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Promoting Academic Integrity Through Gamification: Testing the Effectiveness of a 3D Immersive Video Game

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Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win (iConference 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14598))

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Abstract

Academic integrity is the foundation of quality higher education. However, the resources explaining the concept tend to be definition-driven, have complex language and sometimes even a severe tone to discourage students from breaking rules. This project deployed a gamified approach, designing and evaluating a 3D immersive video game for university students to facilitate their understanding and adoption of academic integrity principles. The game allowed students to be immersed in a virtual campus through an avatar and navigate a campus (e.g., garden, library, cafe, student accommodation) with scenario-based, academic integrity related dialogues with in-game characters. The paper aims to showcase the game design and student feedback of the game. Observation and interviews were conducted with 15 participants. Thematic analysis of the data shows that the game greatly enhanced student understanding of academic integrity concepts by providing contextualized memorability whilst relieving anxiety. Students’ engagement with the game was linked to game features such as appealing aesthetics, customization, and contextualization. The paper concludes by offering recommendations concerning the employment of gamification as an educational approach for instructing students in higher education on complex concepts, such as academic integrity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Xin Zhao, Haoyu Xie, Alec Roberts & Laura Sbaffi

Authors
  1. Xin Zhao
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  2. Haoyu Xie
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  3. Alec Roberts
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  4. Laura Sbaffi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haoyu Xie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. iSchool organization, Berlin, Germany

    Isaac Sserwanga

  2. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Hideo Joho

  3. Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Jie Ma

  4. Stockholm University, Kista, Sweden

    Preben Hansen

  5. Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Dan Wu

  6. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Masanori Koizumi

  7. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anne J. Gilliland

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Zhao, X., Xie, H., Roberts, A., Sbaffi, L. (2024). Promoting Academic Integrity Through Gamification: Testing the Effectiveness of a 3D Immersive Video Game. In: Sserwanga, I., et al. Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win. iConference 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14598. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57867-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57867-0_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-57867-0

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