<ul>
<li>There are a few videos and some links here on <a href="http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification_of_Education">gamification in education</a>.</li>
<li>Sarah  Smith- Robbins has an article on <a href="http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume46/ThisGameSucksHowtoImprovetheGa/222665">gamification in education</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/">http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/</a> is a website devoted to the topic; the site has a listing of <a href="http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/category/papers">research papers here</a>.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-21T03:59:57.857Z
2012-01-21T03:59:57.857Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>Malone and Lepper (1987) is often cited as the seminal paper regarding gamification for education. They started off by identifying factors which affect computer game preferences and then identified motivational factors. <a href="http://sag.sagepub.com/content/36/4/483.full.pdf" rel="nofollow">Habgood et al (2005)</a> built on this taxonomy and developed a high quality game for supporting the teaching of division. My understanding is that the key finding from that study is that the motivating factors should ideally be linked to the learning material.</p>

<p>Malone, T. &amp; Lepper (1987). Making Learning Fun: A Taxonomy of Intrinsic Motivations for Learning. In Snow, R. &amp; Farr, M. J. (Ed), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction Volume 3: Conative and Affective Process Analyses. Hillsdale, NJ</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-24T11:23:25.857Z
2014-09-24T11:23:25.857Z
StrongBad
<p>I would also add this paper, which includes a critical discussion of the concept and proposes a working-definition for gamification in educational settings:</p>

<p>R. Rughinis, 2013, Gamification for productive interaction: Reading and working with the gamification debate in education</p>

<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/5758624/Gamification_for_Productive_Interaction._Reading_and_Working_with_the_Gamification_Debate_in_Education" rel="nofollow">https://www.academia.edu/5758624/Gamification_for_Productive_Interaction._Reading_and_Working_with_the_Gamification_Debate_in_Education</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-25T11:49:04.317Z
2015-08-25T11:49:04.317Z
Cosima
<p>There are a lot of courses and literature about gamification in learning by Karl Kapp. <a href="http://karlkapp.com/articles/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://karlkapp.com/articles/</a>. Most of them are not scientific articles, but there are also books, courses and insturctions how to integrate these ideas. The topics you are asking for are partly discussed there.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-09T19:09:27.130Z
2017-06-09T19:09:27.130Z
Nathalie
<p><em>Punished By Rewards</em> by Alfie Kohn puts it in a behaviorist perspective, and extensively criticizes gamification inspired by operant conditioning.  (here is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2731397/?page=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a scientific article</a>, a counter-argument to the book)</p>

<p>Daniel Pink's <em>Drive</em> puts gamification in a humanist perspective. <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/05/09/daniel-pink-drive-rsa-motivation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">See here</a>.</p>

<p>T. Reiners, L.C. Wood (eds.), <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-10208-5_9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gamification in Education and Business</a> (2014), chapter 9, put gamification in the perspective of motivational and learning theories. This seems like the best (and most recent!) scientific answer to your question.
The frameworks used are classic conditioning, expectancy-based theories and self-determination theory.</p>

<p>The authors of the specific chapter are Landers, Bauer, Callan and Armstrong.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-20T23:34:33.910Z
2017-01-20T23:34:33.910Z
Charlotte SL
<p>A popular lit review [1] discusses some game concepts that have been empirically tested to support the idea of gamification. In some cases, these may be very hard to quantify. For instance, the article cites <em>fantasy</em> as one gaming characteristic that engages gamers. Other characteristics, such as having <em>clear, well defined rules/goals</em> seem easier to objectify.</p>

<p>The authors also cite <em>mystery</em>, <em>challenge</em> (something hard but not too hard, with levels of increasing difficulty), <em>sensory stimuli</em>, and <em>user control</em> as important attributes as well.</p>

<p>[1] Garris et al. (2002). Games, Motivation, and Learning: A Research and Practice Model. Simulation and Gaming, 33, 441-467. Retrieved from <a href="http://scottsdale.brainadvantage.com/PDF/Games,%20Motivation,%20and%20Learning.pdf">http://scottsdale.brainadvantage.com/PDF/Games,%20Motivation,%20and%20Learning.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-23T23:17:38.327Z
2012-01-23T23:17:38.327Z
Jeff
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification">Wikipedia defines Gamification</a> as "the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences."
Khan Academy has received attention (e.g., <a href="http://gamification.co/2011/05/26/quests-skill-trees-for-learning-with-khan-academy/">see this post</a>) for incorporating some elements of gamification into its online learning system.</p>

<p>Are there any scientific papers that seek to:</p>

<ul>
<li>integrate the ideas of "gamification" into models of education and cognitive psychology?</li>
<li>critically and empirically evaluate the ideas of gamification for educational purposes?</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T17:30:34.863Z
Relevant but not specific to education: http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Gamification-101-The-Psychology-of-Motivation/ba-p/21864
Zelda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-08T17:57:12.973Z
games in education are _very old, even ancient_ of course. _video games_ are newer....
vzn
<motivation><educational-psychology><gamification>
Have ideas of "gamification" been applied to education?
Jeromy Anglim
# Have ideas of "gamification" been applied to education?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-19)

[Wikipedia defines Gamification](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification) as "the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences."
Khan Academy has received attention (e.g., [see this post](http://gamification.co/2011/05/26/quests-skill-trees-for-learning-with-khan-academy/)) for incorporating some elements of gamification into its online learning system.

Are there any scientific papers that seek to:

* integrate the ideas of "gamification" into models of education and cognitive psychology?
* critically and empirically evaluate the ideas of gamification for educational purposes?

**Tags:** motivation, educational-psychology, gamification

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Relevant but not specific to education: http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Gamification-101-The-Psychology-of-Motivation/ba-p/21864  
> **username_2**: games in education are _very old, even ancient_ of course. _video games_ are newer....  

---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2012-01-23. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

A popular lit review [1] discusses some game concepts that have been empirically tested to support the idea of gamification. In some cases, these may be very hard to quantify. For instance, the article cites *fantasy* as one gaming characteristic that engages gamers. Other characteristics, such as having *clear, well defined rules/goals* seem easier to objectify.

The authors also cite *mystery*, *challenge* (something hard but not too hard, with levels of increasing difficulty), *sensory stimuli*, and *user control* as important attributes as well.

[1] Garris et al. (2002). Games, Motivation, and Learning: A Research and Practice Model. Simulation and Gaming, 33, 441-467. Retrieved from <http://scottsdale.brainadvantage.com/PDF/Games,%20Motivation,%20and%20Learning.pdf>


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2012-01-21. Score: 11

* There are a few videos and some links here on [gamification in education](http://gamification.org/wiki/Gamification_of_Education).
* Sarah Smith- Robbins has an article on [gamification in education](http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume46/ThisGameSucksHowtoImprovetheGa/222665).
* <http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/> is a website devoted to the topic; the site has a listing of [research papers here](http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/category/papers).


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-09-24. Score: 4

Malone and Lepper (1987) is often cited as the seminal paper regarding gamification for education. They started off by identifying factors which affect computer game preferences and then identified motivational factors. [Habgood et al (2005)](http://sag.sagepub.com/content/36/4/483.full.pdf) built on this taxonomy and developed a high quality game for supporting the teaching of division. My understanding is that the key finding from that study is that the motivating factors should ideally be linked to the learning material.

Malone, T. & Lepper (1987). Making Learning Fun: A Taxonomy of Intrinsic Motivations for Learning. In Snow, R. & Farr, M. J. (Ed), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction Volume 3: Conative and Affective Process Analyses. Hillsdale, NJ


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-08-25. Score: 4

I would also add this paper, which includes a critical discussion of the concept and proposes a working-definition for gamification in educational settings:

R. Rughinis, 2013, Gamification for productive interaction: Reading and working with the gamification debate in education

<https://www.academia.edu/5758624/Gamification_for_Productive_Interaction._Reading_and_Working_with_the_Gamification_Debate_in_Education>


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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-06-09. Score: 2

There are a lot of courses and literature about gamification in learning by Karl Kapp. <http://karlkapp.com/articles/>. Most of them are not scientific articles, but there are also books, courses and insturctions how to integrate these ideas. The topics you are asking for are partly discussed there.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2017-01-20. Score: 1

*Punished By Rewards* by Alfie Kohn puts it in a behaviorist perspective, and extensively criticizes gamification inspired by operant conditioning. (here is [a scientific article](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2731397/?page=1), a counter-argument to the book)

Daniel Pink's *Drive* puts gamification in a humanist perspective. [See here](https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/05/09/daniel-pink-drive-rsa-motivation/).

T. Reiners, L.C. Wood (eds.), [Gamification in Education and Business](http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-10208-5_9) (2014), chapter 9, put gamification in the perspective of motivational and learning theories. This seems like the best (and most recent!) scientific answer to your question.
The frameworks used are classic conditioning, expectancy-based theories and self-determination theory.

The authors of the specific chapter are Landers, Bauer, Callan and Armstrong.


---

