(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 9, 2021 411 | Page www.ijacsa.thesai.org Design and Evaluation of an Engagement Framework for e-Learning Gamification Mohammed Abdulaziz Alsubhi, Noraidah Sahari Ashaari, Tengku Siti Meriam Tengku Wook Faculty of Information Science and Technology Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Malaysia Abstract—Recently, gamification in education software development to improve student engagement and performance has become prevalent. Gamification is used to counter attrition and dropout issues in e-learning. A handful of methods are presented for the gamification of e-learning systems in the literature. However, the e-learning gamification methods proposed in the literature lacked consistency. The number and types of game elements used in the methods are varied. In addition, there is a lack of an engagement framework that can be used in applying game elements to e-learning systems. Therefore, this paper provides insights into gamification and how it is used in e-learning systems. Then, the study proposes and evaluates an engagement framework that can be used to guide developers on how to add game elements to e-learning to improve student engagement and performance. The framework consists of three components: game elements, learning activities, and engagement factors components. Two experts evaluate the engagement framework via a semi-structured interview. The evaluation results indicate that developers can efficiently and effectively use the framework to gamify e-learning systems for improved student engagement and performance. Keywords—e-learning; learning activities; gamification; game elements; engagement framework I. INTRODUCTION Student engagement plays an essential role in minimising student attrition and dropout rates. However, it also represents one of the main challenges in teaching and learning, especially in online education or e-learning. The level of engagement is influenced not only by how lessons are delivered but by the students' readiness and enthusiasm to engage with their studies. Hence sustaining student engagement is a daily struggle that leaves higher education lecturers in a quandary because the students' energy into immersing themselves in their courses plays a key role in their engagement [1]. Several studies have proposed the use of gamification to improve student engagement [2, 3]. Gamification adds game elements to e-learning systems to engage students and achieve the desired learning behaviours and outcomes [4, 5]. The researchers in the domain have proposed a wide array of gamification guidelines in different research areas. Most of the guidelines provide strategies for gamifying other systems, including business systems like Facebook, Twitter, etc. [6, 7]. Likewise, gamification strategies proposed in education intends to improve student performance, student outcome, or student engagement. Yet, the strategy adds game elements to educational systems in an ad-hoc manner. The wide variety of e-learning tools utilised in education, such as Moodle, Adaptweb, etc., makes the gamification process vague and unclear to developers [7, 8]. However, the literature has not adequately investigated an engagement framework that can help educational software developers gamify e-learning systems. Therefore, this paper aims to propose an engagement framework that can address the lack of methods or standards for the gamification of e-learning systems. The gamified e-learning system ensures students become engaged in their learning, which will indirectly lead to minimising the number of dropouts and attrition, which is a suffered by most higher education institutions (HEIs). Subsequently, the framework is evaluated by submitting the framework and a document that explains the usage to experts. The experts assessed the selected game elements and their completeness. The experts were asked to suggest any additional game elements apart from those commonly used elements selected by the authors. Furthermore, the experts were asked to comment on the learning activities included in the framework for the gamification of e-learning systems. In this light, the experts were requested to evaluate the framework for its usability and whether the mapping between the game elements, learning activities, and engagement factors are easy to understand and can improve student engagement in e- learning systems. The overall result of the evaluation was positive. They agreed with the authors that the selected game elements were enough and needed no additional elements. Similarly, the experts approved that the learning activities were enough and could represent learning activities required for e- learning systems. The experts, as a result, agreed with the usability of the proposed engagement framework of the gamification in e-learning systems to improve engagement of higher education students. The rest of the paper is organised as follows: Section II provides an overview of related work, Section III briefly describes learning management systems (LMSs), Section IV explains the reasons for attrition and dropouts in learning, Section V introduces the proposed engagement framework, Sections VI evaluates the framework, and VII concludes the paper.