Improving Students' Performace Through Gamification: A User Study

Lack of motivation is an issue for some learners. If they do not find the course materials engaging, they do not spend enough time to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The term gamification is used to denote the application of game mechanisms in non-gaming environments with the objective of enhancing the process. Gamification has been shown to be an effective and motivating technique for enhancing students' learning outcome. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based gamified tool (PeerWise) in enhancing tertiary students' performance doing a Computer Science degree at Unitec Institute of Technology. PeerWise allows students to actively participate in a subject by authoring their own questions and answering, commenting on and rating other students' questions. Results of an evaluation study conducted over 11 weeks (n = 180) showed that using the tool (both voluntary and compulsory) improved students' performance and they found it valuable for their learning.