PAPER COGENT: A CASE STUDY OF MEANINGFUL GAMIFICATION IN EDUCATION WITH VIRTUAL CURRENCY Cogent: A Case Study of Meaningful Gamification in Education with Virtual Currency http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v10i1.4247 Y. Chen, T. Burton, V. Mihaela, and D.M. Whittinghill Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA Abstract—This paper analyzes students’ experience with Cogent, a virtual economy system used throughout the 4 years of a B.S. degree in a Technology major. The case study explains the rules of the Cogent system and investi- gates its effectiveness to motivate students to learn. Using focus groups and interviews, we collected qualitative data from students about their experience and perceptions of Cogent. The results indicate that Cogent played an encour- aging and motivational role for these students and suggest potential for the successful design and implementation of meaningful gamification systems to promote student motiva- tion and engagement within an educational context. Index Terms—Case study, Education, Gamification, User experience. I. INTRODUCTION Increasing student motivation is a major challenge for the American educational system [1]. In addition to moti- vation, evidence suggests a student’s sense of personal engagement, or flow [2], is also positively correlated to learning outcomes [3]. Traditional educational approaches are not always credited with providing opportunities for such motivation and engagement [4]. Meanwhile, video game players invest countless hours developing problem- solving skills for leveling up and reaching their final goals [5]. It is no surprise then, that game thinking has been introduced as an educational strategy. Gamification, de- fined as using game elements in non-game contexts [6] has been adopted in many fields, including education, and has gained popularity since 2010 [7]. However, gamifica- tion’s potential negative impact on students’ intrinsic motivation raises an academic discussion of students’ dependency on consistent extrinsic motivation, as well as other possible negative effects [8]. It is therefore im- portant to study various implementations of gamification in order to design a successful system that minimizes negative side effects. The goal of this paper is exactly that - to conduct a case study of a specific gamification sys- tem, in order to identify transferrable design elements [9] for implementing gamification systems in an educational setting. The next section establishes the paper’s theoretical foundations in educational literature regarding motivation and gamification. Then, the Cogent system is described and evaluated. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and design implications for similar systems. II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This section discusses ideas that provide the theoretical foundation for our study: the issue of motivation and en- gagement in education; the introduction of game thinking and gamification in education as a way to increase student motivation and engagement; practices of gamification in education; and the theory of meaningful gamification. A. Motivation and Engagement in Education Motivation and engagement are recognized as major components in education, but also as major challenges for the U.S. educational system [1]. Self-determination theory [10] provides a general explanation of motivation and how it applies to education. Self-determination theory distin- guishes between two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. These two types work differently but not dis- tinctly. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself and exists within individuals. As a natural motivational ten- dency, it is a critical element in cognitive, social, and physical development, without reliance on external pres- sures or a desire for reward [11]. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual and refers to the per- formance of an activity in order to attain an outcome, whether or not that activity is also intrinsically motivated. Rewards for showing the desired behavior, and the threat of punishment following misbehavior are common extrin- sic motivations [11]. Motivation is particularly important for creative work, mundane tasks, and behavioral change [12]. It can be argued that education spans the range of creative and mundane activities and also requires behav- ioral change. Therefore, motivation is a crucial component in education. Also of critical importance is the experience of en- gagement, or flow. According to flow theory [13], a flow experience is both an overall assessment and a kind of mental state that fully absorbs an individual in an activity. It is characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of an activity [14]. Flow leads to increased exploratory behavior, com- munication, training, and satisfaction and acceptance of learning, [15, 16]. The findings of a study by Shin [14] suggest that students experiencing high flow states were more likely to be satisfied with a virtual course than stu- dents who were not experiencing flow, or were in low flow states. With the awareness that motivation and engagement are important in education, optimizing learners’ motivation and improving their engagement calls for educators’ and researchers’ consistent attention. One promising way to increase these factors is to borrow from activities that already benefit from them -- namely, playing computer games. The next section reviews studies that apply game thinking to education to increase motivation and engage- ment. iJET ‒ Volume 10, Issue 1, 2015 39