Hello everyone.
In this article, I will introduce the paper I read for this week’s English seminar and share my thoughts on it.

Paper Title: Does Gamification Influence Students’ Online Learning Behaviors and Academic Performance?-A Learning Analytics Perspective-
Journal: International Conference on Smart Learning Environments
Year of Publication: 2023
Pages: 127-138
Authors: Mustafa, M. Y., Tlili, A., Qazi, A. G., Huang, R., & Adarkwah, M. A.

Research Background and Objectives
In higher education institutions, online classes have surged due to the impact of COVID-19, and Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become widely used. However, many students simply view the uploaded materials, and the utilization of the LMS is often insufficient, leading to situations where understanding remains inadequate and the number of questions increases. Therefore, this study aims to incorporate gamification to increase motivation for participating in the LMS, with the following two specific objectives:
⒈ To develop a gamified LMS (GLMS) that adds elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, and leveling up, and to activate students’ learning behaviors and interactions with instructors.
⒉ To apply Learning Analytics to the log data obtained from the GLMS and evaluate how the introduction of game elements relates to academic performance.

Main Features of the GLMS
Gamification refers to incorporating familiar rules and rewards from games into contexts such as education. In this paper, based on Self-Determination Theory (the elements of “competence,” “autonomy,” and “relatedness”), the following mechanisms were designed to make students want to pursue their own learning:
・Activity points: Points are awarded for each action, such as watching videos or answering quizzes, and displayed on a leaderboard.
・Badges: Titles are given for each achievement to stimulate a sense of accomplishment and competitiveness.
・Levels: Students can feel their gradual growth from “Newbie” to “Mediocre” to “Expert” based on the points they earn.
・Feedback: Instructors post comments weekly to support learning comprehension.
・Avatar editing: Students can freely customize their own characters to promote attachment.
・Discussion forum: Points are awarded for posts and replies, which also activates interaction among students.

Research Methodology
This study was conducted with 204 students enrolled in a “Data Structure” course for fourth-year students at a public university in Pakistan. Of these, 104 students used the GLMS (experimental group), and 100 students used the conventional non-gamified LMS (control group). The study lasted for 5 weeks, and the same instructor uploaded the same materials to both groups every week.
The collected data consisted of six types of behavioral logs: “login,” “lecture viewing,” “submission of understanding,” “page visits,” “message viewing,” and “profile changes.”

Data Analysis
Approximately 7,200 logs (GLMS) and 3,151 logs (conventional LMS) were collected, visualized, and aggregated using the SPLUNK tool. The number of views immediately after lecture uploads and forum participation status were compared, and the correlation between understanding points and final grades was verified using Pearson analysis. The main results were as follows:
・ Lecture viewing: The number of views of materials immediately after uploading was significantly higher in the GLMS group than in the TLMS group, confirming that continuous engagement was promoted.
・ Forum participation: Students who participated in the forum more frequently had higher test scores, suggesting that participation in posts and replies may be related to improved academic performance.
・ Correlation between submission of understanding and grades: Students who reported their understanding and earned points tended to have higher final grades (r=0.381, p<0.05), indicating that timely self-evaluation leads to learning outcomes.

Discussion and Future Challenges
This study revealed that game elements are highly effective in "stimulating interest immediately after a lecture is released" and contribute to the activation of material viewing. Furthermore, it is suggested that dialogue functions such as forums not only help solidify learning content but also encourage collaborative learning with peers, which may lead to improved grades. The mechanism for submitting understanding (self-evaluation) helps foster the habit of checking one's own understanding before receiving guidance from an instructor, thereby helping to enhance learning outcomes.
Overall, it is thought that adding game elements to an LMS can increase student participation and engagement, and also influence learning outcomes.
On the other hand, there is still room to verify the impact of each individual feature on learning. The relationship between which features acted in what way, as well as factors such as how instructors are involved, remains a challenge for the future.

Below are my thoughts.

I read this paper because I wanted to learn about the design, effects, and evaluation of integrating gamification-based course design with Learning Analytics. It was informative from the perspective of course design in that adding game elements to the LMS itself, rather than to the teaching materials, can influence learning behaviors and learning outcomes.
On the other hand, I believe that the following points need to be investigated in the future. First, in the results section, the analysis of material viewing was limited to the number of views "immediately after uploading," and from the tables in the paper, it can also be read that the difference in the number of views of materials disappears as the days pass. I was left wondering whether gamification does not lead to repeated learning, or whether learners judged that they had learned enough by viewing the materials early. Also, since there is a possibility that the effects differ depending on the type and timing of the game elements, there is room to consider examining the optimal design conditions.
At the same time, I would like to think about whether the term "game elements" can be discussed solely in terms of setting points, badges, levels, and so on. The text contains a statement that "each added game element cannot be called gamification unless it is intended to be playful," and in reality, it can be expected that there are complex influences regarding in what situations and what kind of game elements are effective or ineffective depending on the learner's tasks, the characteristics of the materials, and the learning format (group, individual, online, etc.). In the future, I would like to investigate the development of materials and LMS that are more in line with the overall learning design.

Written by: Kohei Ozaki