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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the National Agency and Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
With the support of the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
page1
In the PROMIS Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Project, 7 organizations from 6 countries
developed research-based instruments to help students beer understand what social inclusion
is and how they can enhance their competences when interacting with marginalized groups.
The project partners are Babes-Bolyai University (Romania, coordinator), University of
Bologna (Italy), University of Bordeaux (France), Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in
Warsaw (Poland), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), Utrecht University
(Netherlands), and eLearning & Software (Romania).
Promoting social inclusion skills in a post-truth world:
A gamified online platform and curriculum
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the National Agency and Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The current curriculum was prepared with the
support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the
European Union in the framework of The
Strategic Partnership Project "Promong social
inclusion skills in a post-truth world: A gami
online plaand curriculum" (PROMIS).
//promis.educa
(PROMIS,
No. 2019-1-RO01-KA203-063157).
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Title: Best Practices for the Gamication of Social Inclusion in
Online Learning
Editors: Oana Negru-Subtirica & Rasa Erentaite
ISBN: 978-606-977-073-3
Layout design: Georgiana Savin
Cover design: Claudiu Săliștean
Publishing House: Editura ASCR
Cluj-Napoca
Copyright information
© - 2022- Babes-Bolyai University, University of Bologna, University
of Bordeaux, Kaunas University of Technology, Utrecht University,
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, eLearning &
Software SRL. All rights reserved. Licensed to the European Union
under conditions.
5
Contents
Biosketches 7
Introduction 12
Best Practices for the Gamication of Social Inclusion in
Online Learning 13
1. Gamifying e-Learning Content 14
Anca Mustea
1.1. The Aims of the Chapter 15
1.2. Introduction to Gamication 16
1.3. The Player’s Journey 18
1.4. The Octalysis Framework as a Model of Gamication 20
1.5. The Octalysis Framework and Self-Determination
Theory 32
1.6. Recommendations 35
2. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS
e-Learning Platform 40
Casandra Timar-Anton, Oana Negru-Subtirica, Bianca Marinica, & Bogdan Glavan
2.1. The Aims of the Chapter 41
2.2. The Gamication Strategy 43
2.3. The Learning Journey 44
2.4. Gamied Elements of the PROMIS e-Learning Platform 48
2.5. Tips for Teachers 56
2.6. Further Readings 58
3. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Module on
Promoting Integration and Inclusion 59
Isabelle Dielwart, Belinda Hibbel, & Susan Branje
3.1. Learning Outcomes for Teachers and e-Learning
Content Developers 60
6
3.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module 62
3.3. Gamication Elements and Prototypes for the Module 66
3.4. Tips for Teachers 80
3.5. Resources 81
4. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Curriculum
Module: Social Inclusion of Adolescents with a Migrant
Background 83
Elisabea Crocei & Francesca Goleri
4.1. The Aims of the Chapter 84
4.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module 86
4.3. Gamication Elements and Prototypes for the Module 88
4.4. Tips for Teachers 101
4.5. Resources 102
5. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Curriculum
Module on Youth and Poverty: From Social Inequalities
to Social Inclusion 103
Casandra Timar-Anton, Oana Negru-Subtirica, Bianca Marinica, & Bogdan Glavan
5.1. The Aims of the Chapter 104
5.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module 106
5.3. The Gamied Contents of the Module 114
5.4. Resources 124
6. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Curriculum
Module: Promoting Gender Equality By Tackling Gender
Stereotypes 125
Rasa Erentaitė, Jurgita Jurkevičienė, Saulė Raižienė, Tiy Varghese, & Dainora
Maumevičienė
6.1. The Aims of the Chapter 126
6.2. Gamication Strategy 128
6.3. Gamication Prototypes for the Module 132
6.4. Tips for Teachers 149
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6.5. Resources 150
7. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Curriculum
Module: Social Inclusion of People with
Physical Disabilities 152
Dominika Karaś, Joanna Świderska, & Ewa Topolewska-Siedzik
7.1. The Aims of the Chapter 153
7.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module 155
7.3. Gamication Elements and Prototypes for the Module 158
7.4. Tips for Teachers 168
7.5. Resources 169
8. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS Curriculum
Module: Social Inclusion of Youth with Autism 171
Cyrille Perchec & Lyda Lannegrand
8.1. The Aims of the Chapter 172
8.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module 174
8.3. Gamication Elements and Prototypes for the Module 182
8.4. Common Gamication Elements Through the
Learning Journey 196
8.5. Digital Badges 197
8.6. Tips for Teachers 201
8.7. Resources 202
List of References 203
8
Biosketches
Susan Branje is a Professor at the division of Youth and Family,
Utrecht University. Her work focuses on understanding
the developmental changes in adolescents’ relationships
with parents, siblings, friends, and romantic partners and
the associations with adolescent personality, identity and
adjustment.
Elisabea Crocei is a Full Professor of Social Psychology at the
Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum University
of Bologna, Italy. Her major research interests include the
dynamic processes underlying personal and social identity
formation in adolescence.
Isabelle Dielwart is a Lecturer at Utrecht University, in the
division of Development & Education of Youth in Diverse
Societies. Her interest lies in educational issues regarding
diversity and inclusion, and in the development of youth in the
context of segregation, polarization, and social exclusion.
Rasa Erentaitė is a Senior Researcher and an Associate
Professor at the Kaunas University of Technology in Kaunas,
Lithuania. Her research addresses adolescent identity formation,
achievement motivation, future goals, and aspirations in the
context of social inequalities.
Bogdan Glăvan is a Ph.D. student at the School of Applied
Cognitive Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University. His research
aims to investigate identity development during emerging
9
adulthood by analyzing the relation between identity processes,
self-regulation of goals, and meaning making.
Francesca Goleri is a Post-Doctoral researcher at the
Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum University
of Bologna, Italy. Her major research interests include
adolescents’ psycho-social development and migration.
Belinda Hibbel is an Assistant Professor at the division of
Youth and Family and the Teacher Education program for
primary education, Utrecht University. Her expertise lies in the
Philosophy of Education.
Jurgita Jurkevičienė is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at
the Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. Her research
interests cover social welfare and policy, social inequality,
social media and communication, new information and
communication technologies.
Dominika Karaś is an adjunct in the Institute of Psychology at
the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland.
She is interested in psychometrics, identity formation processes,
well-being, and ambivalence in childbearing decisions.
Lyda Lannegrand is a Professor of Developmental and
Educational Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, University
of Bordeaux, France. Her major research interests include
identity formation in adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Bianca V. Marinica is a Ph.D. student at the Doctoral School
of Applied Cognitive Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University.
Her main research interests concern youth’s personal and
professional development through volunteering.
10
Dainora Maumevičienė is an Associate Professor and a Vice-
Dean for studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and
Humanities, Kaunas University of Technology. Her interest
elds include ICT-integrated and blended English language
teaching, the use of innovative didactics (such as design
thinking in humanities, social sciences and arts), localisation
of software, databases and learning environments; and
interpreting and translation.
Anca Mustea is a content developer at E-learning & Software.
Her work consists of creating content for online courses
(multimedia and interactive content), counselling clients on
developing online courses, developing online courses in Moodle
and creating and implementing training on the topic of online
courses.
Oana Negru-Subtirica is an Associate Professor at the
Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, leading
the Self and Identity Development Lab. She researches
intentionality and agency, through identity, motivation, and
goals.
Cyrille Perchec is an Assistant Professor of Developmental
and Educational Psychology at the University of Bordeaux,
France. His major research interests focus on psychosocial and
socioemotional development in adolescence, with a particular
emphasis on the role of family relationships in adolescent
development.
Saulė Raižienė is a Senior Researcher at Kaunas University
of Technology, and a Professor at the Institute of Psychology,
Vilnius University, Lithuania. Her major research interests
11
include adolescents’ positive development and academic
motivation.
Joanna Świderska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of
Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw,
Poland. Her research interests include the measurement theory
in psychology, statistical analysis, and research methods.
Casandra Timar-Anton is a Ph.D. student at the Doctoral School
of Applied Cognitive Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University. She
is interested in exploring the conuence between psychology
and human-computer interaction, particularly in the eld of
self-tracking devices, mobile technologies, and innovative
interactive systems.
Ewa Topolewska-Siedzik is an Assistant Professor at the
Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University
in Warsaw, Poland. Her research interests cover identity as an
element of wide personality structure and its formation process
as well as psychometric issues.
Tiy Varghese is a Ph.D. student & Lecturer at Kaunas
University of Technology (KTU) in Lithuania. Her research
interest covers public policy, women’s political empowerment,
decision making, local self-governance, third sector, and
violence against women.
12
Introduction
This gamication manual explains and oers best practices
and examples of how the PROMIS project partners gamied
contents related to social inclusion, in order to help other
teachers and developers of online educational courses
understand how gamication can be used as a pedagogical
strategy for digital natives.
This gamication manual can be useful for teachers, online
course developers, and private companies who want to use
gamication to increase social responsibility. We, the project
partners, hope that it can become a core reference for online
course developers in the area of social issues.
Best Practices for the Gamication of
Social Inclusion in Online Learning
1. Gamifying e-Learning Content
Anca Mustea
E-learning & Software, Romania
15
1.1. The Aims of the Chapter
After the analysis of this chapter the teachers and e-learning
developers will:
• Understand what the term „gamication” is referring to and
how it can be dened.
• Understand how gamication can be useful for learning
when used the right way.
• Form a clear picture of the Octalysis framework that links
gamication to motivation.
• Identify the links between the Octalysis framework and the
self-determination theory.
• Identify the phases of the player’s journey together with their
respective appropriate gamication techniques.
This chapter aims to be an introduction to gamication,
dening terms and explaining why gamication can be relevant
for education. During this chapter, we will also introduce a
comprehensive model of gamication: the Octalysis framework.
For each element of the model, various gamication techniques
will be described, and later related to the learner’s journey.
16
1.2. Introduction to Gamication
Gamication has recently become a widely used word in
a multitude of contexts, from business to schools and health.
Though the word increased in popularity fairly recently, some
of the strategies and techniques that are implied have been used
for a long time. The word was used in 2002 by Nick Pelling
(cited in Marczewski, 2018) referring to game-like design and
interfaces that make electronic transactions more enjoyable and
fun. Ever since that moment, the concept increased in popularity
and various denitions were formulated.
There are multiple denitions of gamication that do not
always agree with each other. But in essence, gamication refers
to the use of game elements, game thinking, and game-design
techniques in non-game contexts (Werbach & Hunter, 2012).
Some authors also include serious games (like simulations) and
some educational games under the gamication overarching
umbrella, while others consider that gamication should only
include game elements in a non-game context (Bai, Hew, &
Huang, 2020; Marczewski, 2018; Werbach & Hunter, 2012;
Zainuddin, Chu, Shujahat, & Perera, 2020).
Dierent authors emphasize dierent aspects or elements.
For example, Chou (2016), whose Octalysis framework will
be detailed in what follows, considers gamication as a
human-focused design, based on what motivates people to
act, as opposed to a functional design used for the eciency
of a system. This will help us connect Chou’s model to the
self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000a; Ryan & Deci,
17
2000b) widely used in psychological contexts (Bai et al., 2020;
Chou, 2016; Zainuddin et al., 2020).
Why use gamication for learning? A central element of
gamication is „fun” (Werbach & Hunter, 2012), and including
some „fun” could make learning more enjoyable for the
students. The ultimate reason to use gamication is that game
design has focused for a long time on studying and creating
activities that people engage in even though they do not have to.
Sometimes they engage in games in the detriment of things they
need to do instead, which illustrates the motivational power of
games.
Therefore, using gamication means using game elements
and techniques that are proved to be ecient in engaging
people voluntarily in activities, for a long time, even if they are
not required to do that. We need to keep in mind that some of
the games involve more eort than learning, but people still
dedicate their time and money. We will try to nd ways to
engage students in learning using the Octalysis framework
developed by You-Kai Chou (2016).
18
1.3. The Player’s Journey
When designing gamication solutions, it is important to
consider the various phases of the user’s journey. This idea is
similar to the hero’s journey in storytelling, but we will refer to
the phases discussed by Chou (2016) in the light of the Octalysis
framework.
(1) Discovery – in this phase users nd a motivation to try
out the experience;
(2) Onboarding – users learn the rules and tools to play the
game or to go through the experience we prepared for them, like
the online course;
(3) Scaolding – the repeated actions aimed towards a goal;
(4) Endgame – the motivation users nd to come back even
after going through the journey once.
In order to develop adequate gamication strategies
for learning, it is important to consider which core drives
should be involved in each phase and what are most suited
techniques to be used. Since we are trying to engage students
in learning activities, there are a few dierences as compared
to other activities, such as games or economics. In games and
commercial activities, it is desirable for users to come back
repeatedly to do the same actions. In learning, once the students
learn and they can apply a concept or a procedure, we do not
necessarily need them to come back. Therefore, the focus in
developing a gamication solution will be on the rst three
phases. We need to nd ways to convince the students that the
experience is worthy (discovery), and help them in nding how
19
to learn and which are the rules (Onboarding), and engage them
in the repetitive learning activities (Scaolding).
20
1.4. The Octalysis Framework
as a Model of Gamication
The Octalysis framework is a model of gamication built
around eight core drives that motivate human behaviour.
The model is developed by You-Kai Chou (2015) based on his
analysis of games and techniques used by game developers to
engage players but also backed up by scientic research and
motivational theories, such as self-determination theory (Bai et
al., 2020; Chou, 2016; Zainuddin et al., 2020).
The eight core drives of the Octalysis framework are the
following:
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession
Core Drive 5: Social Inuence & Relatedness
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance.
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Figure 1. The Octalysis framework and the game techniques
corresponding to each core drive
(adapted from Chou, 2016)
There are several game techniques for each core drive that
are used by game developers to hook, engage and maintain
players. Some of these techniques are useful to engage students
in learning activities. Beside using adequate techniques for each
core drive, there are other aspects to consider when designing
learning experiences.
Chou (2016) also takes into consideration the phases of the
player’s journey when designing gamication for dierent
non-game contexts. Some core drives and the corresponding
techniques are more suited for a certain phase. For example, the
Epic Meaning and Calling is well suited for the Discovery phase,
where you oer the user a meaningful quest he or she can be
part of at the beginning of the journey.
22
The core drives are positioned in an octagon shape. This
shape is designed to account for other aspects that are also
important in developing gamication strategies for learning.
The top three core drives correspond to what the author calls the
White Hat core drives, meaning motivational drives that create
a positive emotional state. The boom three core drives might
generate more addictive behaviour, but also more negative
emotional states – the Black Hat core drives (Chou, 2016).
The core drives positioned to the left are more goal oriented,
while the ones on the right are more focused on creativity, self-
expression, and social dynamic. Since the laer ones correspond
more to intrinsic motivation and long term engagement, they
can be useful in facilitating intrinsic motivation for learning.
According to Chou (2016), all human behaviour is based on
some form of motivation that corresponds to one or more of the
eight core drives of the Octalysis framework. Therefore, we can
analyze learning motivation in light of the Octalysis framework
and identify the gamication techniques that can be used to
engage learners. In what follows we present each of the eight
core drives as described in this model.
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling. This core drive
refers to people’s motivation of having a higher purpose
than their own good, of being involved in something bigger
than themselves. People want to contribute to society. They
sometimes need to be part of a grand story. They need to think
of themselves as heroes.
This core drive is best used for the rst two stages of the
journey: Discovery and Onboarding. This means we need to
23
nd and communicate to students what higher purpose they can
serve while learning. For example, they can nd out early on,
from the rst page of the platform that our mission is to help
people from being discriminated against and protect the truth of
science. Then we can let them know how they too can be heroes
in this quest.
Some techniques suited for this core drive and learning are:
• Narrative – use narration to give context to learning and help
students feel part of the story.
• Humanity hero – engage the students into a hero mission for
the benet of the world or of a disadvantaged group.
• Elitism – allow students to form an exclusive group.
It is important to note that these techniques need to feel
genuine otherwise they will not work. Therefore, it is important
to develop a story that feels genuine and also engages students
in an important quest where their actions and learning are
meaningful.
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment. This
core drive captures the human motivation for growth and
accomplishment. We are motivated because we feel we are
achieving mastery and we are improving ourselves. To address
this core drive we need to plan the online course in such a
manner that the students can see their progress in advancing
through study materials or challenges. Breaking study materials
in smaller chunks can help students see the progress they are
making in the course. The same idea applies to challenges in the
form of exercises, problems to be solved or quizzes. By allowing
24
the students to see their progress they might remain engaged in
the course for a longer time.
Another way to keep students engaged in the course through
this core drive is to make them feel accomplished. Carefully
scaolding the content from simple to complex in small steps
will help students feel they are improving and making progress.
Here, progress refers not only to going through a number of
study materials, but also to understanding what students are
learning and, in the end, achieving mastery.
Points, badges, progress bar, and leader boards are the
main gamication elements widely used in various contexts.
They are all techniques corresponding to Development and
Accomplishment. But for these to be successful, the students
need to feel that they are advancing in the course and to feel
accomplished by overcoming the challenges. As with the rst
core drive, if we want the gamication techniques to have an
impact, the students need to feel that they are genuine and
relevant.
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback.
If this core drive is used properly in a gamication system
it can be the most successful given that it taps into the
intrinsic motivation and positive emotions. Most successful
and everlasting games use Empowerment of Creativity and
Feedback: chess, scrabble, golf, lego, mahjong, Starcraft,
Minecraft. The games give the players some type of building
blocks and then allow them the creativity to use these blocks in
various ways to play or create something. There are numerous
ways in which someone can play chess or scrabble.
25
Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback core drive has the
power to engage users for a long time since there are various
combinations they can try. Therefore, in order to use this
core drive in a gamication system, it is important to plan for
multiple ways of reaching the win-state, meaning the desirable
state: learning and developing the competencies.
Though it might be the most dicult to implement,
Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback has the power to
engage the users in the long run. It is most eective in the
Scaolding and Endgame phases of the experience.
Designing for Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback
involves giving the learner a purpose and various tools and
strategies to reach the goal. Some of the techniques that can be
used are:
• Boosters – some type of help to aain the desired state.
• Milestones to unlock – new skills (in a game) or some new
ability/help after reaching a certain milestone.
• Poison picker/Choice perception – giving multiple choices
that make the user choose and commit to their choice. People
tend to stick to their choice to be more consistent.
• Plant picker/Meaningful choices – giving the user multiple
choices to aain the win-state (desirable state). These
meaningful choices might involve the student’s preference
for a style or strategy. For example, some students will prefer
to learn by reading the information rst, while others might
learn by doing and then searching for information when they
get stuck.
26
The key to using core drive 3 in learning is to nd how to
allow students to use their creativity to learn, to solve problems,
to do cool things.
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession. This core drive
refers to the motivation given by the feeling of owning
something and the desire to improve, protect, and acquire more
of it. Because you feel you own something you want to improve
it. This could be a virtual good, an avatar, a collection of items
(physical or virtual), or something you customized and made
your own.
People might want to collect something, even if it has no
practical value, just because it is part of a collection. They will
do the necessary actions to aain the win-state just to gain the
collection piece. Also, studies show that once a person owns
something the value associated with that thing is greater
than the value of similar things that are not in that person’s
possession (Chou, 2016). Marketing campaigns show that
simply by completing a phrase related to a product, such as „I
like the product because...” make people become more aached
to those products to keep being consistent with themselves.
This core drive is based on extrinsic motivation. But, if there
is no intrinsic motivation, like Empowerment of Creativity and
Feedback, after a while the user might move on to something
else. So it is important to keep in mind the limitations related to
more extrinsic motivation.
Some of the game techniques used for core drive 4 are:
• Build from scratch – geing people involved in building
something. When people are involved in developing
27
something they get to have the feeling of ownership over that
thing.
• Collection sets – giving people the occasion to collect
something; they will feel the desire to collect the entire set.
If the process of collecting the entire set takes place over a
longer period, people will be engaged for a longer time.
Ownership and Possession core drive is a powerful
motivator. Using it along with other core drives, especially more
intrinsically oriented ones, will increase its long term potential.
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness. This core
drive is based on our desire to connect and compare with
other people. It involves activities inspired by what other
people say, do or think. Mentorship programs, competitions,
group quests, social treasures and companionships are all
based on core drive 5.
When people feel they can relate to a group they will tend
to do the same things that the members of that group do.
Relatedness was successfully used to inuence people to reuse
their towels in a hotel, by posting the information that previous
tenants of that room reused their towels. Social Inuence and
Relatedness is an intrinsic motivator and it would be desirable
to be integrated into a gamication program (Chou, 2016).
Some of the game techniques used for Social Inuence and
Relatedness are:
• Mentorship – having a veteran guide a novice is especially
useful when sustained motivation is required.
• Brag buon – having people explicitly express their
accomplishments, like posting them on social media.
28
• Trophy shelves – allowing people to show their
accomplishments without saying it.
• Group quests – when a group activity is required before an
individual can reach a win-state.
• Social treasures – when rewards or gifts can be acquired only
when they are given to you by friends.
• Conformity anchor – showing how close a person is to the
norm through feedback mechanics and statistics.
• Water coolers – adding a forum to help a community to
bond and share ideas. Forums are useful in already formed
communities. In new communities, forums might end up not
being used.
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience. This core drive is
based on the human desire to have something just because it
is rare or it is dicult to obtain. This is also related to the fact
that the value we aach to things is subjective. Something that
is positioned as rare or exclusive might be perceived as having a
great value even though the practical value is very small. It can
be counterintuitive since people want something the more you
price it, or if you impose limitations.
Scarcity and Impatience is an extrinsic, goal-oriented core
drive and it belongs to the Black Hat category. This means
that people are motivated by an external goal to do the desired
action and they don’t nd pleasure in doing the activity for the
long term; they don’t feel in control. But a sense of urgency is
created, and people are more motivated to act.
Some game techniques that correspond to Scarcity and
Impatience are:
29
• Dangling – repeatedly showing something desirable that
cannot be achieved easily, and then oering an easier
alternative.
• Magnetic caps – placing a limitation on how many times a
person can do the desired action.
• Appointment dynamics – placing a time limit on the desired
action.
• Torture breaks – limiting the user to do the desired action for
a certain period of time.
• Evolved user interface – the user starts with a simple
interface, having only 2-3 choices. As the user advances,
more choices are unlocked, and the user starts to enjoy the
complexity.
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity. The seventh
core drive is the reason why gambling is addictive. As
demonstrated by Skinner’s experiments and the research that
followed, unpredictable results can drive obsessive behaviour
(Chou, 2016). In Skinner’s experiments, when the reward to
pressing a lever was random, the behaviour became compulsive,
as opposed to the situation when the food reward came
each time the animal pressed the lever. In the last situation,
the animal ceased to press the lever when it was no longer
hungry. Chou refers to Skinner’s (1983) book “A Maer of
Consequences” when explaining this. He argues that Skinner’s
experiments are more relevant to this core drive than to blame
the use of Points, Badges and Leaderboards for manipulating
people into doing something. „I feel the more profound lesson
from the Skinner Box is not that Points and Badges motivate
30
people, but that unpredictable results stemming from Core
Drive 7 can drive obsessive behavior.” (Chou, 2016, Chapter 11,
Section 3, para. 7).
There are certain situations where promoting an addiction
is unethical and, therefore, this core drive should be carefully
used. Just like the Scarcity and Impatience core drive,
Unpredictability and Curiosity also creates a sense of urgency
and need for action, even though the user might not enjoy
the actions and might feel the lack of control. Even in the
educational context it might be useful to be cautious about using
this core drive.
Some of the game techniques used are:
• Glowing choice – the user is immersed in a complex
situation, but their next action is guided by emphasizing it
visually (with a glow and/or exclamation point).
• Mystery box/Random rewards – rewards are randomly
assigned after the user achieves a certain status or completes
an action.
• Easter eggs/Sudden rewards – unexpected rewards are given
based on unexpected triggers. The user will try to understand
what generated the reward and try to reproduce it.
• Loery/Rolling rewards – random, loery-like rewards,
given if the users stay in the „game”.
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance. This core drive motivates
through fear of losing something or having something negative
happening. It can well complement other core drives; therefore
it can be used together with dierent core drives. It is one of the
core drives that generate immediate action. Studies show that
31
we are more likely to act in order to avoid a loss than to gain
something.
Nevertheless, it is important to consider that if used
improperly, Loss and Avoidance can demoralize the user. Being
one of the core drives in the boom part of the Octalysis, it
belongs to Black Hat motivation, which means that the users are
not enjoying the actions, but they act based on fear.
Some of the game techniques used for Loss and Avoidance
are:
• Evanescent opportunities – an opportunity that will
vanquish immediately if it is not used (the desired action is
not taken).
• Countdown timers – a visual display that signal the passing
of time until something will happen or it will be taken away.
• FOMO punch – the fear of missing out on something if we do
not act immediately.
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1.5. The Octalysis Framework and
Self-Determination Theory
From a psychological perspective, a widely used theory of
motivation is Ryan and Deci’s (2000a, 2000b) self-determination
theory. According to this theory, there are three psychological
needs considered essential for understanding why people are
following goals and what these goals are (Ryan & Deci, 2000a).
The three needs are competence, relatedness and, autonomy.
In his book, Chou (2016) presents the relationship between
the Octalysis framework and the needs from self-determination
theory. As illustrated in the graphic below, the three needs
from SDT are related to three core drives of the Octalysis
framework. The need for competency corresponds to Core Drive
2: Development and Accomplishment. The need for autonomy
is related to Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity and
Feedback. Relatedness corresponds to Core Drive 5: Social
Inuence and Relatedness. Self-determination theory explains
only a part of the Octalysis framework and the gamication
elements that can be used to create engagement.
33
Figure 2. The Octalysis framework and self-determination
theory needs
(adapted from Chou, 2016)
What we can see from the graphic is that self-determination
theory accounts mainly for the top part of the Octalysis
framework that is associated with the White Hat motivation.
According to Chou (2016), the self-determination theory does
not explain the Black Hat core drives, which can be considered
„non-self-determined motivations”. These aspects do not reduce
the value of any of the two models, they just help us put into
perspective the Octalysis framework of gamication which is
built based on game design, and the self-determination theory,
as a psychological model of human motivation.
Focusing on self-determination theory when developing
gamication elements for learning, reduces the variety of
34
gamication elements and techniques that can be used. But, this
is not necessarily a bad thing. Because self-determination theory
focuses rather on the contexts that promote the internalization
and integration of external motivation, the emphasis is put on
enhancing learning, performance, personal experience, and
well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000a; Ryan & Deci, 2000b).
35
1.6. Recommendations
To plan the gamied experience in the PROMIS platform and
BUILD curriculum, we will consider which core drives are more
appropriate to use in each phase of the students’ journey, and
which techniques we can use. As mentioned above, the focus
should be on the rst three phases: Discovery, Onboarding, and
Scaolding.
Table 1 summarizes a proposal of core drives and techniques
for each phase. Before diving into explaining the proposal in-
depth, we will rst clarify some aspects that were considered in
the proposal.
First of all, we prioritize using core drives and techniques
that are based on intrinsic motivation and which generate
positive emotions (White Hat category). These are represented
in the top part of the Octalysis framework and on the right side.
We avoid using Black Hat core drives, which are represented
in the boom part of the framework because, even though they
generate immediate actions, they might be accompanied by
negative emotions.
Table 1. Summary of core drives and techniques for each phase
Discovery Onboarding Scaolding Endgame
(1) Epic
Meaning &
Calling
(1) Epic Meaning &
Calling
(2) Development &
Accomplishment
(5) Social Inuence &
Relatedness
(1) Epic Meaning & Calling
(2) Development &
Accomplishment
(3) Empowerment of
Creativity & Feedback
(4) Ownership & Possession
36
The Discovery Phase. In the Discovery Phase students
arrive at the platform and it is important to start diving into
their motivation. The most appropriate for this phase is to use
the Epic Meaning and Calling core drive to make the project
relevant for them and make them feel like a part of something
important. This could be done using the narrative and humanity
hero techniques.
It would be useful to have an overarching narrative
presenting the entire project as a mission to help social inclusion
and to promote the accuracy of information. In this narrative we
should address the role of each student, that would make them
feel that their involvement is important, meaningful and can
make the world a beer place.
The Onboarding Phase. The Onboarding phase takes the
students from the discovery story and immerses them into the
online course. This phase is important to emphasize the role of
the students and to make the transition to learning activities
easy. We can continue using Epic Meaning and Calling core
drive, as well as Development and Accomplishment.
When the students log in for the rst time they can be
awarded a badge that shows they are a part of this special
community that ghts for a beer world and true knowledge.
This would entitle them to feel like heros.
One important aspect of the Development and
Accomplishment core drive is to make the users feel smart by
making their experience in the platform easy and obvious, just
like Google search page – everyone knows what to do. This
would mean the e-learning platform is simplied and organized
37
in such a way that the next step a student needs to do becomes
obvious. A tutorial on how to navigate the platform and how
to accomplish the tasks would also be useful. This would also
involve the Social Inuence and Relatedness core drive.
The Scaolding Phase. This is the longest phase of the entire
process, where the students log in repeatedly and go through
the learning materials and activities. Multiple core drives and
techniques can be used here to maintain the students engaged
and willing to come back.
We can continue to use Epic Meaning and Calling through
the narratives and the examples included in the learning
materials and the activities. The narrative used in some
interactive scenarios can tap into the initial overarching story of
the platform and the role of the student as a hero.
The core drive 2, Development and Accomplishment, can
be used by inserting meaningful challenges that can lead to the
achievement of badges. Also, building activities with dierent
levels of diculty can help the students see their progress and
get condent in the development of their competency.
One of the most important core drives that can be used here
is the Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback. The most
successful and everlasting games have this core drive included.
One essential way of including this core drive is to have
multiple ways to get to the end. Since the end is learning, there
should be multiple ways of geing to the end: various learning
materials, practical activities. The way to assess the students
arrived at the end needs to be very clear. It can take the form
of a test that can be taken multiple times or a problem that
38
can be solved. The focus here is to nd more than one way to
arrive at the desired state and a way to determine the students
accomplished what was required.
Another way to appeal to creativity is to give students
the possibility to create something starting with basic blocks
and combining them in dierent ways for various results.
As an example, the students might be given some words
to create statements about social inclusion. Or the students
might be required to create a message (to the world or for a
specic group), and they can create the message using various
combinations of paragraphs that are given to them. It is
important to acknowledge that asking them to create a message
from scratch might be too dicult for them and they might
abandon the task. But if they have some building blocks that
they can combine they might be more willing to nish the task.
The framing of the task is also important. It could be a message/
leer to share as part of this community that ghts against social
exclusion or against spreading false knowledge.
Creating their own message will lead the students to feel a
sense of ownership and possession that we nd in core drive
four. Other ways to involve Ownership and Possession would
be to have them collect something. For example, there could
be a themed collection of badges for each module of the online
course. Taping into the desire of completing collections, they
might be more willing to nish all the study materials and
activities.
Another example used by Chou (2016), which refers to
marketing studies, is the use of incomplete sentences that need
to be nished by people. This seems to make people more
39
aached to the subject of the statements. Therefore, including
this technique in the learning activities might help get the
students to feel more involved in the course and the cause it
supports.
We tried to present each core drive and the techniques that
might be used, one by one. In reality, one activity might be
related to multiple core drives. For example, creating a personal
message using building blocks might appeal to the following
core drives:
• Epic Meaning and Calling, if we frame the activity as part of a
hero mission.
• Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback, if we engage the
students in a creative process.
• Ownership and Possession, if the students feel they created
their own message to express their own voice.
These are some recommendations on how we can approach a
learning project from the perspective of gamication, based on
the Octalysis framework. It can be customized according to the
content to be learned and the characteristics of the target group.
2. Gamication Strategy for the
PROMIS e-Learning Platform
Casandra Timar-Anton, Oana Negru-Subtirica, Bianca
Marinica, & Bogdan Glavan
Self and Identity Development Lab, Department of
Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
41
2.1. The Aims of the Chapter
After analyzing this chapter, teachers and e-learning content
developers will:
• Understand how the general framework for the PROMIS
gamied e-learning platform was developed;
• Have an in-depth understanding of the theoretical
background of the main gamication elements and strategy
selected for the platform;
• Learn how the selected game elements can facilitate the
aainment of the learning goals of the “Building inclusive
societies: Promoting social inclusion and reducing
discrimination” (BUILD) curriculum.
In this endeavor, we considered two important
recommendations from recent meta-analyses on gamication in
higher education (Bai et al., 2020; Zainuddin, Chu et al., 2020):
1. Gamication is just a tool in the process of online learning
and it does not have any intrinsic value. Hence, a teacher/
developer must rst ask: How can gamication increase the
value of my course? This question needs to be guided by the
learning objectives of the regular, classic format university
course.
2. An online university course still contains regular
learning materials, in a digitized format, like PowerPoint
presentations, brief reading materials, and extended
bibliography. Gamication comes as a tool to increase
student engagement with these contents and to create a
42
community of learning, as online interaction can be more
exible than face-to-face learning.
Game elements (e.g., interactive narratives, badges,
leaderboards) are powerful motivators only when used in a
well-dened strategy. To put it dierently, we do not gamify for
the sake of gamication, but instead we plan to include game
elements to those parts of the course materials which we want
students to engage deeply with. This leads to another important
aspect, which is working on developing a gamication design.
A good gamication strategy seeks to align to the learning
objectives of the course material to create a learning journey.
Hence, the curriculum learning objectives do not change
because of the gamication process. All changes are related
to HOW students will learn the module contents, in order to
have a personalized learning journey that makes the module
information more relatable and engaging.
It is important to note that a recent meta-analysis indicated
that the main role of gamication in existing higher education
courses is to increases students’ engagement with the contents
that are being taught (Zainuddin, Chu et al., 2020). Thus, our
gamication strategy focused on two main goals:
1. To increase engagement with the regular learning materials
(e.g., reading materials, presentations, exercises) through the
use of a learning journey;
2. To create interactive gamied contents which can help
students understand topics related to social inequalities and
social inclusion that are harder to relate to or grasp through
traditional learning materials.
43
2.2. The Gamication Strategy
Our gamied strategy was guided by the practical principles
of Chou’s (2016) Octalysis Framework and the three innate
needs introduced by Ryan and Deci’s (2000a) self-determination
theory, namely autonomy, competence, and relatedness (see
Chapter 1). When designing our gamication strategy, we also
considered the learning journey of a player, which shapes how
users follow and approach each learning objective. Additionally,
the design of the gamication strategy and the gamication
prototypes for each gamication element were also guided by:
• Developmental & social characteristics of the digital native
generation of university students. We considered that
it could be dicult for digital natives to understand and
connect with specic topics of social inclusion and exclusion.
Specically, in the university context, students have limited
opportunities to interact with youth from low socio-
economic backgrounds, living their lives in a “social bubble”,
surrounded by peers like them.
• Type of content taught (learning objectives and learning
materials) in the course: concrete, hands-on contents (e.g.,
learning how a machine works) versus abstract contents
(e.g., social inclusion of youth living in poverty). The level of
abstraction of each specic learning content may inuence the
use of gamication.
44
2.3. The Learning Journey
When designing an eective gamication strategy, it is
important to consider the learning journey. That is, envision
how the learners will interact with the platform throughout
their entire journey, from the very rst interaction with the
platform until all learning objectives have been reached. In our
case, when designing the journey, we considered four important
phases: Discovery, Onboarding, Scaolding, and Endgame (see
Chapter 1).
Phase 1: Discovery – learners are engaged in the narratives
of dierent characters inspired from real-life situations
pertaining to social inequalities.
During the discovery phase it is important to spark students’
interest both in the gamied platform and in the subject
of learning (i.e., how poverty aects youth development,
promoting social inclusion for adolescents with a migrant
background, social inclusion of youth with autism, social
inclusion of people with physical disabilities, promoting
gender equality, promoting integration and inclusion). Thus,
we designed the landing page of each course module to foster
student’s curiosity by showing the learning tiles as locked
content and displaying the badges they could earn during each
module. The rst available learning unit from the platform
was designed to immerse students into the importance of the
subject through the core drive of Epic Meaning and Calling
using narrated case studies, interactive maps, exercises, and
theoretical knowledge.
45
Phase 2: Onboarding – learners are provided guidance in
using the platform and the opportunity to interact with
one another in the forum.
The goal of this phase is to ensure that learners know how
to use the gamied platform. After completing the rst phase,
learners will have already experienced how to use some of
the features of the gamied platform, including theoretical
knowledge slides, case studies, and exercises. While performing
these activities, learners will have gained enough experience
points to unlock the next learning tile and to level-up. This
opportunity will be used by the teacher to show students
how to unlock the next tile and explain how experience
points, leaderboard, and level-up systems work (Figure 1).
Additionally, the teacher will give students access to the forum
and present it as an opportunity for students to communicate
and collaborate in their learning, appealing to the core drive of
“Social Inuence and Relatedness”.
46
Figure 1. Gamied systems employed to increase students’
engagement with the course materials in the PROMIS e-Learning
platform.
Phase 3: Scaolding – learners are encouraged to continue
using the gamied platform to complete all learning
objectives.
The purpose of the previous two phases was to spark
students’ interest in the learning materials and to guide
them in using the gamied platform. Now that this has been
achieved, during the scaolding phase it is important to
keep learners further engaged in the platform with the aim
of completing all course materials and activities. Therefore,
47
we included gamication systems regularly utilized in video
games and board games. These systems include content
unlocking, experience points, leveling-up, leaderboards,
badges, and a forum (Bai et al., 2020; Zainuddin, Chu et al.,
2020). Figure 1 presents how these systems are connected to
create an outer game loop. That is, students perform learning
activities (i.e., core game loop), such as reading case studies
or theoretical knowledge slides, complete exercises, and
interact with characters in narratives. After performing these
learning activities, students are rewarded with either badges
or experience points. These experience points are then used to
unlock access to more learning activities, thus completing the
outer game loop. The experience points are also used to level-up
the learner and for ranking in the leaderboards.
Phase 4: End Game Phase – learners are encouraged to
return to the platform even after the learning journey
ended.
This phase of the learner journey answers the question “What
do I do after I have completed all the learning materials?”. The “End
Game” phase is often ignored in gamied learning platforms
because it might be considered that after all the materials have
been consulted there is nothing more to learn from the course.
In our case, however, we want learners to form a “Team of
Social Changers” in their communities after they complete the
course materials. To achieve this, we implemented a discussion
forum where users can come back to even after completing all
the learning materials.
48
2.4. Gamied Elements of the
PROMIS e-Learning Platform
In the following section, we will present the dierent game
elements employed in our gamied platform. These elements
represent the building blocks upon which the gamication
framework was further developed. Each element will be
introduced by a description followed by examples outlining
how they were implemented in the PROMIS e-Learning
platform.
2.4.1. Experience Points
Experience points represent a quantitative reward earned by
learners after completing various activities during the gamied
course module (Sailer et al., 2017). In our gamied e-learning
platform, we awarded experience points when students:
• visited new course materials (theoretical knowledge slides);
• submied answers to assignments;
• submied answers to various exercises, such as quizzes, drag
and drop exercises, free association exercises;
• used various features of the gamied platform for the rst
time (e.g., forum or leaderboard) to encourage exploration of
the gamied platform.
As their name suggests, experience points quantify the
amount of experience a learner has with the learning content
and the gamied platform (Sailer et al., 2017). Harder, more
important or more complex learning activities generally award
49
more experience points than easier or less important ones.
Experience points are a very versatile gamication element
which can be used to rank learners in leaderboards, to unlock
new learning materials to more experienced learners or group
students with similar levels of experience together for special
group activities or games.
2.4.2. Content Unlocking
In a gamied platform, some learning materials can be
initially unavailable (i.e., locked) for students to access. After
progressing enough through the available learning materials
and activities, students earn access to new learning materials
which were initially unavailable (i.e., content unlocking).
Content unlocking can be very eective to keep students
engaged (Bai et al., 2020). First, seeing that some materials are
locked fosters curiosity. This will drive learners to complete
their current learning objectives in order to gain access to the
locked content. Second, unlocking new content is seen by
students as a reward in recognition for their hard work, which
provides a sense of accomplishment and progression (Groening
& Binnewies, 2019). In the context of self-determination theory,
content unlocking can appeal to competence (Bai et al., 2020).
Locked contents are also a powerful tool for guiding students
through the materials in a predened order. Additionally,
including locked contents prevents overwhelming students
with too much information and choices all at once. The gamied
PROMIS e-Learning platform contains multiple learning units
each pertaining to a specic learning objective and containing
course materials, videos, resources, and learning activities, such
50
as case studies, reection moments, or multiple-choice exercises.
The access to each unit is dependent on earning enough
experience points from the previous ones. The primary reason
for this decision lies in the fact that we wanted students to earn
for themselves each “piece of knowledge” to unlock the next
learning unit.
2.4.3. Digital Badges
Recognitions of one’s skillset or knowledge has been a
constant preoccupation of people across time and history.
Dating back to ancient cultures (e.g., Greeks, Romans,
Egyptians), people have been using symbols and emblems
to show their status, power, authority, and courage. Hence,
using badges to recognize one’s achievement is by no means
new, as badges have long been employed as an indicator of an
accomplishment. For example, modern traditional physical
badges have been used to signalize a person’s membership
to a certain group (e.g., scouts, football clubs, sports clubs,
fan clubs, corporations; Ahn et al., 2014). In addition, in the
case of some professions, a badge also conveys a message in
terms of authority (e.g., a military badge displays not only the
membership, but also a rank and authority).
As our lives get more and more technologized, nowadays,
‘digital badges’ have come into play to complement ‘traditional
physical badges’ in online seings. From a game element
standpoint, a ‘digital badge’ represents an electronic symbol
to document a skill, competency, or interest. It can be earned
as a result of a learning achievement, course completion, or
professional development (Gibson et al., 2015).
51
Over the last decade, institutions of higher education have
started to apply digital badges to dierent learning courses. The
value of using badges in higher education lies in the fact that
these rewards facilitate engagement and assist learning. These
assets contain an array of important credential and learning
metadata (Cheng et al., 2020). For instance, a digital badge
typically includes a set of criteria to showcase the achievement
of a skill or knowledge acquisition, describing the context,
meaning, process, and result of a specic activity (Gibson et
al., 2015). In order to be eective, badges need to be earned
as a result of hard work or exerted eort. This points to the
dierence between ‘skill badges’ and ‘participatory badges’.
While ‘skill badges’ are designed based on acquiring a certain
skill or mastery, ‘participatory badges’ are predominantly
awarded upon completion of a given task. Abramovich et al.
(2013) found that badges awarded for participation had lile
eect on students’ motivation in contrast to ‘skill badges’, which
were positively related to students’ intrinsic motivation.
It is important to always keep in mind the learning objectives
of the specic course. As we already discussed in the previous
paragraphs, using badges in education implies that you must
follow the learning objectives of a specic curriculum module
and bear in mind the desired result. This means that awarding
badges should follow certain guidelines (Carey & Stefaniak,
2018):
1. First, identify the learning objectives of the course.
2. Second, plan how these objectives can translate into badges.
3. Third, clearly specify rules for awarding badges.
52
2.4.4. Leveling-Up
Leveling-up represents the process through which students
are awarded a new level of knowledge about the course material
based on their overall experience (i.e., experience points). In
its purest form, levels are representations of general progress
(Bai et al., 2020; Zainuddin, Chu et al., 2020). To level-up, a
student needs to gain a specic amount of experience points
from performing dierent learning tasks, such as reading
course materials or solving exercises (Yildirim, 2017). Levels are
dierent from badges. The former is a quantitative measure of
overall progress, whereas the laer signals reaching a specic
milestone or performing a specic activity. Levels can be used
to group students with similar experience together in activities,
to provide dierent learning contents to students based on their
levels, and as a measure of progress. Each level is distinguished
from the previous through a visual element, a name, and a
number. The level name and visual element should reect
progression through the course material. For example, the rst
levels could be named “Starter” or “Newbie”, while later level
names could express the new options unlocked by the learners,
for instance “The Chaer” level might mark gaining access to
the forum. At the beginning, to stimulate engagement, levels
should be awarded easier and faster, while during the later
stages of the module, levels should be harder to gain to increase
the feeling of accomplishment associated with reaching the
highest levels. Leveling-up appeals to the needs of relatedness
and competence from self-determination theory (Sailer et al.,
2017).
53
2.4.5. Narratives
Narratives represent a gamication element which facilitates
the learning process by making the content more relatable
to students. The interactive component of this element is
represented by the choices students can make regarding the
dialogue, with each decision leading to dierent consequences
and feedback.
Taking into account the three basic needs of the self-
determination theory, the component of choosing between
dierent dialogue options addresses the need for autonomy,
while badges received for these choices can give students
a sense of competence. Moreover, the simulation of a real-
life possible situation facilitates the immersion of students
in the story, helping the content to be more relatable for the
protagonist (Bai et al., 2020). The scenario-based approach is
included in a digital simulation game, encouraging a beer
engagement in the learning process by creating the context
in which participants can apply their knowledge to a real-
world problem (Sanina et al., 2020). This approach oers an
environment in which participants can feel more comfortable
learning from their own mistakes by receiving immediate
feedback without the risks of real-life consequences (Koivisto
et al., 2016). Considering that the subject maer for this
gamication process refers to social inclusion, namely working
with marginalized people and groups, the component of making
students feeling more comfortable in this type of interaction is
essential.
54
2.4.6. Leaderboards and Performance Graphs
Leaderboards and performance graphs are gamied elements
which can provide students feedback on their performance and,
as such, generate feelings of competence. Whereas performance
graphs summarize one’s individual performance over time,
leaderboards rank the results obtained by several players.
Hence, performance graphs are focused on one individual’s
learning process, whereas leaderboards allow for social
comparison with other participants.
Recent literature reviews have shown that badges,
leaderboards, and performance graphs are the most commonly
used gamication elements in educational contexts (e.g., Bai
et al., 2020). In their literature review, Zainuddin, Chu et al.
(2020) noted that leaderboards were considered the most
engaging gamied element by students. Their popularity
could be explained by the fact that, in the context of the self-
determination theory, leaderboards satisfy students’ needs
for competence and relatedness, which boosts their intrinsic
motivation. This assumption is supported by studies which
show that students in the experimental condition which
included leaderboards, badges, and performance graphs scored
higher on competence satisfaction than students in the control
group (e.g., Sailer et al., 2017).
2.4.7. Forum
The forum represents a discussion board where learners
can initiate conversations and contribute by adding new posts
and replies, share ideas, and provide meaningful initiatives
(Bovermann & Bastiaens, 2020). This was designed both as a
55
cooperative tool for learners to discuss the course materials
and assignments during the learning journey, but also as an
avenue for continued learning after all the materials have
been completed, corresponding to the End Game Phase of
the learning journey. Forums are a great way to provide
learners with a way to connect to one another. They are a
great environment to foster meaningful relationships, be in
direct contact with other students and to create a sense of
belongingness. Forums provide students with the opportunity
to share knowledge among themselves (Bai et al., 2020). For
some students, gaining peer respect is more meaningful and
rewarding than any other quantitative scores on the leaderboard
(Bovermann & Bastiaens, 2020). The forum responds to the
Social Inuence and Relatedness core drive (Chou, 2016) and
represents a platform of cooperation. From a self-determination
theory standpoint, the forum responds to all three needs of
relatedness, autonomy, and competence.
2.4.8. Certicates
Certicates are dierent from other forms of general or
specic rewards for accomplishments (e.g., badges or levels).
They represent a physical symbol of mastery and competence,
which students can display in oine seings. On the PROMIS
e-learning platform, the certicate is automatically generated
upon completion of all the course materials. The certicate
includes the student’s name, date, and the course module’s
name (Zainuddin, Shujahat et al., 2020).
56
2.5. Tips for Teachers
• The curriculum module’s learning objectives are linked to
the following gamication elements: scenarios, badges, and
leaderboard. Each element includes a clear purpose and
makes the content more relatable and engaging.
• Scenarios can be used to make the content more relatable for
students. As a target group, students are at an age at which
some personal and social development milestones have
already occurred, making them more prone to in-group/
out-group dynamics linked to social polarization. As such,
discussions during seminars based on students’ experience
within the story can highlight the need for empathic
interactions with marginalized youth and the benets of these
interactions.
• The gamication elements of this module can be used as
additional tools alongside regular learning materials. For
example, discussions based on the meaning of the badges can
be used to facilitate a beer understanding of the provided
concepts employed in the module. Moreover, by oering
additional points for seminars based on the badges students
earn, we can make the content of the module more engaging
as they will have to read the module to make the right choices
to gain badges.
• Leaderboards are commonly used as a tool for enhancing
competition, yet for the gamication process of this module,
we opted for a leaderboard based on cooperation, hence
avoiding social comparison which often leads to extrinsic
57
rather than intrinsic motivation. Leaderboards can be used
as a tool to highlight shared interest in the topic and the
need to work together to address the issue of poverty on
marginalized youth’s development.
58
2.6. Further Readings
• Bai, S., Hew, K. F., & Huang, B. (2020). Does gamication
improve student learning outcome? Evidence from a meta-
analysis and synthesis of qualitative data in educational
contexts. Educational Research Review, 30, 100322. hps://doi.
org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100322
This meta-analysis includes 30 interventions which use
gamication elements in various educational seings and 32
qualitative studies. Some of its contributions include comparing
students’ learning in regular vs. gamied contexts and
investigating possible moderators of the relationship between
gamication and students’ achievement.
• Zainuddin, Z., Chu, S. K. W., Shujahat, M., & Perera,
C. J. (2020). The impact of gamication on learning and
instruction: A systematic review of empirical evidence.
Educational Research Review, 30, 100326. hps://doi.
org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100326
This review analyzes 46 studies which investigate
gamication in educational contexts, providing a
comprehensive presentation of recent literature. In addition
to this, it also summarizes the common theories used in
gamication and other relevant aspects, such as students’
motivation and achievement in relationship with gamication.
3. Gamication Strategy for the
PROMIS Module on Promoting
Integration and Inclusion
Isabelle Dielwart, Belinda Hibbel, & Susan Branje
Department of Youth and Family, Faculty of Social and
Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
60
3.1. Learning Outcomes for Teachers
and e-Learning Content Developers
After the analysis of this chapter, teachers and e-learning
content developers will:
• Understand how a gamication strategy was created for
the university module For a just and equal society: Promoting
integration and inclusion (Dielwart, Hibbel, & Branje, 2021).
• Learn how the gamication elements were chosen for this
curriculum module.
• Have an in-depth understanding of gamication prototypes
(i.e., practical examples) for the gamication elements, based
on the contents of this curriculum module.
The topic of the curriculum module For a just and equal
society: Promoting integration and inclusion is polarization, or the
phenomenon of sharpening contrasts and growing tensions
between groups in society. In the module, we explored how
polarization lies at the root of social exclusion of marginalized
groups in society, often people with a migration background.
Furthermore, we discussed polarization from a socialization
perspective with a focus on children and youth, and posed
questions about the role of schools in creating just and inclusive
societies, with equal opportunities for all children, regardless
of their background. The goal of this module is not only to
gain insight in how groups are formed and how conicts arise,
but also to learn about the prevention of polarization and about
how conicts can be resolved. Therefore, we explore empirical
research on the topic and on interventions that promote
61
citizenship and social inclusion. In the online module students
read short texts with background information between the
gamication elements. All terms and theoretical concepts that
are used in the gamied module are explained in the short texts
which are integrated in the online module. We constructed the
gamication strategy for this module to:
• make the contents more relatable, for example by making
use of an interactive scenario to give students’ an idea of the
experiencing of social exclusion practices;
• increase students’ engagement with questions and dilemmas
that derive from polarization and social exclusion;
• foster the development of a student community that is
interested in the topic of polarization and social exclusion.
First, we will present how the gamication framework or
learning journey wasdeveloped for this curriculum module
on Promoting integration and inclusion. Next, we will detail the
theoretical underpinnings for each gamication element in
the gamication framework, linked to the topic of integration
and inclusion and we will present a gamication prototype or
practical example for each element. Last, we will oer additional
resources that can help the process of gamication for topics
related to polarization and social inclusion/exclusion.
62
3.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module
In this section we analyze gamication possibilities for
this curriculum module. The aim of this chapter is twofold;
(a) we will discuss our reasoning on what module contents
can be gamied, and (b) we will discuss how we built the
gamication strategy in order to help learners achieve
the learning objectives of the module on polarization.
In this endeavor, we also considered the two important
recommendations made in Chapter 2 (see Chapter 2, p.26);
rst, we regard gamication as a tool and not a goal in itself,
since it has no intrinsic value. And second, we implement
regular learning materials in a gamied format.
In addition, it can help to create a learning community, as
online interaction between learners can be more exible than
face-to face learning and enhances student’s engagement
(Lai, Lin, Lin, & Tho, 2019). Many researchers pointed to the
necessity of peer interaction to facilitate meaningful learning
in online learning environment(e.g. Aghaee & Keller, 2016).
Yemen-Karpuzcu, Ulusoy & Ișıksal-Bostan (2017) stated that
interaction between students is “an important requirement
for learning since it provides opportunities for them to
formulate ideas, reveal their understanding, and reect on
their thoughts”. Thus, online interaction between peers is a
necessary element of an online gamied module regarding the
sensitive topic of polarization.
For this module, we created a learning journey that
contributes to realizing the learning objectives of the
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curriculum. Table 1 summarizes the objectives for the
curriculum module and the learning objectives for the gamied
contents. Also, we demonstrate how we think students
will learn the content of the module, and aim to create a
personalized learning journey for students that makes the
module information more relatable and engaging.
Table 1. A comparison of learning objectives for the regular
curriculum module and the gamied module contents
Learning objectives of curriculum
module
Learning objectives for gamied
module contents
After this module, students will:
- have knowledge of theoretical
concepts regarding polarization,
discrimination and exclusion.
- understand the mechanisms
underlying group formation and
intergroup hostility and conict.
- understand the practical
implications of social exclusion on
individual and societal level.
- have knowledge of research
informed school-based
interventions and their underlying
theories.
After this gamied module,
students will:
- have knowledge of the central
concepts discussed in the module,
and insight in their meaning.
- have experienced the eect of
social exclusion and understand the
signicance of such practices.
- can apply the knowledge from
the module into concrete advice
for policy or practice in order to
promote social inclusion in schools.
Figure 1 presents the learning journey. As detailed in the next
section, these elements (quizzes, narratives/scenarios, badges,
and performance graphs) were chosen to help students actively
and reectively interact with the module content, through
a journey of discovery and connection with others. For each
gamication element, we also briey specify the learning needs
64
and learning outcomes, in relation to the module objectives
that are detailed in Table 1. It is important to note that recent
meta-analyses indicate that the main role of gamication in
higher education courses is to increase students’ engagement
with the contents that are being taught (Sailer & Homner, 2020;
Zainuddin et al., 2020).
39
Gamification strategy (Learning journey)
for PROMIS module on promoting
integration and inclusion
Gamification element 1
Narratives/
Scenarios & Quizzes
Gamification element 2
Badges
Gamification element 3
Performance Graphs
Role for students
To understand the effect
of social exclusion by
experiencing exclusion
based on their own presumed
background and associated
characteristics, norms and
values; and to learn how to
contribute to promoting
social inclusion.
Role for students
To see they are
progressing, and therefore
feel accomplished and
confident that they master
the main theoretical
concepts of the module.
Role for students
To follow their personal
progress in the learning
journey.
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Competence
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Competence
Figure 1.
Gamification strategy for the curriculum module “For a just and equal society: Promoting
integration and inclusion”
Figure 1. Gamication strategy for the curriculum module “For a
just and equal society: Promoting integration and inclusion”
65
The main theoretical model that guided the selection and
integration of gamication elements in the gamication strategy
is the self-determination theory, which states that humans have
three primary psychological needs that motivate them to engage
in dierent activities: autonomy, relatedness, and competence
(Ryan & Deci, 2000a).
The design of the gamication strategy and the gamication
prototypes for each gamication element were also guided by:
• Subject of the course and developmental & social
characteristics of learners: We aimed to make the abstract
concept of polarization more concrete for the learners. The
gamication prototypes aim to provoke certain emotions;
by experiencing a rejection based on bias, students feel the
unfairness of being excluded, which in turn might lead to
understanding the problems members of marginalized groups
encounter. As a result, this might lead to feelings of empathy
towards marginalized groups in society who encounter such
experiences of social exclusion. Since being unable to identify
with someone else lies at the heart of polarization and conict
between groups, it might be especially relevant to simulate
real life experiences in order to make abstract learning content
more concrete for teenagers. This can help learners reect on
the meaning and signicance of these experiences for others,
but also encourage reection on their own actions in this
regard. However, the gamication prototypes do not only
focus on victimization, they also aim to empower students and
have them experience agency when it comes to addressing and
preventing polarization – an aitude that might be transferred
to their daily lives.
66
3.3. Gamication Elements and
Prototypes for the Module
In the following section, we will present three gamication
elements (i.e., scenarios/narratives, badges, and leaderboard)
which we explicitly built upon when designing the gamication
strategy. We will describe for each element how we have created
immersive learning experiences using gamication principles
for this PROMIS curriculum module.
To reach the goal of helping students understand what
social inclusion is, and promoting social inclusion in the case of
various target groups, we decided on activities that build upon
each other; by puing knowledge to the test, experiencing social
exclusion, and nally contributing to social inclusion. Below, the
gamication prototypes are presented in the order in which they
should be presented in the nalized gamication activities. The
module order: (1) missing words, (2) interactive scenarios, (3)
open ended assignment.
Gamication prototypes for narratives/scenarios and quizzes
Quiz 1: Missing words
In this task (see below), learners will ll in missing words in
sentences by dragging and dropping the right words to the right
place. Sentences as stated below will be presented, with dots
in the place of the missing words. The missing words should
be presented in a random order in word clouds on their screen.
67
Additionally, in order to make the assignment a lile more
complex, some random words are added as well (marked with
an * in the table below). All sentences and word clouds should
be presented at the same time. Students have to drag the right
words to the right place. They will receive feedback when they
lled in all the blanks; words that are correctly placed will
become green, words that are placed wrongly will become red.
Students will get the opportunity to replace the words that
are in the wrong place. When all words are in the correct spot,
students will receive a badge to reward their accomplishment.
This badge will remain visible on their screen when undertaking
the next activities.
68
Sentences Respective missing
words
Polarization is the sharpening of … between groups
in society and growing tensions, or even …, between
these groups.
Contrasts
conict
social
economic
discrimination
stigmatization
unequal
opportunities
dierences
compromise
socializing agents
aitudes
contact
Contact
positive
supported
cooperative
Citizenship
diversity
values
polarization*
peers*
parents*
interventions*
Polarization is characterized by … and … inequality,
and can lead to …, … and (social) exclusion of
certain groups in society.
For children and youth, growing up in a society
characterized by polarization might lead to … based
on background and / or group membership, and can
therefore aect their development.
A political climate characterized by opposition and
an emphasis on … between people and groups,
instead of a focus on …, might contribute to tensions
between groups and / or social exclusion.
Views about other groups can be passed on to
children by … such as parents, teachers and peers
through explicit or implicit action and words.
Negative … towards other groups can be armed
online, especially in the ‘bubble’ of social media, thus
further instigating polarization and social exclusion.
Facilitating … between opposing groups might
contribute to preventing or tackling polarization. …
between dierent groups can lead to a reduction of
mutual hostility and bias, when it 1) is experienced
as …, 2) is … by authorities and 3) consists of …
activities in which participants have common goals.
69
Narratives/Scenarios
In our narratives/scenarios, students go through an
interactive dialogue in which they have to apply for an
internship. The students can make choices within the dialogue,
yet in our thematic area, all responses lead to the same feedback
or response – they are rejected. This is a deliberate choice since
it contributes to the experience of impotence or helplessness as
a consequence of social exclusion. How students react will not
make a dierence in this situation, which is a real life experience
of social exclusion based on (presumed) background or personal
characteristics. Here, we aim to facilitate the module objective
‘Giving students an idea of the experience of social exclusion
and understanding the signicance of such practices’.
Taking into account the basic needs of self-determination
theory, the simulation of a real-life situation that is close to
students’ own experience facilitates the immersion of students
in the story, helping the content to be more relatable for the
learner (Bai et al., 2020). The scenario-based approach is
followed by reective questions and an assignment in which
students are asked to contribute to promoting social inclusion.
Performing this activity will help students relate the knowledge
from the module to everyday life, by having to translate
theoretical concepts into practical advice. This encourages a
beer engagement in the learning process (Sanina et al., 2020),
through creating the context in which participants can apply
their knowledge to a real-world problem, meanwhile working
on the module objective ‘applying the knowledge from the
module into a concrete advice for policy or practice in order to
promote social inclusion in schools’.
70
Scenario 1: Rejected internship application: is it because
of my background?
Background:
“Hi! You are going to create an avatar that represents you. Pick an
avatar.”
On the screen, six avatars appear for the students to choose
from, diering in gender and hair/skin color.
“You look good! What’s your name?”
A textbox appears on the screen in which students can write
down their rst and last name.
“Great! So, what characterizes your personality? Pick three
characteristics that describe you best.”
On the screen, the following words appear, of which students
can pick three by checking the box linked to the word:
◦“Driven / Communicative / Analytical / Creative / Punctual /
Autonomous / Pro-active”
The chosen avatar and name appear on the screen, with a text
cloud saying; “I am looking for an internship opportunity!”
A leer appears with the following text: “VACANCY! We are
looking for a / an …, …, … student to become our new intern!” On
the dots, the three character traits chosen under ‘3’ appear.
“Wow, that is so you!” The text “Write them an application
leer” appears, and students have to click on this text in order
to continue the interactive scenario. When they click on the text,
we see a leer appear that is sent o their screen.
“Hey, you already received an answer. Open the email!” An
envelope appears that students can click on. This leads them to a
leer saying the following:
“Dear (name chosen under ‘2’),
71
Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, your personality
does not meet our requirements.
Kinds regards,
Human resources”
“Isn’t that strange? My personality is exactly what they asked for
in the vacancy!”
◦Two options appear, and students can pick one option by
checking the box:
“Call the oce, and ask them if they even READ my leer?!
◦Call the oce, and politely ask them if they could further explain
why I do not meet their requirements.” Both options lead to the
same next screen.
A double screen appears, on the one side a human resource
manager at a desk calling, on the other the avatar calling.
Students get to pick one option by ticking a box, but each option
leads to the same response.
◦“Well, we don’t think you have the same norms and values that we
value so highly in our oce”
The students can respond with one of the following two
options:
◦“Wait, what, why would you say so?”
◦“Excuse me, but I don’t understand?”
A similar picture of the avatar and manager calling appears.
The avatar looks more angry.
“It’s… It’s a cultural thing.” stated by the manager. The
students can respond with one of the following two options:
◦“A what?!”
◦“Would you be so kind to explain what you mean by this?”
72
“You… You have a dierent background. We saw your name on
your application. We just don’t think we are a match. Bye, thank you
for calling and good luck with future job applications!” stated by the
manager
Reective questions:
After completing the interactive scenario, students are
presented with the following questions, which they have to
answer before they continue.
1. What was your initial response, when you got rejected?
2. What did you think when you got rejected?
3. How did the rejection make you feel?
4. What argument would you use to counter the rejection, if
you had had the opportunity?
5. Have you ever had experiences of discrimination
yourself (e.g. based on your ethnicity, culture, gender, health,
membership of a subculture, etc.)?
6. Can you describe how this made you feel?
7. What would you like other people to know about your
experience?
Information sheet:
After answering the reective questions, students will be
presented with the following textbox with information on the
eect of discrimination on young people.
“You have just experienced a fraction of what
discrimination, based on your alleged group-membership,
can be like. Many young people have experiences like this
in their daily lives, that can have detrimental eects on their
73
wellbeing and development. We know that experiencing
discrimination can be very stressful, or even traumatic.
Adolescents who experience discrimination tend to have
more depressive symptoms, greater psychological distress
and a lower self-esteem. In addition to these psychological
eects on young people’s wellbeing, it can also seriously
harm their health. And it does not stop here; even noticing
that other people who look like you, act like you or belong to
the same subgroup as you are being discriminated against,
can have negative consequences for health and wellbeing.”
Online discussion:
After answering the reective questions and reading about
the eects of discrimination, students get the opportunity to
engage in an online forum discussion on the experiences with
discrimination. The following questions can be used to guide
the online discussion:
1. Do you think there is institutional racism in your country?
2. What makes you think so?
3. Consider the other students’ responses to question (5);
4. Does your initial idea match the responses of your peers?
The online forum should also provide a discussion board
for students who want to further discuss the topic within the
student community.
Scenario 2: Creating an inclusive school
Students are presented with an instruction and have to write
an advice based on what they learned in the module For a just
and equal society: Promoting integration and inclusion and in the
74
previous gamied activities. The nal part of this assignment is
the open question that has to be checked by the teacher.
“After all, you did nd an internship at the education-
department at a municipality in a large and multicultural city.
Your rst assignment is to write advice to all school principals of
primary schools in the city: how can their citizenship-education
program help to prevent or reduce polarization between
pupils?”
The avatar appears, looking cheerful and professional.
“Before you get started with writing the advice, you want to
make sure you remember what you learned about the prevention
or reduction of polarization. Remember the contact hypothesis?
What were the three conditions that had to be met, in order
for contact to have a positive eect, according to this theory?”
Students have to pick the three correct answers (marked with an
asterix).
“Contact potentially has positive eects when people already have a
positive aitude towards the ‘other’ before the contact takes place.
Intergroup contact potentially has a positive eect on
aitudes towards the ‘other’ when…
1. … the groups involved share similar convictions or values
2. … the contact is experienced as positive*
3. … a positive aitude towards the ‘other’ is promoted before
the actual contact takes place
4. … people in both groups live in the same neighborhood or
share other public spaces
5. … the contact consists of cooperative activities in which
participants have common goals*
6. … the contact is supported by authority gures*
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7. … a person knows members of his or her ingroup have had
positive contact experiences with members of the other
group”
“Great. Now you can start your nal assignment.”
How can a citizenship-education program help to prevent
or reduce polarization between pupils?
To write your advice, you use your knowledge on group
membership, the emergence and resolving of inter-group
conict, and interventions to reduce polarization and to
promote democratic citizenship.
Make sure your advice includes at least:
- A description of activities that promote intergroup contact
between pupils.
- A proposal for (school policy on) the content of the
citizenship-education program.
- Considerations school principals and / or teachers should
take into account when implementing your advice.
- Use 750 – 1000 words
Digital Badges
In our module we make use of dierent kinds of badges.
We show next how badges were applied in the case of helping
students to learn about polarization and social inclusion. We
follow the learning objectives of the curriculum, through a
three-step process (Carey & Stefaniak, 2018):
1. First, we identify our learning objectives.
2. Second, we plan how these objectives can convert into
badges.
3. Third, we clearly specify requirements for earning them.
76
Gamication prototypes for badges
One of our sub-objectives is that students have knowledge
of the central concepts discussed in the module. Students will
start by completing a ‘Missing Words’ quiz. With this activity,
we aim to enhance student motivation by making them feel
accomplished. By performing a relatively simple task that can
only be done when a student has actually studied the theoretical
part of the module, students feel they are making progress,
advancing and actually learning. Since the sentences presented
correspond to the module summary the students have read, this
exercise is a good way to activate their prior knowledge, before
starting the next activities that build upon this knowledge. The
aim of this strategy is to test the understanding of the central
theoretical concepts used in the module (Dielwart, Hibbel,
& Branje, 2021). When students have nished this exercise,
they will be rewarded with a Wise as an owl badge for having
successfully completed the ‘test’ on the contents of the module,
and therefore feel accomplished and condent that they master
the main theoretical concepts of the module. We will build on
this experience in further exercises.
The second activity aims for students to learn through
experiencing the eects of social exclusion based on a person’s
background and associated characteristics, norms and values, in
order to understand the signicance of such practices. Students
are asked to reect on the thoughts and feelings that are a result
of social exclusion, and therefore might be incited to empathize
with those who have experienced this. Through the information
sheet at the end of this exercise, information on the eects of
discrimination on youngsters is provided, which can be related
77
to the feelings just experienced during the exercise. After this
exercise, students can reect on the meaning and signicance
of these experiences for themselves and others in an online
forum discussion. After completing this discussion, they will be
rewarded with a Participation * in an online forum – badge.
The third activity builds on the second; here, students are
asked to contribute to promoting social inclusion, working on
the third objective (Students can apply the knowledge from the
module into concrete advice for policy of practice in order to
promote social inclusion in schools.). Performing this activity
will help students to relate the knowledge from the module
to everyday life, by having to translate theoretical concepts
into practical advice. After handing in this open assignment,
students receive a Critical Thinker badge.
78
Table 2. Badges names and conditions of badge assignment,
with reference to the corresponding learning objectives
Learning objective Badge name Condition
Students have
knowledge of the
central concepts
discussed in the
module
Wise as an owl
[In recognition
knowledge on the
central concepts
discussed in the
module]
Completing the
Missing Words
assignment
Students have
experienced the eect
of social exclusion
and understand the
signicance of such
practices.
Participation *
in online forum
[You actively engaged
in an online discussion
with a peer]
Completing the
reective questions
and subsequent online
forum discussion with
peer(s)
Students can apply the
knowledge from the
module into a concrete
advice for policy
of practice in order
to promote social
inclusion in schools.
Critical thinker
[You have used your
theoretical knowledge
to formulate a
practical advice]
Completing the open-
ended question and
handing this in to the
teacher
Leaderboards and Performance Graphs
Gamication prototypes for leaderboards and performance
graphs
In their literature review, Zainuddin et al. (2020) noted
that performance graphs focus on one’s individual learning
process and play a major role in guiding each student’s learning
79
progress. As they follow one’s personal progress, they facilitate
internal motivation and satisfy the need for competence
(e.g., Sailer, Hence, Mayr, & Mandl, 2017). In our module, the
performance graph follows the same route as the badges; when
an activity is completed, students will notice this in their graph.
In other PROMIS modules, it is sometimes stated that
relatedness could be fostered by framing the leaderboard as
a proof of shared interest in the topic and by highlighting the
necessity of people working together to address the issue
of polarization. Although most participants report nding
leaderboards motivating, this perception depends on one’s
ranking. Not surprisingly, such rankings could be rather
demotivating for those who are towards the boom of the
board, who tend to report negative opinions about their
gamied experiences.
Furthermore, using a leaderboard on a sensitive topic like
polarization would indicate the existence of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
ideas regarding this theme. Not only does this defeat the
purpose of our module, it is also counterproductive in baling
social exclusion and polarization; exposing ‘high scores’ or
‘rankings’ in this thematic area might lead to social desirability
in answers, and the false notion of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. This is
why we have chosen to not use the leaderboard in our module.
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3.4. Tips for Teachers
• As a preparation for the rst assignment, teachers can ask
their students what they have learned from reading the
module.
• As a preparation for the second assignment, teachers can
ask their students to share their own experiences of social
exclusion, for example by asking:
• Have you ever experienced practices of social exclusion or
discrimination yourself? How did that make you feel? What
was your response?
• Do you avoid certain types of situations as a consequence of
those experiences?
• After answering the reective questions in the second
assignment, teachers can initiate a group discussion on the
topic.
• Depending on the educational level of the students and the
possibility for a follow-up in the classroom, teachers can
formulate additional requirements in the third assignment,
such as asking students to search for additional literature to
substantiate their advice.
81
3.5. Resources
PEGAP by Diversion: Countering polarization by
fostering a critical and well-informed generation of news
consumers.
PEGAP (Peer Education and Gamication Against
Polarization) ghts the harmful eects of disinformation by
educating young news consumers and fostering constructive
and critical thinking and media literacy skills. The goals are
to increase resilience to disinformation to curb polarization
and isolation, and to strengthen democratic citizenship among
young people, particularly regarding press freedom and
freedom of expression.
Link: hps://www.diversion.nl/cases/pegap/
The Bad News Game by DROG and Cambridge University
This online game confers resistance against bad online
information by puing players in the position of the people
who create it. It can be used as a teaching tool and comes with a
background document for educators.
Link: aboutbadnews.com
Uit de klas (Outside of the classroom)
Uit de klas (Dutch only) is a web portal for teachers in
secondary and vocational education. The portal provides games,
movies, and interactive activities and learning formats around
‘hot topics’ such as prejudice, racism and discrimination in
society and inside the classroom. Activities include virtual
4. Gamication Strategy for the PROMIS
Curriculum Module: Social Inclusion of
Adolescents with a Migrant Background
Elisabea Crocei & Francesca Goleri
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy
84
4.1. The Aims of the Chapter
Learning outcomes for teachers and e-learning content
developers
After the analysis of this chapter, teachers and e-learning
content developers will:
• Understand how a gamication strategy was created for
the university curriculum module on Social Inclusion of
Adolescents with a Migrant Background (Karataş & Crocetti,
2021).
• Learn how the gamication elements were chosen for this
curriculum module.
• Have an in-depth understanding of gamication prototypes
for the gamication elements, based on the contents of this
curriculum module.
The curriculum module Social Inclusion of Adolescents with
a Migrant Background provides an analysis of what being
a person with a migrant background (e.g., rst or second-
generation immigrant, refugee) means and how it can aect
youth development. It also analyzes empirical research on the
topic and interventions that promote the social inclusion of
youth with a migrant background, with a strong focus on the
development of identity. Migration has increased worldwide,
creating more ethnic and culturally diverse societies and making
possible many interactions with other cultural groups. Despite
this, prejudice and discrimination against minorities are still
common, also among young people.
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The gamication of this module will complete the curriculum
by providing a virtual experience of contact with people that
have a migrant background. Through this activity students can
put themselves „in the shoes of others”, understand challenges
faced by adolescents with a migrant background. In fact, the
gamication process can make the content more relatable to
students’ experiences, increase their engagement and foster the
development of a community interested in the same topic.
The learning journey is designed in four main learning
objectives, as stated in the curriculum module, in order
that learners understand: (1) the impact of migration in
contemporary societies; (2) conceptual models of acculturation
and intergroup relationships; (3) empirical research on
acculturation across adolescents’ social contexts; (4) the
interplay between acculturation and identity processes; (5)
interventions for promoting the adjustment of adolescents from
migrant families. The implementation of gamication strategies
is in line with these objectives and only aect the way they are
achieved, by providing a tool to enhance the learning process
(Huang et al., 2020).
As a rst step, the gamication framework development
will be presented. Then, details about the chosen gamication
elements will be given, as well as a gamication prototype or
practical example for each element. Last, we will oer additional
resources that can help the process of gamication for topics
related to adolescents with a migrant background.
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4.2. Gamication Strategy of the Module
As stated in Chapter 2, gamication elements will be used in
order to promote engagement of the students when addressing
the contents of the module. It has been proven that gamication
is indeed helpful for the learning process, especially when its
elements are wisely chosen to fulll specic needs (Bai et al.,
2020). In fact, a meta-analysis conducted by Bai and colleagues
(2020) found “three specic reasons for the positive eect
of gamication on learning outcomes” (p. 14): it promotes
goal seing among the learners; it can fulll their need for
recognition; and it helps providing feedback on the personal
and overall performance.
Specically, for this module we decided to refer to Amina’s
story, presented in our curriculum module (Karataş & Crocetti,
2021) to create an immersive intergroup contact experience. A
summary of the curriculum module objectives and the learning
objectives for the gamied contents can be found below (Table 1).
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Table 1. A comparison of learning objectives for the regular
curriculum module and the gamied module contents
Learning objectives of curriculum
module
Learning objectives for gamied
module contents
After this module, students will be
able to understand:
The impact of migration in
contemporary societies
Conceptual models of acculturation
and intergroup relationships
Empirical research on acculturation
across adolescents’ social contexts
The interplay between acculturation
and identity processes
Interventions for promoting the
adjustment of adolescents from
migrant families
The gamied module contents will
help students:
-understand that how they relate
to and interact with youth with a
migrant background is aected by
several aspects and they can become
aware of them
- become aware of their positive,
adaptive aitudes and emotional
reactions when learning about
migrant adolescents
-become part of a community of
learners/students who are interested
in this topic (i.e., Inclusive Society
Boosters )
The dierent gamication elements (i.e., interactive
scenario, badges and points, and leaderboards and
performance graphs) have been chosen to fulll each of the
aforementioned objectives and the resulting learning journey
is presented below (Figure 1). The underlying theories which
guided the selection and integration of gamication elements
are the same as presented in Chapter 2. In line with self-
determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000a; 2016); cf. Chapter
2), the elements have also been chosen for their capability to
appeal to various psychological needs.
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4.3. Gamication Elements and
Prototypes for the Module
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4.3. Gamification Elements and Prototypes for the Module
Each gamification element stated above will be introduced by a short description,
followed by examples outlining how we have created immersive learning experiences using
gamification principles for this PROMIS curriculum module.
Gamification strategy (Learning journey)
for PROMIS module on adolescents with
migrant background
Gamification element 1
Narratives/Scenarios&
Quizzes
Gamification element 2
Badges and points
Gamification element 3
Leaderboard and
Performance Graphs
Role for students
To understand that
howthey relate to and
interact with youth with a
migrant background is
affected by several aspects
and they can become aware
of themconsequences.
Role for students
To become aware of their
positive, adaptive attitudes
and emotional reactions
when learning about youth
with a migrant background.
Role for students
To become part of a
community of
learners/students who are
interested in this topic (i.e., a
Team of Social
Changers/Influencers)
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Autonomy
Competence
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Competence
Relatedness
Psychological need(s) it
appeals to:
Relatedness
Competence
Figure 1. Gamification strategy for the curriculum module “Social Inclusion of Adolescents with a
Migrant Background”
Figure 1. Gamication strategy for the curriculum module “Social
Inclusion of Adolescents with a Migrant Background”
Each gamication element stated above will be introduced
by a short description, followed by examples outlining how we
have created immersive learning experiences using gamication
principles for this PROMIS curriculum module.
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Narratives/Scenarios
As stated in Chapter 2, narratives/scenarios represent a
gamication element which facilitates the learning process by
making the content more relatable to students. Considering
that the subject maer for this gamication process refers to
social inclusion of people with a migrant background, the
component of making students feeling more comfortable in this
type of interaction is essential. Overall, this game element aims
primarily at increasing students’ understanding that how they
relate to and interact with youth with a migrant background is
aected by several aspects.
All the strategies to apply this gamication element in a
useful way can be found in Chapter 2. For what concerns this
module specically, starting from the case study presented
previously (Karataş & Crocetti, 2021) a brief interactive scenario
has been created to help students be more empathic towards
adolescents with a migrant background.
Gamication prototypes for narratives/scenarios and quizzes
At rst, the case study about Amina is presented to the
students (see Karataş & Crocetti, 2021). Right after that, the
interactive scenario begins. Also, it will alternate with some
exercises and quizzes, as well as with brief theoretical pieces.
Scenario: Meeting Amina
Scene 1
Backgound: As you walk around in the city with some
friends to spend your Saturday relaxing, you decide to stop at
a bench in the big plaza of your city. You start speaking about
what to do for the night: maybe going to the disco, or just a
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simple dine-out eating pizza or sushi. As you start planning,
you notice two girls listening just a few steps away.
Response 1 (R1): You notice that they seem to be from
another country and that one of them sighs while listening to
what you and your friends are saying. Since you want to be
sure she is not having any issue, you approach her kindly “Hi
there! Are you ok?”. Some of your friends greet her as well, while
others ignore her.
Response 2 (R2): You notice that they seem to be from
another country and that one of them sighs while listening to
what you and your friends are saying. You feel uncomfortable,
as you wonder why she looks at you so sadly. Some of your
friends greet her, others ignore her.
Outcome for R1: receiving a badge regarding empathy,
followed by the next scene.
Outcome for R2: an exercise about myths starts, followed by
the next scene.
Myths or NOT Myths quiz. For each sentence below, please
indicate which sentences are Myths and which are NOT Myths
Myth Not Myth
1. Migrants take jobs away from the local people.
2. Migrants bring crimes and violence to our
countries.
3. Migrants carry diseases.
4. Migrants work in low prole jobs.
5. Migrants are a huge burden for our economies.
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6. Migrants have to be assimilated with our
countries.
7. Our countries enriched because of migrants.
8. Migrants cannot pursue their traditions and
customs in their host countries.
At the end of the exercise, participants are automatically
guided to the section of the curriculum module that denes
migrants. Alternatively, the outputs of this exercise can be
discussed online or oine with the whole class, with the teacher
starting the discussion based on students’ responses (e.g. “Why
do you think this is/isn’t a myth about people with a migrant
background?”).
Girl: Sorry, I didn’t want to bother. I was just curious about your
plans, since I never tried such activities with my friends.
R1: A bit surprised, you look at your friends and then back at
her “What do you mean?”.
R2: A bit surprised, you kindly answer “You are not bothering!
What activities you usually do?”
Outcome for R1: Nothing happens, continue to the piece of
theoretical information.
Outcome for R2: Receiving a badge regarding curiosity/
exploration, followed by the piece of theoretical information.
Theoretical information: some details about how migration
aects individuals, how acculturation strategies work and
how well-being of people with a migrant background can
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be fostered are given, before moving to the next scene of the
interactive scenario.
Girl: When I can go out with my friends, most of the time, the boys
play soccer while me and the other girls watch them. I would like to
nd some new friends and also be able to go out with them whenever
I want, but I’m afraid that my family and my current friends will not
approve this.
R1: You, as your friends, would really like to be helpful and
you want to encourage her “You should do what makes you happy,
no maer what! Just come with us to grab some pizza this evening,
don’t care about what others could think”. You invite her to your
dinner night.
R2: You, as your friends, would really like to be helpful, but
you also feel that she should be happy to have more than one
culture and group to belong to. Her friend listens to you as
well, and you suggest them to try nding new friends together,
maybe within people interested in learning a new culture: “The
best thing you could do, is learning from each other!”
Outcome for R1: receives a badge regarding optimism.
Outcome for R2: receives a badge regarding critical thinking.
Based on one of the previously selected options regarding
student’s reactions to the girl’s aspirations, participants receive
one of the two endings/debriengs:
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Ending for choosing R1:
The girl kindly refuses to come with you but seems happy
about your advice. The week after, you see her with a group
of friends at the pizza restaurant: she’s enjoying a pizza,
chatting with them. She approaches you to let you know
about her new friends: she met them at school, and she is
really glad of being able to have a lot of new experiences with
them. After some excitement, however, you notice that she
seems a little bit sad anyway, as if she feels guilty towards
her old friends and her family.
Even though she is really happy to have a chance of geing
deeper in her new country culture, mingling with some people
of the place, she is quite sad that her friends are not with her
experiencing the same. In fact, assimilation (i.e. identifying with
the host culture without maintaining the heritage culture; Berry,
2009) has some negative sides when it comes to acculturation.
Being able to integrate between the new culture and her heritage
culture, instead, would be a beer acculturation strategy
(Berry, 2009): in fact, it fosters well-being and a more adaptive
psychological functioning in people with a migrant background.
As we beer understand what having a dierent cultural
background means and how it can aect the development of
youth, we will be able to be more empathic with our peers who
migrated here or come from a migrant family. Thank you for
taking the time to meet Amina!
Ending for choosing R2:
The girl kindly refuses to come with you but seems happy
about your advice. You share your phone numbers. The week
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after, you invite her and her friend to go out with your group
in a pizza restaurant. They gladly accept and you enjoy the
evening together, sharing the various aspects of both your and
her culture. She is also really excited because she can practice
her Italian and she sees that you and your friends respect her
culture very much: because of the comfort she feels when
spending time with you, she also takes the courage to talk
about her family. Hopefully, this experience will stimulate her
in integrating the new culture and the heritage culture, which
is considered to be the best accultu