GAMIFICATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY HIGHER EDUCATION - EMPIRICAL STUDIES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF STUDENTS

In recent years, new concepts are increasingly being used to strengthen human motivation towards initiating his various activities and behavior change. Gamification is an example of such an idea. It is the concept that utilizes the specific mechanisms and techniques taken from the games to increase the engagement as well as to modify the behavior and habits of people. It is used in many business areas business, for example in marketing, sales, human resource management, and now increasingly in education. The contemporary universities and academic teachers often experience problems with low motivation and low engagement of students in academic education. Findings of different studies indicate that one of the possible solutions to this situation may be to apply the mechanisms of gamification. An important advantage of this approach is its relationship with fun, which means that the learning is not only more effective and motivating, but also enjoyable. The paper presents the results of the survey, which aim was the evaluation of gamification as a method of increasing the engagement of students. The survey was conducted among students (N=224) from Lublin universities in Poland. The analysis of their opinion about the utilization of the mechanisms of gamification in higher education constitutes a key content of this paper. There has been analysed the impact of age, average grade and study level on the students' attitude towards gamification and its mechanisms that increase engagement of students in academic education. The findings indicate a high level of acceptance the gamification by youngest respondents (less than 25 years old) who have the highest average grade from the previous semesters (between 4.50 and 5.00).