The use of gamification utilizes many motivational pathways. It would be erroneous to assume that gamification employs a bullet-proof plan for motivation. There is no single motivational pathway or type of engagement that will guarantee academic achievement in every student, as each student has their individual need (Nakkula & Toshalis 2012). Motivation in gamification takes a student-centered approach by establishing ways in which learning can be personalized. Gamification sets intrinsic (mastery) and extrinsic (points, grades) forms of motivation, but its distinction from traditional classroom settings is that students have the option to self-regulate their engagement with the material. Personalization comes when students recognize academic achievements based on intrinsic and extrinsic reward and have the freedom to self-regulate their performance based on the goals they set for themselves.  Self-regulation establishes self-determination, which can internalize extrinsic motivators as “external expectations can be internalized, integrated, and result in highly autonomous functioning” (Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong 2008). 

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In our World History course, students engaged in "quests" which were composed of class assignments and assessments like video lectures, projects, quizzes, readings, discussions, and surveys. Like a video game, students could invest as much time as they wanted (self-regulation) in unlocking quests as they completed them. The self-regulation process came through the personal-setting of goals, where students aimed to acquire points from proving mastery in quests. The acquisition of points allowed them to through "levels," which corresponded to a letter grade. Students experienced a linear growth starting from zero, giving them the opportunity to escalate through levels until the last day of class. Badges were also used as evidence for mastery in historical skills. Points, levels, badges, and learning at a personalized pace created a learning environment where students could customize their own learning goals, establish them, and set determination to fulfill them.

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The more students are determined to personalize goals, the more likely those goals will be accompanied by the drive and expectations of success in areas that matter most to them (Nakkula & Toshalis 2012). The elements of gamification allow for a more student-center approach, thus increasing emphasis on the self. An individual's interest to perform a specific task successfully to achieve a desired result is emphasized as self-efficacy (Bandura & Adams 1977). In our gamified course, such desired results could be the acquisition of points, badges, "leveling up," or healthy competition with others. To harvest self-efficacy, students should begin with an expectation (e.g. a quest is worth 5 points, 10 quests are worth 50 points) if a student desires to achieve 50 points by the end of the week, then that is a goal set by the student based on a desired expectation. 

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This is where self-regulation comes in. Just like a video game, our course is designed so that students can engage in quests when they feel motivated to do so. While each quest is designed with an estimated time to cover content, complete tasks, and prove mastery, students have the ability to set their own pace within the quests. This achieves two purposes: students who need more time can take as much time as needed without having any penalty for "lateness." Others who want to move forward may choose to do so by getting ahead without waiting for the teacher or class. In this self-regulation process of setting a personalized pace, students engage in self-monitoring, self-instruction, self-evaluation, self-reflection, self-correction, and self-reinforcement (Debruler, Freidhoff & Kennedy 2015). The sense of emphasizing the self gives the learner a more student-center approach to build self-efficacy through self-regulation, and self-determination. However, students possess great control over their pace and organization, relying on the self more. Having more ownership over their learning process comes with flexibilities, but more responsibilities as the student must rely more on the self for their personal success. However, my role as an instructor was to guide students into developing healthy parameters of self-regulation and self-determination to achieve the learning goals of the class. 

Gamification has the potential to create learning environments where students can set personal goals for a desired result. The ability to have more ownership over their learning process creates autonomy in students, where they can achieve their personal goals of reaching standards with competence for the most possible points. It is no secret that students have the motivation to earn good grades in classes. Can numeric and letter grades be the only way to prove competency? How can students have a more meaningful progress report than a weighted scale based on a percentage that fluctuates? 

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In our gamified course, students could track their progress using points, levels, and badges. Students began in our first level called "in the nest" where they begin at zero. Each level represents a letter grade so that students can see the translation of points to the traditional grading grade and grade in which they will end up in their report card. As students earn points, they move up a level. Each level is characterized by a ranking as historians. For instance, the "Intermediate" level sits at a "C," where "Investigator" stands at a "B," and "Expert" stands at an "A+." At a self-imposed pace, students could create subgoals to level up and obtain a better progress report on their efforts and understanding of the material. 

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Part of self-regulation is to allow students to have more control over how long and when they engage in the course but also to control the grade they want to obtain. Through this incremental model of acquiring points, there are no tricky averages of weighted grades to bring down scores or late penalties for their self-regulation. When students advance on quests to earn points and move up levels, students must provide evidence for competency to advance. Competence-Based Learning is defined as "a system in which students move from one level of learning to the next based on their understanding of pre-determined competencies without regard to seat time, days, or hours." ( Townsely 2014) Since the course allows for self-regulation and self-determination, students are oriented to aim for competence to achieve their desired grade. 

 

Aiming for badges is a perfect example of competence-based learning in our course. Students are encouraged to apply for the reward that could prove their competency in a historical skill in assessments by providing evidence of comprehension and application to the standards set by the badge. These competency-based badges are ideal for our gamified design since mechanisms for self-paced mastery are in place. (Hickey and Schenke 2019) 

 

This grading scheme offers a measurement that had more feedback and meaning than traditional letter grades, motivating students to set personal goals according to the ranking they want to obtain. Students can rely on a more effort-oriented strategy to their personal goals through the acquisition of points, showing an incremental growth that could encourage an endorsement of a malleable view of intelligence rather than a fixed view, according to incremental theory. (Blackwell, Dweck & Trzesniewski 2007)  Encouraging students to engage in a learning process that strives for competence rather than completion can be challenging. Still, it could be rewarding as students take more ownership of their learning and providing them with opportunities and feedback to improve and be their best self.