Gamification in E-learning: A moodle implementation and its effect on student engagement and performance

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges of e-learning can be motivating and engaging students in learning. Gamification has been the key underlying aspect of pedagogy used to increase engagement and motivation in learning. In this paper, we present our study on deploying game elements in an e-learning course on the Moodle platform. To investigate the student satisfaction with this e-learning course and student engagement in it, we collected data from 104 undergraduate students in Thailand. In addition, we used student interaction data obtained from Moodle to examine a difference in the frequency of online interaction between the students who performed at an above-average level and those who were below average. The findings indicated that students were highly satisfied with the gamification tools in Moodle and they were engaged in the gamified e-learning course. There was a significant difference in the frequency of online interaction between the group who performed at an above-average level and the group who were below average. Our findings have important implications for the development of gamification in e-learning. © 2019, Australian Council for Computers in Education. All rights reserved.