Browsing by Subject "game elements"

The motivation of Finnish children and youths towards school has been weak in spite of the international success. The Finns do well for example in natural sciences and literacy but the performance motivation is still among the lowest in the 2015 PISA study. Because of this it is important to look for new approaches and means which could be used to support the students’ motivation. Gamification has become a big trend during recent years in the context of teaching as well as other fields. The games are a permanent part of the everyday life of the children and youths today and it can indeed be inspiring and motivating to utilise their different possibilities also in learning. The usage of the methods of game design and game elements in teaching is a subject which wakes not only interest, but also prejudices. Gamification has been thoroughly studied in the 2010's, but when it comes to analysing the effects of different game elements, there is really not much research. This study tries to respond to this need and deals with the effects of different game elements on motivation in the light of self-determination theory. In addition, more general principles are developed to support planning the successful gamification of teaching. This study was carried out as a describing literature review. Characteristic of literature review, data in the study was analysed, evaluated and combined based on earlier research and thus also created a basis for new theory in connection with the subject. On the basis of the study, motivation was seldom supported or weakened by the individual game elements themselves. Many kinds of so positive as negative results have been obtained from the usage of different elements in teaching. Thus perhaps the real advantage of game elements is in their suitable and considered combining. To a more important role in gamification of teaching, stands out the entity and its careful planning. Based on the earlier literature, fostering psychologic basic needs, individuality and utilizing the pedagogic point of view were the most important principles to support gamification of teaching. Gamification executed according to these principles is an entity, which takes not only the cornerstones of the motivation, but also individuality and pedagogics, into account. This is an essential thing from the point of view of the education.