Keywords

1 Introduction

Generation Z expects immediate gratification, quick feedback, and instant results from learning processes; these distinct characteristics of Generation Z “are challenging the traditional classroom teaching structure, and faculty are realizing that traditional classroom teaching is no longer effective with these learners” [1]. To meet the expectations and requirements of Generation Z students, new pedagogical approaches to engaging them in learning activities need to be developed.

One possible solution to this issue is gamification: the use of game design elements and mechanisms in nongame contexts. Research has shown that students try to achieve higher scores (or points) for an activity, reach higher levels, and win badges to demonstrate their performance in gamified contexts, thereby obtaining a sense of accomplishment.

However, despite the benefits of gamification, its effect on learning performance remains unclear. Some studies have found that gamification is effective in enhancing learning performance [2,3,4,5,6,7], whereas others have failed to prove any significant effects [8,9,10,11,12,13]. Consequently, the question of how gamification actually enhances student engagement, through which they perform better in the learning process, has yet to be fully discussed.

According to the gamification literature, task modularization is key to giving students granular and timely feedback in educational gamification. Researchers have suggested that learning activities (including in-class tasks and exercises) should be modularized with carefully developed reward structures. Otherwise, students receive rewards (e.g., points and badges) in an ad hoc manner, often leading to disengagement with gamified learning systems. Nonetheless, few studies have explored how task modularity shapes the effects of gamification on learning performance. To fill the gap in the literature, this study aims to explore how task modularity plays a role in enhancing learning performance in the gamified learning context.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Gamification in Education

The majority of the extant literature finds that gamification has positive effects on the learning performance of students [2, 3, 14, 15], although some researchers have identified insignificant or negative effects [8,9,10]. Table 1 summarizes the findings from previous studies on the effects of gamification on learning performance.

Table 1. Summary of previous studies
Full size table

2.2 Gamification Affordances

Researchers have attempted to explain the mixed findings on the effects of gamification on learning performance based on affordance theory. Affordance theory provides a rationale for why some game elements results in different outcomes. That is, students are motivated to participate in learning activities by what the game elements afford and whether the affordances allow relevant actions to be performed. Accordingly, students’ perceived affordances induced by game elements operate in their engagement in learning activities. Researchers have conceptualized major affordances through which students experience game-like playfulness and dynamics via gamification. Table 2 shows the expected gamification affordances in learning environments.

Table 2. Gamification affordances
Full size table

2.3 Task Modularity

Task modularization is one of the most popular and widespread teaching methods [26,27,28] applied in almost all subjects (e.g., computer science, engineering and medical education) [27,28,29]. As a pedagogical approach, task modularization organizes curricular materials for learning into relatively short blocks [30]. These short blocks contain various learning activities and emphasize different learning outcomes that serve the curricular objectives [31]. Modularized tasks benefit students who want to reduce the time and effort required to solve complex tasks. Along with game mechanics, modularized tasks enable students to focus on smaller challenges rather than taking on the burden of solving the entire problem.

Many researchers have found that task modularization can bring positive outcomes to students [27, 28, 31, 32]. Specifically, task modularization has positive effects on promoting students’ learning, such as improving learning interests [27], motivations [32], participation [27], learning efficiency, [28] and performance [27, 31, 32]. Moreover, task modularization is effective for material science and engineering students’ knowledge adaptation, learning experience stimulation, self-study ability cultivation and cognitive ability development [26]. In addition, the modular approach is helpful for students to develop critical [31] and independent thinking [31, 33].

The advantages of task modularization have been identified in a number of education studies. For example, modularized tasks reduce the overall difficulty and improve the completion success ratio [34], and students have been shown to pick up and recognize a module’s patterns quickly, allowing them to better understand what they are expected to do in the subsequent modules [35]. Furthermore, task modularity enables a clear and comprehensive view of the content and structure of learning activities and provides flexibility as a result.

Conversely, some studies have reported the disadvantages of task modularization; for example, it can result in knowledge compartmentalization, which makes it difficult for students to build theoretical and methodological links between the modules [29]. In addition, modularity may hinder the creative learning processes because it can inhibit deep comprehension, divergent thinking, risk taking, and reflection [36]. Modular tasks lack the space for slow learning and risk taking because they pressure students into succeeding in the short term by avoiding poor results and moving on [37].

These conflicting findings imply that task modularity may not have a direct influence on students’ learning performance but may instead play a moderating role in shaping the effects of gamification on learning processes. Table 3 summarizes the findings of previous studies on the advantages and disadvantages of task modularization.

Table 3. Summary of previous studies
Full size table

3 Theory Development

Our literature review reveals that gamification in education should take task modularization into consideration. As students perceive the extent to which tasks are modularized, the concept of task modularity needs to be incorporated into a theoretical model that explores the effects of gamification affordances on learning performance. By combining the gamification affordance model and task modularity, we propose the framework for the successful gamified learning system as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Research model

Full size image

3.1 Gamification Affordance and Learning Performance

Building on Suh et al. [42], this study explores the four major gamification affordances (rewards, status, competition, and self-expression) and their effects on learning performance. According to the model, a reward affordance is engendered from game elements, such as points, levels, and badges, providing granular and immediate feedback on the task performed. When students complete a pre-defined task within a gamified learning system, they obtain an immediate reward. Research has found that prompt rewards from a gamified system serve as informational feedback on their short-term performance, and such granular feedback encourages students to set new goals and focus on their current activity [24, 43]. Obtaining rewards enables students to track their performance which helps them experience a sense of achievement. We therefore propose the following hypothesis:

  • Hypothesis 1: Reward will be positively associated with learning performance.

A status affordance refers to the extent to which a student perceives that he or she can level up his or her standing within a gamified learning system; there is greater status affordance when students are willing to challenge themselves to reach higher levels. Some existing research argues that providing the possibility of status enhancement enables individuals to commit themselves to completing their tasks at hand [10]. When, for example, students feel that they are able to upgrade their game levels by completing given tasks, they are willing to participate in further, more challenging learning activities.

  • Hypothesis 2: Status will be positively associated with learning performance.

Leaderboards engender competition affordance, enabling students to compare their performance with that of others. Studies have shown that competitive opportunities motivate learners to achieve better personal performance. As such, well-designed competition in gamified contexts can motivate students to engage in learning tasks more actively.

  • Hypothesis 3: Competition will be positively associated with learning performance.

Last in terms of affordances, self-expression entails the extent to which students feel that they are able to create a unique self-identity. Badges used in a gamified learning platform often serve as a means of identity expression that distinguish individual students from others, and the ability to express a unique self is expected to increase levels of perceived co-presence among other learners, which in turn increase their motivation for learning.

  • Hypothesis 4: Self-expression will be positively associated with learning performance.

3.2 The Moderating Role of Task Modularity

Successful gamification requires well-structured task modularity components [44]. Task modularization is a process that breaks complex learning tasks down into their modular components. Short modularized task blocks, which contain specific learning activities and emphasize different learning outcomes, reduce the time and effort required by students to solve the overarching complex task. Along with game mechanics, modularized tasks enable students to focus on smaller challenges rather than taking on the burden of solving the entire problem. Gamification in learning requires granular feedback, through which students are supposed to experience a sense of achievement and in turn stimulate their motivation to participate in learning activities. Accordingly, the modularized course curriculum is expected to enable students to have more chances to be involved in getting rewards, upgrade their status, and win the competitions. Thus, we posit that task modularity will strengthen the effects of gamification affordances on learning performance.

  • Hypothesis 5: Task modularity will positively moderate the effects of gamification affordances on learning performance.

4 Methods

4.1 Data Collection

To test the proposed model, this study collect data using a survey from 56 students enrolled in a gamified course in the subject of data science taught by one of the authors in 2019. Game elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, were implemented in an online platform through which students were able to monitor their points, status, and rank through leaderboards. In this course, content was modularized into subtopic chunks, and the students were asked to test their knowledge using an online quiz after completing each module. Once a module was complete, each student received a badge based on their scores received and could monitor their overall performance through the achievement leaderboard. Figure 2 shows the design features of this gamified online learning platform.

Fig. 2
figure 2

(a) A screenshot of the modules and badges (b) A screenshot of the leaderboard showing student ranking

Full size image

4.2 Measures

The measurement items were taken from the existing literature, and the items were adapted from previous work. All research variables were measured using a five-point Likert scale to test the proposed model. The items for the gamification affordances were adapted from Suh et al. [42]. Learning performance was measured by the students’ subjective learning effectiveness by adopting from Lee et al. [45]. The items for task modularity were adapted from Saltz et al. [46]. The measurement items are presented in the Appendix.

5 Results and Analysis

We first examined the validity of the measurement, including the internal, convergent, and discriminant validities of the measurement model. The results showed that the Cronbach’s alpha values and factor loadings of all the measurement items were above recommended value 0.7 [47]. Then, we examined the average variance extracted (AVE) from each construct and found that all AVEs were higher than the recommended value of 0.5 [48].

Given that our model includes the moderating effects of task modularity between gamification affordances and learning outcomes, we employed hierarchical regression analysis. Before testing the model, we centered the gamification affordance (i.e., reward, status, competition, and self-expression) and task modularity variables before generating the interaction terms [49]. We subtracted the sample mean from each independent variable to cause the variables to have an adjusted mean value of zero with an unchanged sample distribution. Subsequently, we multiplied the centered task modularity score with each of the four centered gamification affordance scores to compute the four interaction terms. We entered each of the four interaction terms in a separate step after examining the direct effects of gamification affordances on the learning performance. The baseline model accounted for 20.7% the variance in learning performance. The results revealed that status and competition affordances were positively associated with learning performance (status: β = 0.212, p < 0.01; competition: β = 0.134, p < 0.05) in the baseline model (see Table 4). The interaction model accounted for 31.2% of the variance in learning performance. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis suggest that the effects of gamification affordances on learning performance were shaped by task modularity.

Table 4. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis
Full size table

The moderating effect of task modularity was examined by adding the interaction terms in the regression model (see the interaction model in Table 4). The interaction model would be supported if the addition of the interaction terms resulted in a statistically significant improvement over the regression model containing the main terms. Results show that task modularity positively moderated the relationship between status and learning performance (β = 0.209, p < 0.05) and the relationship between competition and learning performance (β = 0.111, p < 0.05). The results indicate that high task modularity (relative to low task modularity) should be able to exploit the use of game elements more effectively to enhance students’ learning motivation and performance.

6 Discussion

This study explores the interplay among gamification affordances, task modularity, and learning performance. It aims to highlight the role of task modularity in enhancing learning performance. Our theoretical framework shows that gamified learning systems should be designed in a way that instructors could easily incorporate modularized task components into learning activities through the system. Merely providing gamification affordances without modularizing task activities may not ensure the success of gamified learning systems.

6.1 Theoretical Implications

This study makes several contributions to the gamification literature. First, it responds to the call for a more nuanced understanding of the effects of gamification on learning performance. The findings indicate that students were motivated to engage learning activities when they perceive that they are able to level up their status and compete with others through a gamified learning system. We conjecture that providing proper affordances, such as status and competition, by using game elements (badges and leaderboards) significantly enhances learning performance. Furthermore, our work demonstrates that the reward affordance has an insignificant influence on learning performance, which supports the notion of gamification merely offering rewards does not engage users.

Second, our work elaborates on the concept of task modularity in the gamification context. Extant theories and models that explore the effects of game elements on learning performance have ignored the role of task modularity. Although gamification requires well-structured learning activities to provide immediate informational feedback and sense of achievements, prior literature has not taken a construct that captures the extent to which students perceive their learning tasks are modularized into consideration. Our conceptualization and operationalization of task modularity will help researchers develop, test, and extend the existing gamification models in educational settings.

6.2 Practical Implications

This study has practical implications for instructors seeking new pedagogical ways to encourage students to participate in learning activities. The results imply that instructors should carefully modularize learning content and relevant activities when employing a gamified learning system in their teaching. By breaking complex tasks into small chunk of activities along with game mechanics (e.g., points and badges), instructors are able to provide granular feedback and encourage students to join challenges. System designers may consider including technological functions that help instructors easily modularize learning tasks. The current design features of online learning systems may not be sufficient to help instructors effectively organize learning activities into modularized tasks.

It is noteworthy that status and competition affordances significantly increased learning performance. Our findings suggest that developers of online learning systems should consider certain game elements, such as points, levels, badges, and leaderboards, as effective tools that can stimulate students’ motivation to increase their status and join competition. Research has suggested that greater competition affordance can be engendered by proper design features in a gamified system [42]. Rather than merely adding leaderboards that display students’ performance into an online learning system, online learning platforms should be designed in a way that students can have diverse opportunities to join challenges display their performance as they want.