Darina Dicheva | Winston-Salem State University (original) (raw)
Papers by Darina Dicheva
2022 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE)
Lecture notes in networks and systems, 2023
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
The use and analysis of large quantities of data have become ubiquitous in nearly every disciplin... more The use and analysis of large quantities of data have become ubiquitous in nearly every discipline. We began a discussion of the role of data science across disciplines, and the role of computing in data science programs, at SIGCSE 16. The session was well attended and the discussion was valuable. Since then, more work has been done and more people are engaged. This BOF will continue the discussion, including welcoming new voices. We will distribute copies of the report of the NSF sponsored workshop on Data Science education and discuss a new initiative to develop curriculum guidelines for data science programs. This initiative will be in its earliest stages by the time SIGCSE meets, so it will be an excellent opportunity to gather impressions about what are critical considerations for any such curriculum effort. We developed a mailing list from the SIGCSE 16 attendees and will use that list to promote the BOF. The BOF will engage SIGCSE participants who have views on the content and role of courses and programs in data science. In addition to the workshop report, we will describe results from an NSF IUSE grant to develop modules for use in many types of courses. These expect to make access to fundamentals elements of data science available as widely as possible. With these as a starting point, participants in the Birds of a Feather session will explore the emerging field of data science and its relationship to computer science education. Discussions will be hosted at http://computingportal.org/datascienceflipped
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2022
2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE)
Gamitication is increasingly advocated as a solution to motivational challenges across learning a... more Gamitication is increasingly advocated as a solution to motivational challenges across learning activities. However, given a particular learning activity, the question of how to choose relevant motivational affordances and how to incorporate them within the activity in order to evoke the desired motivational effect remains an open problem. To address this gap, we propose an activity-centered design framework for gamifying learning activities. The framework is driven by the motivational factors associated with the activity to be gamitied and implies identifying potential motivators and demotivators with the intent to guide the selection of relevant motivational affordances. The purpose is to enable a gameful experience by choosing motivational affordances that are in congruence with the motivators while curbing the effect of demotivators. The application of the framework is illustrated by a case study complemented by an empirical evaluation.
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
This Full Paper in the Research-to-Practice track builds on research in gamification of instructi... more This Full Paper in the Research-to-Practice track builds on research in gamification of instruction. A primary objective of gamifying learning is to encourage and sustain students' engagement in activities by making them more gamelike. However, it is still unclear what structures borrowed from games could afford such a “game-like” experience and in what contexts. Embedding classmates' duels in learning settings seems a promising gamification strategy for exploration due to its potential of increasing motivation and engagement through a “game-like” experience. Similar effects are expected from using virtual currency, another design element popular in video games. Accordingly, the goal of this study is to empirically investigate whether the incorporation of dueling leads to increased interest in out-of-class practicing. In addition, we were interested in investigating to what an extent adding virtual currency can boost students' interest in dueling. An introductory class in Python programming served as the experimental environment. Unlike most studies in which the control group works in a non-gamified condition and the experimental group works in a gamified condition, this experiment uses a different approach. We investigated the impact on learners' engagement of adding duels to an ongoing gamified activity. Engagement indicators were measured and logged throughout the semester while student motivation was examined through surveys. The opportunity to challenge classmates appeared after the first exam (around one-third of the semester) and continued for the remaining two thirds of the class time. Thus, the same students in the new condition served as the experimental group. After the third exam, we added virtual currency. Students were able to earn virtual currency by issuing and responding to duel requests as well as by doing extra practice. This had a noticeable effect on the use of dueling. The empirical results of the study show that overall, for this group of students, adding duels alone had no positive effect on students' engagement with the gamified practicing system. However, evidence from the survey suggests that the studied combination of gamification elements (points, badges, leaderboard, avatars, duels, and virtual currency) did increase student intrinsic motivation.
2022 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2022
Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, is already widely used to enhance le... more Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, is already widely used to enhance learner engagement and motivation. Gamification motivates by adding gamefulness to the learning tasks. It is largely agreed that the success of applying gamification to educational contexts strongly depends on the way the gamification is designed & implemented. The goal of this BOF will be to provide a platform for discussing and brainstorming of different ways in which Computer Science courses could be gamified. BOF participants will form groups which will be tasked with developing scenarios of gamification design for a CS course. The groups will be led by the BOF organizers & other participating colleagues who are experienced in applying gamification in their courses. The guiding questions will include: What should be the steps in the gamification design process, where do we start? What are the goals? Which learning activities are suited for gamifying? Which game elements - the building blocks that are used for creating gameful experiences - could be used in the selected contexts? What gamification platforms or tools can be used to implement the designed gamification? At the end, the groups will be invited to present their gamification scenarios. We hope that in this BOF we will collectively identify new and interesting strategies for creating successful and sustainable gameful experiences in CS courses which will contribute to learners' engagement & motivation.
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2017
There is good evidence that students learn better when given more opportunity to practice skills ... more There is good evidence that students learn better when given more opportunity to practice skills using related problems. However, this requires a sufficient supply of automatically graded problems to enable instant feedback. This can be achieved through automating the process of problem generation. While a few dynamic problem generation systems exist, they are either very specific to a single topic (such as tools for automatic generation of parameterized questions for Java or C programming or they are intended for other disciplines and not easily adapted to the needs of Computer Science. We have developed a prototype system for authoring, administering, and grading dynamic problems. This system is specifically designed for computer science. To this end, it supports complex logic, calling external programs such as compilers or databases, and the creation and manipulation of figures and diagrams. Problems and useful code libraries can be created and shared between instructors. It is a web-based system where instructors can specify problems by combining static text or images with bits of Lua code which add dynamism. When students use the system, their answers will be graded automatically, and they will be able to see the results, thus giving them quicker feedback. This is an integrated portion of a larger gamified learning platform called OneUp which is under development and aims to combine hands-on practicing with additional game-like motivational mechanisms. The goal of both the larger platform and the dynamic problems in specific is to increase student engagement in the learning process.
Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2018
The low performance and drop-outs in Computer Science classes are frequently attributed to lack o... more The low performance and drop-outs in Computer Science classes are frequently attributed to lack of engagement and motivation. Meanwhile, gamification - the application of game design principles and game mechanics to a non-game context -- increasingly attracts the interest of educators due to its potential to foster motivation and behavioral changes in learning contexts. Course gamification is about using game elements, such as instant feedback, freedom to fail, freedom of choice, achievements, leveling, progress mechanics, badges, and leaderboards, as interventions in the learning process. This BOF will provide a platform for a discussion of when and how course gamification strategies can be beneficial for improving student motivation, engagement and achievements in Computer Science classes. Questions to be discussed include: What game elements could be useful in gamifying a computer science course? How can an instructor incorporate game elements in the design of their courses? What support the instructor may need for gamifying their courses? Could some game elements have potential drawbacks on student motivation and performance? The discussion leaders and attendees with experience in applying gamification in their courses will share examples of successes or failures, challenges, problems, tips, and techniques for gamifying learning with each other and those new to the use of gamification. Two NSF sponsored projects related to the use of gamification in STEM courses will seed the discussion. As an outcome of the discussion, we hope to collectively identify some lessons learned and challenges to be overcome for a successful application of gamification in Computer Science education.
Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2018
Data Science, often described at the intersection of computer science, statistical thinking and a... more Data Science, often described at the intersection of computer science, statistical thinking and analysis, and subject matter expertise, has seen an exponential growth in the past few years. Courses (and entire programs) have been appearing at such a fast rate at most institutions of higher education, as well as some high schools, that comparisons between curricular and delivery models and rigorous discipline-based education research are often overlooked in order to gain competitive advantages. This study attempts to rectify that absence by evaluating, comparing, and discussing four different courses offered at two different institutions of higher education. Funded by NSF via a collaborative grant (DUE-1432438), faculty from Computer Science and Statistics departments collaborated on the development and evaluation of introductory courses in Data Science for all students, using a discipline-based education research approach. Data on students were gathered including demographics, curriculum, statistical knowledge, and attitudes towards Data Science. Post-course growth was measured, when available, and compared through formal statistical inference. End-of-course evaluations, with supplemental questions about student learning, were reviewed and will be summarized. Finally, reflections on successes, challenges, and lessons learned will be shared.
Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2019
Having to compete harder than ever for students' attention against cool social media sites, m... more Having to compete harder than ever for students' attention against cool social media sites, mobile apps, video games, messaging, etc., instructors are struggling to find new ways to motivate and engage learners. Gamification offers a promising framework for educational interventions that can increase students' motivation and engagement. This BOF will bring together instructors who have already explored the use of various game driven strategies and elements to increase the motivation of their students and also those who are looking for promising interventions to do that. The facilitators conducted a similar BOF at SIGCSE 2018, which was well attended, well received and sparked an interesting and lively discussion. This BOF will continue the conversation on what might be useful ways of incorporating game elements in Computer Science courses, what tools might be needed to support such efforts, how can the student experience of gamified learning be personalized, etc. Two NSF sponsored projects related to the use of gamification in STEM courses will seed the discussion. We hope to collectively contribute to the ongoing important discussion on successful strategies for applying of gamification in Computer Science education.
2018 IEEE 18th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2018
Most of the current educational gamification applications are created without clear connections t... more Most of the current educational gamification applications are created without clear connections to motivational theories backing their design. As a result, they focus more on rewards and progress information and less on gameful experiences. This paper discusses the design of OneUp Learning – a gamification platform developed with the aim to address these problems. It discusses the underlying motivational theory and psychological mechanisms of games driving its design and briefly describes the functionality of the resulting highly configurable platform for gamifying academic courses and studying the motivational mechanisms of educational gamification.
Procedia Computer Science, 2017
Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education, 2016
In this poster the authors report the approaches for presenting Data Science topics in Flipped Cl... more In this poster the authors report the approaches for presenting Data Science topics in Flipped Classroom mode, incorporating topics in Data Science into existing courses as well as in stand-alone courses. It provides an insight on listing of learning goals, central data science topics, content modules, and a framework for implementing a flipped classroom approach to introduce data science to students with limited technical backgrounds. The presenters are NSF-funded investigators on a collaborative team of computer scientists and statistician to create flipped material for an introductory data science class. After SIGCSE, materials described in the poster will be available in Ensemble, at http://computingportal.org/?q=VU-WSSU-DataScience
Trends in Higher Education
While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of th... more While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of the gamification element virtual currency (VC) is underexplored, especially in an educational setting. To address this gap, the goal of the presented multi-case empirical study was to systematically explore the impact of virtual currency on learners’ engagement, motivation, and academic performance across different contexts and to uncover potentially generalizable results. Accordingly, this paper presents the outcomes of a multi-perspective analysis of students’ experiences in out-of-class practicing in a learning environment gamified with VC and the effect of this game element. The work builds on previous case studies with analogical goals, which the authors have conducted in different contexts, including the university type, student population, subject area, etc. The provided comprehensive cross-case analysis integrates and extends the previous results tracing the path to generalizable k...
2021 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2021
Effective gamification can only be based on understanding the relationship between learner motiva... more Effective gamification can only be based on understanding the relationship between learner motivation and the game elements which are used to gamify learning activities. Although frequently mentioned, Virtual Currency (VC) remains underused and scarcely studied in educational gamification. As a motivational affordance, VC can be thought of as supporting different types of motivation, but currently, there is a lack of empirical studies which investigate this. Recognizing this gap, the purpose of our study was to empirically investigate whether and how gamifying learning activities with virtual currency can engender motivation for out-of-class practicing and what type of motivation. In the limited research others have conducted, VC has been studied largely in combination with other game elements, which does not allow reaching reliable conclusions about the impact of the individual elements. For this reason, we studied the effects of VC in a gamified Discrete Math course isolated from other game elements. The study showed that using VC to gamify practicing increased students’ practicing activity, which resulted in improved academic performance. The study also revealed that while gamified practicing did not increase students’ intrinsic motivation, it supported internalization of motivation towards this learning activity.
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies
Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2022
2022 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE)
Lecture notes in networks and systems, 2023
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
The use and analysis of large quantities of data have become ubiquitous in nearly every disciplin... more The use and analysis of large quantities of data have become ubiquitous in nearly every discipline. We began a discussion of the role of data science across disciplines, and the role of computing in data science programs, at SIGCSE 16. The session was well attended and the discussion was valuable. Since then, more work has been done and more people are engaged. This BOF will continue the discussion, including welcoming new voices. We will distribute copies of the report of the NSF sponsored workshop on Data Science education and discuss a new initiative to develop curriculum guidelines for data science programs. This initiative will be in its earliest stages by the time SIGCSE meets, so it will be an excellent opportunity to gather impressions about what are critical considerations for any such curriculum effort. We developed a mailing list from the SIGCSE 16 attendees and will use that list to promote the BOF. The BOF will engage SIGCSE participants who have views on the content and role of courses and programs in data science. In addition to the workshop report, we will describe results from an NSF IUSE grant to develop modules for use in many types of courses. These expect to make access to fundamentals elements of data science available as widely as possible. With these as a starting point, participants in the Birds of a Feather session will explore the emerging field of data science and its relationship to computer science education. Discussions will be hosted at http://computingportal.org/datascienceflipped
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2022
2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE)
Gamitication is increasingly advocated as a solution to motivational challenges across learning a... more Gamitication is increasingly advocated as a solution to motivational challenges across learning activities. However, given a particular learning activity, the question of how to choose relevant motivational affordances and how to incorporate them within the activity in order to evoke the desired motivational effect remains an open problem. To address this gap, we propose an activity-centered design framework for gamifying learning activities. The framework is driven by the motivational factors associated with the activity to be gamitied and implies identifying potential motivators and demotivators with the intent to guide the selection of relevant motivational affordances. The purpose is to enable a gameful experience by choosing motivational affordances that are in congruence with the motivators while curbing the effect of demotivators. The application of the framework is illustrated by a case study complemented by an empirical evaluation.
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
This Full Paper in the Research-to-Practice track builds on research in gamification of instructi... more This Full Paper in the Research-to-Practice track builds on research in gamification of instruction. A primary objective of gamifying learning is to encourage and sustain students' engagement in activities by making them more gamelike. However, it is still unclear what structures borrowed from games could afford such a “game-like” experience and in what contexts. Embedding classmates' duels in learning settings seems a promising gamification strategy for exploration due to its potential of increasing motivation and engagement through a “game-like” experience. Similar effects are expected from using virtual currency, another design element popular in video games. Accordingly, the goal of this study is to empirically investigate whether the incorporation of dueling leads to increased interest in out-of-class practicing. In addition, we were interested in investigating to what an extent adding virtual currency can boost students' interest in dueling. An introductory class in Python programming served as the experimental environment. Unlike most studies in which the control group works in a non-gamified condition and the experimental group works in a gamified condition, this experiment uses a different approach. We investigated the impact on learners' engagement of adding duels to an ongoing gamified activity. Engagement indicators were measured and logged throughout the semester while student motivation was examined through surveys. The opportunity to challenge classmates appeared after the first exam (around one-third of the semester) and continued for the remaining two thirds of the class time. Thus, the same students in the new condition served as the experimental group. After the third exam, we added virtual currency. Students were able to earn virtual currency by issuing and responding to duel requests as well as by doing extra practice. This had a noticeable effect on the use of dueling. The empirical results of the study show that overall, for this group of students, adding duels alone had no positive effect on students' engagement with the gamified practicing system. However, evidence from the survey suggests that the studied combination of gamification elements (points, badges, leaderboard, avatars, duels, and virtual currency) did increase student intrinsic motivation.
2022 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2022
Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, is already widely used to enhance le... more Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, is already widely used to enhance learner engagement and motivation. Gamification motivates by adding gamefulness to the learning tasks. It is largely agreed that the success of applying gamification to educational contexts strongly depends on the way the gamification is designed & implemented. The goal of this BOF will be to provide a platform for discussing and brainstorming of different ways in which Computer Science courses could be gamified. BOF participants will form groups which will be tasked with developing scenarios of gamification design for a CS course. The groups will be led by the BOF organizers & other participating colleagues who are experienced in applying gamification in their courses. The guiding questions will include: What should be the steps in the gamification design process, where do we start? What are the goals? Which learning activities are suited for gamifying? Which game elements - the building blocks that are used for creating gameful experiences - could be used in the selected contexts? What gamification platforms or tools can be used to implement the designed gamification? At the end, the groups will be invited to present their gamification scenarios. We hope that in this BOF we will collectively identify new and interesting strategies for creating successful and sustainable gameful experiences in CS courses which will contribute to learners' engagement & motivation.
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2017
There is good evidence that students learn better when given more opportunity to practice skills ... more There is good evidence that students learn better when given more opportunity to practice skills using related problems. However, this requires a sufficient supply of automatically graded problems to enable instant feedback. This can be achieved through automating the process of problem generation. While a few dynamic problem generation systems exist, they are either very specific to a single topic (such as tools for automatic generation of parameterized questions for Java or C programming or they are intended for other disciplines and not easily adapted to the needs of Computer Science. We have developed a prototype system for authoring, administering, and grading dynamic problems. This system is specifically designed for computer science. To this end, it supports complex logic, calling external programs such as compilers or databases, and the creation and manipulation of figures and diagrams. Problems and useful code libraries can be created and shared between instructors. It is a web-based system where instructors can specify problems by combining static text or images with bits of Lua code which add dynamism. When students use the system, their answers will be graded automatically, and they will be able to see the results, thus giving them quicker feedback. This is an integrated portion of a larger gamified learning platform called OneUp which is under development and aims to combine hands-on practicing with additional game-like motivational mechanisms. The goal of both the larger platform and the dynamic problems in specific is to increase student engagement in the learning process.
Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2018
The low performance and drop-outs in Computer Science classes are frequently attributed to lack o... more The low performance and drop-outs in Computer Science classes are frequently attributed to lack of engagement and motivation. Meanwhile, gamification - the application of game design principles and game mechanics to a non-game context -- increasingly attracts the interest of educators due to its potential to foster motivation and behavioral changes in learning contexts. Course gamification is about using game elements, such as instant feedback, freedom to fail, freedom of choice, achievements, leveling, progress mechanics, badges, and leaderboards, as interventions in the learning process. This BOF will provide a platform for a discussion of when and how course gamification strategies can be beneficial for improving student motivation, engagement and achievements in Computer Science classes. Questions to be discussed include: What game elements could be useful in gamifying a computer science course? How can an instructor incorporate game elements in the design of their courses? What support the instructor may need for gamifying their courses? Could some game elements have potential drawbacks on student motivation and performance? The discussion leaders and attendees with experience in applying gamification in their courses will share examples of successes or failures, challenges, problems, tips, and techniques for gamifying learning with each other and those new to the use of gamification. Two NSF sponsored projects related to the use of gamification in STEM courses will seed the discussion. As an outcome of the discussion, we hope to collectively identify some lessons learned and challenges to be overcome for a successful application of gamification in Computer Science education.
Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2018
Data Science, often described at the intersection of computer science, statistical thinking and a... more Data Science, often described at the intersection of computer science, statistical thinking and analysis, and subject matter expertise, has seen an exponential growth in the past few years. Courses (and entire programs) have been appearing at such a fast rate at most institutions of higher education, as well as some high schools, that comparisons between curricular and delivery models and rigorous discipline-based education research are often overlooked in order to gain competitive advantages. This study attempts to rectify that absence by evaluating, comparing, and discussing four different courses offered at two different institutions of higher education. Funded by NSF via a collaborative grant (DUE-1432438), faculty from Computer Science and Statistics departments collaborated on the development and evaluation of introductory courses in Data Science for all students, using a discipline-based education research approach. Data on students were gathered including demographics, curriculum, statistical knowledge, and attitudes towards Data Science. Post-course growth was measured, when available, and compared through formal statistical inference. End-of-course evaluations, with supplemental questions about student learning, were reviewed and will be summarized. Finally, reflections on successes, challenges, and lessons learned will be shared.
Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2019
Having to compete harder than ever for students' attention against cool social media sites, m... more Having to compete harder than ever for students' attention against cool social media sites, mobile apps, video games, messaging, etc., instructors are struggling to find new ways to motivate and engage learners. Gamification offers a promising framework for educational interventions that can increase students' motivation and engagement. This BOF will bring together instructors who have already explored the use of various game driven strategies and elements to increase the motivation of their students and also those who are looking for promising interventions to do that. The facilitators conducted a similar BOF at SIGCSE 2018, which was well attended, well received and sparked an interesting and lively discussion. This BOF will continue the conversation on what might be useful ways of incorporating game elements in Computer Science courses, what tools might be needed to support such efforts, how can the student experience of gamified learning be personalized, etc. Two NSF sponsored projects related to the use of gamification in STEM courses will seed the discussion. We hope to collectively contribute to the ongoing important discussion on successful strategies for applying of gamification in Computer Science education.
2018 IEEE 18th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2018
Most of the current educational gamification applications are created without clear connections t... more Most of the current educational gamification applications are created without clear connections to motivational theories backing their design. As a result, they focus more on rewards and progress information and less on gameful experiences. This paper discusses the design of OneUp Learning – a gamification platform developed with the aim to address these problems. It discusses the underlying motivational theory and psychological mechanisms of games driving its design and briefly describes the functionality of the resulting highly configurable platform for gamifying academic courses and studying the motivational mechanisms of educational gamification.
Procedia Computer Science, 2017
Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education, 2016
In this poster the authors report the approaches for presenting Data Science topics in Flipped Cl... more In this poster the authors report the approaches for presenting Data Science topics in Flipped Classroom mode, incorporating topics in Data Science into existing courses as well as in stand-alone courses. It provides an insight on listing of learning goals, central data science topics, content modules, and a framework for implementing a flipped classroom approach to introduce data science to students with limited technical backgrounds. The presenters are NSF-funded investigators on a collaborative team of computer scientists and statistician to create flipped material for an introductory data science class. After SIGCSE, materials described in the poster will be available in Ensemble, at http://computingportal.org/?q=VU-WSSU-DataScience
Trends in Higher Education
While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of th... more While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of the gamification element virtual currency (VC) is underexplored, especially in an educational setting. To address this gap, the goal of the presented multi-case empirical study was to systematically explore the impact of virtual currency on learners’ engagement, motivation, and academic performance across different contexts and to uncover potentially generalizable results. Accordingly, this paper presents the outcomes of a multi-perspective analysis of students’ experiences in out-of-class practicing in a learning environment gamified with VC and the effect of this game element. The work builds on previous case studies with analogical goals, which the authors have conducted in different contexts, including the university type, student population, subject area, etc. The provided comprehensive cross-case analysis integrates and extends the previous results tracing the path to generalizable k...
2021 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2021
Effective gamification can only be based on understanding the relationship between learner motiva... more Effective gamification can only be based on understanding the relationship between learner motivation and the game elements which are used to gamify learning activities. Although frequently mentioned, Virtual Currency (VC) remains underused and scarcely studied in educational gamification. As a motivational affordance, VC can be thought of as supporting different types of motivation, but currently, there is a lack of empirical studies which investigate this. Recognizing this gap, the purpose of our study was to empirically investigate whether and how gamifying learning activities with virtual currency can engender motivation for out-of-class practicing and what type of motivation. In the limited research others have conducted, VC has been studied largely in combination with other game elements, which does not allow reaching reliable conclusions about the impact of the individual elements. For this reason, we studied the effects of VC in a gamified Discrete Math course isolated from other game elements. The study showed that using VC to gamify practicing increased students’ practicing activity, which resulted in improved academic performance. The study also revealed that while gamified practicing did not increase students’ intrinsic motivation, it supported internalization of motivation towards this learning activity.
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies
Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2, 2022
The presented here instructional model is based on two premises derived from psychological and le... more The presented here instructional model is based on two premises derived from psychological and learning theories. The first is that students take greater control on their own learning, which implies active learning where the instructor acts as a mentor. The second is that the learning environment enables interplay between the extrinsic forces acting on learners and the intrinsic motives and needs inherent in human nature. We claim that such a model can be built by leveraging strategies from both flipped learning and gamification.