness of Gamification in Improving Student Performance for Programming Lesson

Abstract

Nowadays, most of programming students in TVET education are passive in classrooms, don't have passion to studies and not interested with the traditional way in learning process. They seem so much depends on their mobile phone all the times. Thus, lecturers need to find a way to increase their interests in learning. One of the emerging education techniques to increases student learning motivation is to includes a gamification approach to assess competence. Instead of using interactive lecture and group discussion, lecturer can increase the participation of students in classroom by include the proportion of gamification. This research was participated by 53 diploma students which studying at the Department of Information and Communication Technology in Politeknik Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang in December 2017 session. In the early semester, students were formed into small group which consists 3-4 students for each group. Then, they will undergo several group challenges during the class period every week. This challenges will utilize some online learning tools such as Kahoot!, Padlet and Google Doc. Each group will get their appropriate marks and at the end of semester, lecturer will announce the winner for all challenges in Score Board and give the rewards. The findings showed that inclusion of a gamification method increased the interest of students in the class, increased student ambitions for success and have a positive impact on student motivation. Results demonstrated that gamification of teaching reform achieves outstanding effects. Students participate in classroom activities positively, and all evaluation grades improve compared to previous semester. By implement gamification in class, it will prove that games can't be used to replace pedagogy, but can be used to enhance the student engagement and overall learning experience.

Full text

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
1
The Effectiveness of Gamification in Improving Student Performance for
Programming Lesson
Siti Zaimar binti Wahid
Department of Information and Communications Technology
Politeknik Balik Pulau
11000 Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang
siti.zaimar@gmail.com / sitizaimar@pbu.edu.my
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, most of programming students in
TVET education are passive in classrooms,
don’t have passion to studies and not interested
with the traditional way in learning process. They
seem so much depends on their mobile phone
all the times. Thus, lecturers need to find a way
to increase their interests in learning. One of the
emerging education techniques to increases
student learning motivation is to includes a
gamification approach to assess competence.
Instead of using interactive lecture and group
discussion, lecturer can increase the
participation of students in classroom by include
the proportion of gamification. This research
was participated by 53 diploma students which
studying at the Department of Information and
Communication Technology in Politeknik Balik
Pulau, Pulau Pinang in December 2017 session.
In the early semester, students were formed into
small group which consists 3-4 students for each
group. Then, they will undergo several group
challenges during the class period every week.
This challenges will utilize some online learning
tools such as Kahoot!, Padlet and Google Doc.
Each group will get their appropriate marks and
at the end of semester, lecturer will announce
the winner for all challenges in Score Board and
give the rewards. The findings showed that
inclusion of a gamification method increased the
interest of students in the class, increased
student ambitions for success and have a
positive impact on student motivation. Results
demonstrated that gamification of teaching
reform achieves outstanding effects. Students
participate in classroom activities positively, and
all evaluation grades improve compared to
previous semester. By implement gamification in
class, it will prove that games can’t be used to
replace pedagogy, but can be used to enhance
the student engagement and overall learning
experience.
Keyword – gamification, TVET, programming,
education
I.INTRODUCTION
Higher education student at Malaysia
has experienced a rapid phase of change
towards the 21st century. Traditional education
is now unable to attract students anymore as
they are fonder of their individual interests such
as playing video games, browsing social media,
apps on mobile phones and so forth. Students
nowadays have always faced distractions and
time-wasters, but the cell phones, tablet and
laptop are the constant stream of stimuli they
offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing
and learning (Richtel, 2010). Gamification has
been regarded as one of the important ideas to
engage student learning, increase the
performance and improve the productivity
(Barata, 2014). Gamification is a powerful tool to
take and keep people’s attention and to engage
people with their peers and activities to reach
desired outcomes. Although its name resembles
games, in fact is games and gamification is a
different term (Gok and Brendan, 2016).
Gamification is defined as the
application of typical elements of game playing
(rules of play, point scoring, competition with
others) to other areas of activity, specifically to
engage users in problem solving (Oxford
Dictionary, 2018). According to Kapp (2012),
gamification is using game-based mechanics,
aesthetics and game thinking to engage people,
motivate action, promote learning, and solve
problems. Meanwhile, David.L.(2016) described
that the terms of gamification in education is
described about game thinking and principles for
education, motivation design, engagement
design, etc. Gamification is turning the learning
process as a whole into a game, while game
based learning is using a game as part of the
learning process (Al-Azawi, 2016). It is also does
not mean creating games, but making education
more engaging and fun, without undermining its
credibility. Gamifying a course should not imply
trading the intrinsic motivation of students but
rather offering combination of intrinsic with

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
2
extrinsic motivation for a better performance
(Dichev et.al, 2016).
II. GAMIFICATION MODEL
According to Teh. I.(2015) in his blog
Gamification of Learning applies the concepts of
gamification to an educational or learning
environment, with the goal to maximize
enjoyment of learning and engage learners, thus
inspiring and motivating them to continue
learning. This will eventually influence learners,
causing them to develop a desired behavior(s).
He was proposed Gamification Model in 2015
(Figure 1) which consists Mechanics,
Measurement, Behavior and Rewards.
According to this model, he was justifying that;
i. Mechanics refers to the elements that
comprise Gamification. One of the key elements
of Gamification is storytelling, the overall grand
narrative that sets the 'game' in motion and
defines its purpose, be it a quest or an
adventure. The 'game' is often executed through
the use of visual cues and interactive objects, be
it digital or in a real-world context, which aids
engagement of the 'players'. The 'game' will
often have pre-defined boundaries and goals,
with a logical system of progression. There will
often be a reward schedule of some kind, be it
incentives (rewards), or disincentives
(penalties), for performance of certain tasks.
There may also be elements of social feedback,
wherein 'players' are able to engage with each
other, or with the person in charge of the 'game',
be they a trainer, developer, etc.
ii. Measurement refers to how progress in
Gamification is evaluated. There are various
types and scales of measurements used in
Gamification, and a particular 'game' may utilize
one or more of these. They include reputation,
which refers to an achievement or status
attained; performance, which refers to how a
task is carried out; quality, which refers to the
level of excellence attained in a task;
completion, which refers to the degree to which
a task is fulfilled; quantity, which refers to a
numerical amount attained; time, which refers to
how quickly an action was performed, or how
quickly a task was done; meaning, which refers
to the interpretation, or learning, that a 'player'
derives from the 'game'.
iii. Behaviour refers to the desired actions which
'players' will cultivate as a result of playing the
'game'. This is done through engagement, as a
result of 'players' interaction with the 'game', or
with other 'players', in performing a certain task,
otherwise known as problem solving. While
each 'game' has its own specific set of
behaviours it wishes to cultivate / encourage,
there are some general types that apply to the
majority of 'games'. These include loyalty, which
refers to the continued engagement of 'players'
over a period of time; or competency, which
refers to the level of mastery a 'player' will
achieve as a result of performing certain tasks.
'Players' may also engage in competition or
cooperation with other 'players', which usually
results in more engagement. Finally, 'player'
may develop synthesis, or a combination of
knowledge, skills / abilities, or attitudes, as a
result of multi-tasking.
iv. Reward refers to the types of incentives given
to 'players' for fulfilling a requirement or task in
the 'game'. There can be a multitude of rewards,
both digital and/or real-world, and encourages
'players' to strive to achieve them. Such rewards
could include recognition, such as a status, title,
trophy, or badge; achievements, such as a level
up, filling of a progress bar, or a collection of
symbols; access, in which a 'player' is granted
privileged rights to a certain area or item;
valuables; which could include digital items,
physical items, actual cash, or virtual currency.
Sometimes, a reward could simply be pure
enjoyment of the 'game', possibly the greatest
reward is value creation, whether it be the
'player' learning something or deriving meaning
from the 'game', or the 'game' is used to fulfill a
certain objective. However, not all elements of
the Gamification of Learning needs to be
incorporated at all times, though theoretically,
the more elements a 'game' has, the more
effective it should be.
Figure 1. Gamification Model of Learning. Available from:
http://ivanteh-
runningman.blogspot.com/2015/04/gamification-of-
learning.html , Teh. I.(2015), [accessed Sep 10, 2018].

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
3
III. GAMIFICATION IMPLEMENTATION IN
EDUCATION
Despite having differences from serious
games, Marczhewski (2013) has stated
gamification is using game metaphors, game
elements and ideas in a context different from
that of the games in order to increase motivation
and commitment, and to influence user
behaviour. The statement was supported by W.
Hsin-Yuan Huang.D. and Soman.D. (2013) said
that gamification is not directly associated with
knowledge and skills. Gamification affects
students’ behaviour, commitment and
motivation, which can lead to improvement of
knowledge and skills. To realize the matter, one
possible solution is to use game elements in the
learning process, then reward the efforts and
achieved results by awards, which will lead to
increased motivation for participation and
activity. Hsin-Yuan Huang, W., and Soman. D.
(2013) also present five-step process to
applying gamification in education in their book
as listed below.
Figure 2. Process to Applying Gamification in Education
(Hsin-Yuan Huang. D., and Soman.D.,2013)
According to this strategy, teachers play
an important role to identifying the
characteristics of the students involved and
appropriate types of equipment and techniques
to be applied. Teachers also need to recognize
the level of student’s skills in order to achieve the
objectives of the prescribed learning. Next,
teachers need to ensure that learning objectives
are clearly defined and explained to students.
This objective will determine the learning
content and the type of game mechanics that will
be implemented. Afterwards, teacher will
structure the activities using stages and
milestones, and what students need to learn and
achieve by the end of each stage respectively.
These milestones make the ultimate objective
seem more achievable and measurable, while
ensuring that obstacles within and between
each stage are easily identifiable. Example as
Figure 4 shows the objective and breaking down
the learning context into different
stages/milestones.
Figure 3. Example of structuring activities using
stages/milestones. (Hsin-Yuan Huang. D., and
Soman.D.,2013)
Next strategy is to identifying resources,
teacher can identify which stages can be
gamified. For a stage qualify for gamification, a
currency-based tracking mechanism (unit of
measurement-could be points/time/money/etc.)
and rules are essential to develop levels and
provide feedback on the student’s progress.
Then teacher can be applying gamification
elements with using self-elements or social-
elements. After the teacher has through these
steps, s/he will need to put it through a trial run,
compare the results with the objectives and
adjust the elements accordingly. The accuracy
and efficiency of applying gamification to the
education program will depend on the
thoroughness of implementing these steps.
i. Benefit for Students
From psychological aspect,
psychologist Csikszentmihalyi. M.(1990) was
wrote about a one state in he described as
“flow”. During flow, people typically experience
gratification, immersion in the experience, are at
peak creativity and performance. Games induce
a state of flow which is an ideal learning state.
Meanwhile Gutierrez (2012) state that games
make us produce dopamine, a brain chemical
that increases learning and stimulates our state
of attention. Furthermore, in a study presented
at the International Forum of Educational
Technology and Society in 2005, Dicheva. et. al.
found that by introducing gamification in
education will significantly higher engagement of
students in forums, projects, and other learning
activities; increased attendance, participation,
Understanding the Target
Audience and the Context
Defining Learning
Objectives
Structuring the
Experience
Identifying Resources
Applying Gamifications
Elements

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
4
and material downloads; motivate the positive
effect on the quantity of students’
contributions/answers without a corresponding
reduction in their quality; increased percentage
of passing students and participation in
voluntary activities and challenging assignments
and minimizing the gap between the lowest and
the top graders (Dicheva et.al.,2005).
IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research was participated by 53
Diploma in Digital Technology students at the
Information and Communication Technology
Department at Balik Pulau Polytechnic, Penang.
The course involved is DFP4033 Integrative
Programming and Technologies which they
need to learn advanced Java programming
languages. Their grades will use to compared
with previous batches in June 2017 semester
(78 students), but did not use the gamification
method in their teaching and learning.
At the beginning of the semester,
students were formed into small groups of 3-4
students per group. Students will undergo
several group challenges in the classroom each
week. This challenge will use some online
learning tools like Kahoot!, Padlet and Google
Doc. Each group gets a score that matches the
performance of each group and at the end of the
semester, the lecturer will announce the winner
for all challenges in the Score Board and gave
winner with a rewards.
i. Gamification Implementation
Table 1
Gamification application and implementation for Dec 2017
in DFP4033 Course
GAMIFICATION
IMPLEMENTATION
Kahoot!
 Lecturer will provide Kahoot!
question each time subtopic
ends
 Students are given time to study
in group before playing Kahoot!
 During playing, lecturer will
display the question to the
class, students can discuss with
groupmate and answer the
question using their own device
(phone/laptop)
 All groups will compete to get
highest mark
 The final marks will add to
Score Board by cumulative style
 Lecturer will provide question
for discussion
 In a group, student will discuss
and paste their answer to padlet
Padlet
 The quickest and most accurate
answer will be selected as a
winner because the padlet has
a timestamp to see when they
send the assignment
 All groups will compete to find
the answer in quickest way
 The final marks will add to
Score Board by cumulative style
Google Docs
 Lecturer will provide question
for discussion
 Student will discuss and paste
their answer to Google Docs
 Normally this application will
give for a large-scale and long
term discussion
 Suitable for individual and group
discussion
 Lecturer can check the most
active contributor using DocuViz
application
 The final marks will add to
Score Board by cumulative style
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After implementing a series of
gamification throughout the semester, grades
obtained by students on the final examination of
December 2017 was compared with the
previous semester of June 2017. Table 2 and
Figure 4 shows comparisons in grades and
percentage for both semesters.
Table 2
Percentage group by grade for June and Dec 2017 in
DFP4033 Course
Session
June 2017
Dec 2017
Grade
No. of
Students
%
No. Of
Students
%
A+
0
0.0
0
0.0
A
3
3.8
2
3.8
A-
9
11.5
9
17.0
B+
12
15.4
7
13.2
B
14
17.9
11
20.8
B-
14
17.9
12
22.6
C+
9
11.5
7
13.2
C
9
11.5
1
1.9
C-
3
3.8
2
3.8
D+
3
3.8
1
1.9
D
1
1.3
1
1.9
E
1
1.3
0
0.0
Total
78
100
53
100

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
5
Figure 4. Percentage group by grade for June and Dec
2017 in DFP4033 Course
Referring to Figure 4, the analysis
proved that the percentage for the number of
students who got A remains for the both
semester, but the number for A- increased by
5.5%. Likewise, for overall grade B, there’s only
B + grade have a decrease of 3.2%, while B and
B- have an increase of 2.9% and 4.7%
respectively. For C +, there was a slight increase
of 1.7% while grade C showed a decrease of
9.6% and C- is at the same percentage. For
grades D + and D, there was a slight increase of
1.3% but no students failed for the December
2017 session. This showed an increase in the
number of pass students from 98.7% to 100%.
For further analysis, Table 2 and Figure
5 has categorized the grades by Status based
on marks, point average and grades as
commonly used in polytechnic system in
Malaysia. This status can be referred in Table 3
and can be categorized as Sangat Cemerlang /
(Grade: A+), Cemerlang (Grade: A), Kepujian
(Grade: A-, B+, B), Lulus (B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D)
and Gagal (E, E-, F).
Table 2
Percentage group by Status for June and Dec 2017 in
DFP4033 Course
Figure 5. Percentage group by Status for June and Dec
2017 in DFP4033 Course
Table 3
Grade Status based on Marks, Point Average and Grade
(Arahan-Arahan Peperiksaan dan Kaedah Penilaian,
Jabatan Pendidikan Politeknik Malaysia)
Referring to Table 2 and Figure 5, the
overall status of the students achieving
Cemerlang is remains to 3.8% for both
semesters. Meanwhile, for students with
Kepujian status increased by 6% while students
with Lulus status have decreased by 4.7%. This
shows that the understanding level in Java
programming language for the students in
DFP4033 course for the December 2017
session has been increased compared to the
June 2017 session. This is proved when the
percentage of students earning Kepujian is
increased compared to those who have Lulus
status only. Moreover, no more students have
Gagal status for December 2017 session.
V. CONCLUSION
Students sometimes find it difficult and
bored to learn and understand difficult courses
such as programming languages. Therefore,
there are several studies in the field of education
0
5
10
15
20
25
A+ AA- B+ BB- C+ CC- D+ D E
JUNE 2017 DEC 2017
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Cemerlang Kepujian Lulus Gagal
JUNE 2017 DEC 2017
Session
Status
Jun 2017
Dis 2017
Cemerlang
3.8
3.8
Kepujian
44.9
50.9
Lulus
50.0
45.3
Gagal
1.3
0.0
Jumlah
100
100

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
6
that are being implemented to find solutions to
this problem. One of the identified mechanisms
are to use of gamification elements in the
classroom to improve the effectiveness of
learning and to improve student understanding.
This study has proved that the use of
gamification will improve the students’
performance, likewise the student's interest in
learning. They seem more eager to attend the
class and revise the lesson. Gamification
implementation also helps students to have
better understanding to the content of the
learning that is to be delivered and not bored
with the learning, on the same time encourages
students to become more ambitious for success.
Additionally, by applying gamification in
the classroom, students will be more aware of
their level of understanding and achievement.
This is because they can identify their
weaknesses in a particular topic. Moreover,
students found it easier to remember information
when it was presented in a gamified manner.
Finally, in gamification rules, students
need to think quickly and react rationally. This
will cultivate student's soft skills to making the
most needed decisions in the realm of work.
Also there have the existence of a team spirit
that will have a positive impact on student
motivation. They will support each other,
collaborate and communicate with each other to
achieve the same goals. This will help achieve a
Programme Educational Objectives (PEO) for
Diploma in Digital Technology (DDT) that
requires the graduates to have effective
communication skills to convey information,
problems and solutions, and also teamwork and
interpersonal skills on their future.
VII. REFERENCE
Al-Azawi. R., Al-Faliti. F. & Al-Blushi. M.(2016),
Educational Gamification vs Game Based
Learning: Comparative Study, International
Journal of Innovation, Management and
Technology, Singapore
Arahan-Arahan Peperiksaan dan Kaedah
Penilaian, Edisi 5 (2015), Bahagian
Peperiksaan dan Penilaian, Jabatan
Pendidikan Politeknik, Putrajaya
Barata. G., Gama. S., Jorge. J. & Golcalves. D.
(2013) Improving Participation and Learning
with Gamification, Proceedings of The 1st
International Conference on Gamification,
Toronto Canada
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990), Flow: the
psychology of optimal experience. New York:
Harper & Row
David. L.(2016) "Gamification in Education,"
in Learning Theories , Retrieved
from https://www.learning-
theories.com/gamification-in-education.html.
[accessed Sep 16 2018].
Dichev. C., Dicheva. D., Angelova. G. & Agre.
G.(2016), From Gamification to Gameful
Design and Gameful Experience in Learning,
Cybernetics And Information Technologies -
Volume 14, No 4, 2016
Dicheva, D., Christo D., Gennady A., & Galia A.
(2015) “Gamification in Education: A
Systematic Mapping Study.” Journal of
Educational Technology & Society, Vol. 18,
No. 3, pages 75-88.
Gok, A. & Brendan, C.(2016) A New Way of
Gamification a Course in Online Higher
Education, Society of Information
Technology and Education
Guiterrez, K. (2012). The 5 Decisive
Components of Outstanding Learning
Games. eLearning Blog. Retrieved from:
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/234
495/The-5-Decisive-Components-of-
Outstanding-Learning-Games [accessed
Sep 2 2018].
Hsin-Yuan Huang. D. & Soman. D.A. (2013).
Practitioner’s Guide To Gamification Of
Education, University of Toronto
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning
and instruction: game-based methods and
strategies for training and education. Pfeifer
and Co
Marczhewski. A. (2013). Gamification: A Simple
Introduction & a bit more, 2013
Oxford Dictionary (2018). [online] Oxford
University Press. Available at:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/u
s/gamification [Accessed 18 Sep. 2018].

Kolokium Pembentangan Kertas Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi TVET Peringkat Politeknik dan Kolej Komuniti Zon Utara 2018
7
Richtel.M.(2010). "Growing Up Digital, Wired for
Distraction," Available from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technol
ogy/21brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
[accessed Sep 5 2018].
Teh. I.(2015). Gamification of Learning.
Available from: http://ivanteh-
runningman.blogspot.com/2015/04/gamificat
ion-of-learning.html , 2015 [accessed Sep
10, 2018].
Thanekar,P.(2015). Games vs Game-based
Learning vs Gamification, Retrieved from
https://ilite.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/game
s-vs-game-based-learning-vs-gamification/
[accessed Sep 12 2018].