Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the general concept of motivation and how it is fostered in gamified solutions for learning, particularly in the context of self-determination theory. The analysis leverages academic literature on the topics of motivation, player engagement, basic psychological needs, and the ability of video games to potentially satisfy these needs. Specifically, the paper contributes to the field of game-based learning by (1) proposing a correlation between gamification achievements and basic psychological needs, as derived from self-determination theory, (2) analysing an already effective game-based learning platform (SOLOLEARN) for mechanics that do – and that do not – contribute to the basic psychological needs of individual users.
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Notes
- 1.
The topic of intrinsic motivation itself is explored in more detail by cognitive evaluation theory (CET); one of the six sub-theories of which self-determination theory (SDT) is composed [5].
- 2.
Application website: https://www.sololearn.com/.
- 3.
Autonomous behaviors are shown to have a highly positive impact on motivation [13], compared to controlled behaviors. What is indicated is that the amount of motivation derived from a person’s being autonomous or controlled can be exactly the same, but what really changes is the quality of the motivation [13] and this difference has a significant impact at a functioning level [13]. Two persons can indeed perform the same task with the same engagement, but for different reasons: one motivated by interest, engagement and enjoyment, the other one because of the fear of punishment or to satisfy other people [18]. The result will maybe be the same but there is a substantial difference. Motivation can thus be intrinsic or extrinsic, according to the locus of causality [13]: while with intrinsic motivation, both in achieving the fixed goal or in performing a specific behavior, the reward is the enjoyment of performing the activity itself, extrinsic motivation foresees an external reward, that is separated and has no necessary correlation with the activity itself [5].
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Botte, B., Bakkes, S., Veltkamp, R. (2020). Motivation in Gamification: Constructing a Correlation Between Gamification Achievements and Self-determination Theory. In: Marfisi-Schottman, I., Bellotti, F., Hamon, L., Klemke, R. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12517. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63464-3_15
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