Many students find mathematics to be a discouraging subject, often leading to anxiety and low motivation. Getting students excited about math is important for increasing engagement and academic acheivement. Game-inspired strategies, often used in primary education, are emerging as effective methods for boosting engagement and overall math learning in secondary and higher education, too. In gamified learning, game elements aim to capture students’ attention, foster active learning, and enrich the overall learning experience.
In this study, researchers at University of Algarve, Portugual, reviewed the impact of gamification on student motivation and engagement in mathematics at secondary and higher education levels. They point out that gamification, which incorporates game design elements like points and rewards into non-game settings, differs from game-based learning and serious games used in training fields. They reviewed 45 studies on gamificiation which included a total of 4,345 participants and focused on algebra, calculus and statistics. Most interventions used digital platforms and common game elements such as points, leaderboards and instant feedback.
In their review, the researchers found that overall gamification supported motivation and engagement, with only four studies reporting negative effects. Specifically, they found that difficult badges, low leaderboard rankings, and poorly designed gamification reduced engagement while external rewards were often ineffective in sustaining motivation. In addition, while most studies reported increased engagement, especially when gamification combined with interactive elements, competitive designs sometimes led to reduced participation. In their analysis of the quality of the studies, the researchers found that motivation was evaluated more consistently than engagement: only eight studies measured engagement and most used indirect or ad hoc measures instead of validated tools and therefore could not be included in the meta-analysis. Most studies found either increases in both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation or increases in attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction.
The researchers conclude that gamification is promising for enhancing both motivation and engagement in mathematics when designs are aligned with students’ needs, specifically balancing competition with mastery and cooperation. They suggest that educators should limit excessive competition and prioritize personal progress and cooperative tasks that foster social interaction when implementing game-based learnign in the classroom.
StepUp Note
With StepUp to Learn, we see that “self-evaluation is the key to motivation.” In each Daily Practice exercise, children “watch and learn, then think and do” in order to tell themselves what to do and when to do it. “Talk first” exercises require them to take initiative in exercises for counting and alphabet knowledge, and then to self-evaluate the accuracy of their memory. Puzzle badges reinforce completion of Daily Practice exercises. This research continues to show the value of “gamification” in both engagement and motivation. StepUp brings these gamification values to academic learning for the skills of reading decoding, math and handwriting.
Note by Nancy W Rowe, MS, CCC/A