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Exploring Higher Education Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Gamification

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Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 13134))

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of university teachers’ attitudes toward gamification. A broader goal is to lay the groundwork for a better understanding of how university teachers gaming habits and preferences might be leveraged in efforts to introduce gamification in Higher Education (HE). Building on previous research, showing no differences in teachers’ attitudes towards gamification by age, gender or type of institution (public or private), this exploratory study tries to assess whether teachers’ level of familiarity with games may have an influence on their attitudes and their expectations about the use of a gamified approach in a Higher Education course. The data were collected through focus groups, involving 13 teachers all in-service in a private Italian university, and were analysed through qualitative content analysis. Participants were divided into three groups according to their playing habits and preferences (well-rounded gamers, casual gamers and non-gamers). Results show that, even though the participants’ overall attitude towards gamification was favourable, there were some differences between the three groups. For instance, teachers in the “well-rounded gamers” group expressed the highest level of concern about the possible negative effects of the use of gamification in HE, while “casual gamers” and “non-gamers” seemed to be less cautious and more focused on the possible advantages of a gamified educational strategy. “Non-gamers” were the group more concerned about the time and guidance needed to really be able to use this new pedagogical approach in their courses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Link Campus University, Via del Casale di San Pio V, 44, 00165, Rome, Italy

    Giada Marinensi

  2. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla Poblenou, 156, 08018, Barcelona, Spain

    Marc Romero Carbonell

Authors
  1. Giada Marinensi
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  2. Marc Romero Carbonell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giada Marinensi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NATO STO, La Spezia, Italy

    Francesca de Rosa

  2. Le Mans University, Le Mans Cedex 9, France

    Iza Marfisi Schottman

  3. HPU, Royal Institute of Technology, Södertälje, Stockholms Län, Sweden

    Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge

  4. University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Francesco Bellotti

  5. Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland

    Pierpaolo Dondio

  6. Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France

    Margarida Romero

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Marinensi, G., Romero Carbonell, M. (2021). Exploring Higher Education Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Gamification. In: de Rosa, F., Marfisi Schottman, I., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Bellotti, F., Dondio, P., Romero, M. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13134. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92182-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-92181-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-92182-8

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