A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation
While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of the gamification element virtual currency (VC) is underexplored, especially in an educational setting. To address this gap, the goal of the presented multi-case empirical study was to systematically explor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Trends in Higher Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/2/3/27 |
| _version_ | 1797579797928345600 |
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| author | Darina Dicheva Breonte Guy Christo Dichev Keith Irwin Lillian Cassel |
| author_facet | Darina Dicheva Breonte Guy Christo Dichev Keith Irwin Lillian Cassel |
| author_sort | Darina Dicheva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of the gamification element virtual currency (VC) is underexplored, especially in an educational setting. To address this gap, the goal of the presented multi-case empirical study was to systematically explore the impact of virtual currency on learners’ engagement, motivation, and academic performance across different contexts and to uncover potentially generalizable results. Accordingly, this paper presents the outcomes of a multi-perspective analysis of students’ experiences in out-of-class practicing in a learning environment gamified with VC and the effect of this game element. The work builds on previous case studies with analogical goals, which the authors have conducted in different contexts, including the university type, student population, subject area, etc. The provided comprehensive cross-case analysis integrates and extends the previous results tracing the path to generalizable knowledge about the potential of VC. While the results of this multi-case study demonstrate a significant increase in student engagement in out-of-class practicing gamified with virtual currency, they fail to show a significant increase in students’ intrinsic motivation and students’ final course grades. This study is a step forward in enhancing our understanding of the multifaceted effect of virtual currency on learners’ experience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:41:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-267f316981364ae2a87c0936740fd777 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2813-4346 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:41:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Trends in Higher Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-267f316981364ae2a87c0936740fd7772023-11-19T10:57:58ZengMDPI AGTrends in Higher Education2813-43462023-07-012346247610.3390/higheredu2030027A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and MotivationDarina Dicheva0Breonte Guy1Christo Dichev2Keith Irwin3Lillian Cassel4Department of Computer Science, Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC 27110, USADepartment of Psychological Sciences, Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC 27110, USADepartment of Computer Science, Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC 27110, USADepartment of Computer Science, Winston-Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC 27110, USADepartment of Computing Sciences, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USAWhile the motivational effect of educational gamification is largely recognized, the impact of the gamification element virtual currency (VC) is underexplored, especially in an educational setting. To address this gap, the goal of the presented multi-case empirical study was to systematically explore the impact of virtual currency on learners’ engagement, motivation, and academic performance across different contexts and to uncover potentially generalizable results. Accordingly, this paper presents the outcomes of a multi-perspective analysis of students’ experiences in out-of-class practicing in a learning environment gamified with VC and the effect of this game element. The work builds on previous case studies with analogical goals, which the authors have conducted in different contexts, including the university type, student population, subject area, etc. The provided comprehensive cross-case analysis integrates and extends the previous results tracing the path to generalizable knowledge about the potential of VC. While the results of this multi-case study demonstrate a significant increase in student engagement in out-of-class practicing gamified with virtual currency, they fail to show a significant increase in students’ intrinsic motivation and students’ final course grades. This study is a step forward in enhancing our understanding of the multifaceted effect of virtual currency on learners’ experience.https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/2/3/27gamificationlearningvirtual currencymotivationengagementmulti-case study |
| spellingShingle | Darina Dicheva Breonte Guy Christo Dichev Keith Irwin Lillian Cassel A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation Trends in Higher Education gamification learning virtual currency motivation engagement multi-case study |
| title | A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation |
| title_full | A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation |
| title_fullStr | A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation |
| title_short | A Multi-Case Empirical Study on the Impact of Virtual Currency on Student Engagement and Motivation |
| title_sort | multi case empirical study on the impact of virtual currency on student engagement and motivation |
| topic | gamification learning virtual currency motivation engagement multi-case study |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/2/3/27 |
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