Educational computer games and Gamification at the higher education – students’ points of view

D. Tuparova*, G. Tuparov ** and D. Orozova*** * South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Department of Informatics, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

** New Bulgarian University, Department of Informatics, Sofia, Bulgaria ***Burgas Free University, Department of Informatics, Burgas, Bulgaria

e-mail address: ddureva@swu.bg

Abstract: Educational computer games (ECG) and gamification, step by step take place in educational process at all educational levels – from kindergarten to university level. And if in preschool and primary school age, games are a key method of learning, then in higher education games are seen as means of entertainment first and foremost. In this article, we present the results of a study regarding university students' perceptions and preferences for educational computer games and gamification. The study was conducted among 347 students in various professional fields at Bulgarian universities. The main research questions are related to the kind of end user devices used for playing computer games; type of game elements that are most preferred by the university students; appropriateness of ECG different learning situations; etc. The answers to these questions help to design and study the usability of educational computer games applicable to university education taking into account the professional area of the students.

Keywords – gamification; educational computer game; higer education; student’s perception

I. INTRODUCTION Educational computer games (ECG) and gamification,

step by step take place in educational process at all educational levels – from kindergarten to university level. And if in preschool and primary school age, games are a key method of learning, then in higher education, games are seen as means of entertainment first and foremost. In this article, we present the results of a study regarding university students' perceptions and preferences for educational computer games and gamification.

Most of the studies related to students’ and educators’ perception of ECG and gamification are directed to primary and secondary schools. However, during the last five years the number of studies directed towards development and implementation of ECG and gamification at higher education level has rapidly increased. With the key search statement – ‘student AND (perception OR attitude OR acceptance) AND game’ we found in SCOPUS database around 2600 documents and 1282 of them have been published during the last five years. Approximately 390 of all documents, published during the last five years include key phrase “higher education” (27.01.2020). For educators and ECG developers it is important to analyze students’

requirements and preferences towards the game elements, the type and utility of ECG.

The main purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey directed towards identifying of university students’ perceptions and point of view about ECG and game elements application in higher education.

The study was conducted among 347 students in various professional fields at two Bulgarian universities.

The main research questions are:

What kind of end user devices do they use for computer games?

Which game elements are most preferred and which are not preferred by the university students?

In what learning situations are educational computer games appropriate?

To what extent are games or game elements used in the educational process?

Is there a difference in the attitudes and preferences of students in different majors?

Is there a difference in preferences of students who use computer games for fun and those who do not?

The answers to these questions help to design and research the usability of educational computer games applicable to university education.

II. BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Basic concepts 1) Serious games

A variety of definitions and viewpoints about serious game exists [1]. One core definition is proposed by Zyda [2]: the serious game is described as a “mental contest, played with computer in accordance with specific rules that uses entertainment to further government or corporate training, education, health, public policy, and strategic communication objectives”.

2) Educational computer game (ECG)/ didactical computer game.

This study is funded by Bulgarian National Scientific Fund, Project contract DN-05/10, 2016

MIPRO 2020/EE 1879

Under this term we consider serious computer games, applicable in educational subject-domain. The ECG has clearly specified educational objectives and outcomes. It is meant for training, learning or assessment of competences and set of learning objectives [3].

3) Gamification In the work of Kapp [4] gamification is defined as

“using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning and solve problems.” The authors of [5] point out that gamification is: “The use of game elements and game thinking in non-game contexts.” Gamification is a concept for introducing game mechanics into a variety of processes and areas such as business, marketing and education. The aims of gamification are to motivate, engage and attract users [6]. Gamification is popular in different areas of education [7], it is an innovative tool for education[8], and is extensevely used in education [9]. Mora et al [10] consider gamification as “use of game-like properties in learning scenarios”.

4) Game elements In literature different frameworks for description of

game elements and game characteristics are defined. According to [11] more than 50 taxonomies of game elements exist, but not more than 10 are related to education. Some popular taxonomies are “Periodical Table of Gamification” developed by Marczewski [12] with 52 game elements; frameworks proposed and discussed in [10], [13] consists of 22 elements and characteristics grouped in 5 groups – knowledge, logic, psychology, measurement, interaction.

We focus our study on some game elements and characteristics such as: graphical design, logic and plot; audio support; possibility to play computer game on different end user devices; many gamers to play at the same time; possibility to play online; awards.

5) ECG and Gamification in higher education Games and gamification are challenges for higher

education [10]. The studies related to the application of ECG and gamification in higher education could be classified in the following groups:

studies about process of development of ECG and gamification tools;

analysis of the achievements and results from the implementation of developed ECG/serious game or learning scenarious with usage of gamification in some subject-domain as nursing or medical education, teacher training, engineering, software engineering and programming etc;

analysis of the attitudes of stakeholders – lecturers and students, towards already used ECG or gamification in the university subject;

mapping studies about gamification, seriuos games or ECG.

In Bulgaria several studies about attitudes and perception of different stakeholders towards gamification and computer games in education have been done. These studies are focused on the students and teachers at primary

and secondary school [3], [14] and specialists that work with pupils with special educational needs [15], [16].

III. METHODOLOGY

A. Target groups About 400 students from two Bulgarian universities

have been invited to fill online questionnaires and a total of 347 students responded to the invitation. The profile of the respondents is presented in the tables I. and II. Students’ areas of study are grouped according to Bulgarian Higher Education law act professional fields.

About 79% of the respondents indicate that they play entertainment computer games.

B. Research questions The main research questions analyzed in the paper are:

RQ1. What kind of end user devices do they use for computer games?

RQ2. Which game elements are most preferred and which are not preferred by the university students?

RQ3. In what learning situations are educational computer games appropriate?

RQ4. To what extent are games or game elements used in the educational process?

RQ5. Is there a difference in the attitudes and preferences of students in different majors?

RQ6. Is there a difference in preferences of students who use computer games for fun and those who do not?

C. Used methods We used a survey with 53 items, two of them with an

open answer. The items are grouped in 8 groups: Profile of the students; Used devices for game playing, Important element and characteristics of games; Educational activities in which ECG have been used; Educational activities in which game elements have been used; Used

TABLE I. DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS REGARDING AREA OF STUDY

Area of study Number % Pedagogy 36 10,37% Humanity 27 7,78% Social, Economics, Law 105 30,26% Computer science, Math, Natural Sciences 137 39,48% Technical science 39 11,24% Art 2 0,58% National security 1 0,29%

TABLE II. DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS REGARDING HIGHER EDUCATION LEVELS

Higher education levels Number % 1-2 year/bachelor degree 207 59,65% 3-4 year/bachelor degree 124 35,73% Master or PhD degree 9 2,59% Post diploma qualification 7 2,02%

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types of ECG; Utility of ECG at university level of education; Utility of usage of ECG and game elements via smartphones; General attitude about usage of ECG and game elements at higher education.

The used types of items are: Dichotomous and 5 level Likert Scale type of items.

For data analysis, the following statistical methods are applied: Cronbach’s alpha for reliability evaluation, Descriptive statistics, Non-parametric Methods – due to ordinal data. The analysis is conducted with MS Excel, SPSS and Orange application software.

IV. FINDINGS AND RESULTS

A. Reliability of the survey instrument The coefficient Cronbach’s alpha – α for the 50 Likert

Types of items is 0,932. In subgroups coefficients Cronbach’s alpha are presented in Table III.

B. Analysis of research questions 1) RQ1. What kind of end user devices do they use for

computer games? Students prefer to play games on smartphones (70%)

and laptops (57,1%). (Table IV).

Regarding the educational level we consider data for 1-2 year/bachelor, 3-4 year/bachelor and joined data for Master students and Post-diploma qualification students.

To find out whether the year of study is a factor on the usage of end user devices we applied χ2 test for independent samples. There is no statistically significant difference regarding the use of PC, laptop, smartphone, and tablet in the three groups mentioned above. (Table V). A statistically significant difference is observed regarding gaming consoles.

In the group of 1-2 year of Bachelor students about 28% use gaming console, 16% in the group of 3-4 year,

and 19% in group of master and post-diploma students use gaming console. A statistically significant difference exists between the group of 1-2 years students and the group of 3-4 year students: p = 0,013619 < 0,05.

2) RQ2. Which game elements and characteristics are most preferred and which are not preferred by the university students?

The most preferred game elements and characteristics are logic and game plot, and graphical design. In contrast awards in the game are less preferred. (Table VI.)

3) RQ3. In what learning situations are educational computer games appropriate?

According to the respondents ECG are appropriate in all educational situations, mentioned in the survey. (Table VII)

Regarding the utility of ECG at university educational level across groups of study field, there is a statistically significant difference in opinion of the students about knowledge acquisition (Fig. 1). The students from the field of Pedagogy evaluate the utility of the ECG for knowledge acquisition at university level as highest (Median = 5).

TABLE III. CRONBACH’S ALPHA COEFICENTS FOR SUBGROUPS OF ITEMS

Subgroup N α Used devices for game plying 5 0.602 Important element and characteristics of games 7 0.789 Educational activities in which ECG have been used

4 0.935

Educational activities in which game elements have been used

4 0.925

Used types of ECG 8 0.880 Utility of ECG at university level of education 10 0.945 Utility of usage of ECG and game elements via smartphones

4 0.872

General attitude about usage of ECG and game elements at higher education

4 0.897

TABLE IV. PREFERRED ENDUSERS DEVICES FOR GAME PLAYING

End user device Yes No Personal computer 38,60% 61,40% Laptop 57,10% 42,90% Smartphone 70,00% 30,00% Tablet 22,20% 77,80% Gaming Console 23,30% 76,70%

TABLE V. PREFERRED ENDUSERS DEVICES FOR GAME PLAYING BY YEAR OF STUDY

End user device 1-2 year 3-4 year

Master and Post-diploma qualification

p, χ2 test

Personal computer 86 41 7 0,28087

Laptop 129 61 8 0,055197 Smartphone 151 79 13 0,125003 Tablet 48 27 2 0,605916 Gaming consoles 58 20 3 0,042327

TABLE VI. PREFERRED GAME ELEMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS

Game elements/ characteristics

Mea

n

Med

ian

Mod

e

Std.

D

evia

tion

Var

ianc

e

graphical design 4,18 5,00 5 1,094 1,197 logic and plot 4,40 5,00 5 1,005 1,010

audio 3,40 4,00 3 1,307 1,709 possibility to play computer game on different end user

devices 3,48 4,00 5 1,469 2,158

many gamers to play at the same time 3,65 4,00 5 1,243 1,544

possibility to play online 3,83 4,00 5 1,302 1,696 awards 3,12 3,00 3 1,387 1,923

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4) RQ4. To what extent are games or game elements used in the educational process?

About 35% of the students report that ECG have not been available to them for mastering of knowledge, for 41% of the students ECG have not been available for self-learning, for 42% of the students ECG have not been available for assessment and about 46% do not have access to ECG for self-assessment.

Regarding the usage of game elements (GE) at the university education level, about 41% of the students indicated that GE have not been available to them for knowledge mastering, for 40% of the students GE have not been available for self-learning, for about 41% of the students GE have not been used for assessment and for 46% of respondents GE have not been applicable for self-assessment.

There is a statistically significant difference regarding the used ECG and GE for knowledge mastering and assessment by the area of study. Due to the small number in Art (2 respondents) and National Security (1 respondent) these data are excluded from the analysis. To compare distributions of students’ answers we applied Median test. Students from study fields in Pedagogy and Social science, Economics and Law indicated higher level of usage of ECG for knowledge mastering and assessment activities at the university (Median is 4 for both groups). (Figure 2.)

5) RQ5. Is there a difference in the attitudes and preferences of students in different majors?

Regarding the preferences of students in different majors to the game elements and characteristics, we can mention that there is only a statistically significant difference for the use of audio in ECG. The Independent Samples Kruskal-Wallis test was applied. (Table VIII)

The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference regarding the importance of audio for students in fields of Pedagogy; Humanity; Social

TABLE VII. UTILITY OF ECG IN DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL SITUATIONS

Utility of ECG at university educational level for:

Mea

n

Med

ian

Mod

e

Std.

D

evia

tion

Var

ianc

e

knowledge acquisition 3,57 4,00 5 1,387 1,925 skills acquisition 3,93 4,00 5 1,189 1,415

creativity development 3,91 4,00 5 1,196 1,432 decision making skills

development 3,84 4,00 5 1,271 1,616

development of trial and error skills 3,79 4,00 5 1,285 1,651

assessment of own ideas 3,77 4,00 5 1,249 1,559 development motivation 3,72 4,00 5 1,324 1,754

understanding that failure is a way of learning 3,64 4,00 5 1,313 1,725

development of critical thinking and problem solving 3,72 4,00 5 1,299 1,687

development of communication skills 3,73 4,00 5 1,316 1,731

Figure 1. Median test for utility of the ECG in knwoledge mastering

across study field

Figure 2. Median test for usage of the ECG in knwoledge mastering by

area of study

TABLE VIII. INDEPENDENT SAMPLES KRUSKAL-WALLIS TEST FOR PREFERRED GAME ELEMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS BY MAJORS

Test Statisticsa,b Importance of Game elements/

characteristics Chi-

Square df Asymp.

Sig. graphical design 3,151 4 ,533

logic and plot 9,257 4 ,055 audio 10,016 4 ,040

possibility to play computer game on different end user devices 9,206 4 ,056

many gamers to play at the same time 1,456 4 ,834

possibility to play online 3,798 4 ,434 awards 2,676 4 ,613

a. Kruskal Wallis Test b. Grouping Variable: 4. Your area of education is

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science, Economy and Law; Computer science, Mathematics and Natural Sciences. P-value obtained by Independent samples Kruskal-Wallis Test is 0.222, χ2=4.391, df=3. Totally different is the opinion of students from Technical field of study. About 69% of them responded that audio in the games is important or very important.

Statistically significant differences were not observed in the general perception of ECG and game elements by students from different fields of study. (Table IX)

6) RQ6 Is there a difference in the preferences of students who use computer games for fun and those who do not?

Statistically significant differences exist in the opinion of students who use and those who do not use computer games for fun regarding game elements and characteristics – graphical design, logic and game plot, audio, possibility many gamers to play at the same time, possibility to play online. For students who play games for fun the most important characteristics are logic and game plot, and for those who do not the most important are logic and game plot and graphical design. In the latter group, there is no statistically significant difference between the proportions of 63% (graphical design) and 72% (game plot and logic). The χ2 test for proportions comparison is applied and p=0.2573.

Less important for both groups are awards. Furthermore, for the students who do not play computer games for fun audio in the game is less important. (Table X)

Statistically significant differences exist in the perception of ECG and game elements in higher education between students who play and who do not play CG for entertainment. The students who play CG for entertainment demonstrate more positive attitude regarding the usefulness and suitability of ECG and game elements. (Table XI).

V. CONCLUSION In this paper, we analyzed some of the findings and

results obtained from a survey among 347 students from different fields of studies at two Bulgarian universities. The results indicate that:

students in all five fields of studies prefer to play games on smartphone and laptop. They wish to be mobile;

the most preferred game elements and characteristics are logic and game plot, and graphical design;

awards and audio belong to the less preferred game elements and characteristics, but for the students from the Technical field of study, audio in the game is more important.

These findings give some directions for educators and developers of ECG for higher education, e.g. ECG has to provide mobile or responsive interface; ECG has to offer interesting game plot, logic and attractive design; ECG for subjects in the engineering field has to provide audio with possibility to switch on/off.

Future work will be directed to study differences in university students’ opinion with respect to gender.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The study is funded by Bulgarian National Scientific

Fund, Project contract DN-05/10, 2016.

REFERENCES [1] Djaouti, D., Alvarez, J., & Jessel, J.-P. (2011). Origins of Serious

Games. In M. O. Ma, Seriuos Games and Edutainment Applications. London: Springer - London.

TABLE IX. INDEPENDENT SAMPLES KRUSCAL-WALLIS TEST FOR GENERAL PERCEPTION OF GAME ELEMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS BY

SPECIALTIES

Test Statisticsa,b General acceptance of ECG and

game elements - Definitely yes, Yes Chi-

Square df Asymp.

Sig. You would like to use an ECG in

your training 5,272 4 ,261

You would like to use game elements in your training 5,436 4 ,245

ECG are suitable for university education 8,072 4 ,089

Game elements are suitable for university education 4,257 4 ,372

a. Kruskal-Wallis Test b. Grouping Variable: 4. Your area of education is

TABLE X. PREFERRED ELEMENTS AND CHARACTERSISTICS OF ENTERTAINMENT GAMES NG BY STUDENTS WHO PLAY AND DO NOT PLAY

GAMES FOR FUN

Important and very important is Play Do not play

p-value, χ2

graphical design 81% 63% 0,000

logic and plot of the CG 88% 72% 0,000

audio 53% 38% 0,002

possibility to play at different end user devices

56,0%

54,9% 0,480

possibility many gamers to play at the same time

62% 49% 0,018

possibility to play online 70% 58% 0,026

awards 41% 39% 0,105

TABLE XI. PERCEPTION OF ECG AND GAME ELEMENTS AT HIGHER EDUCATION.

General acceptance of ECG and game elements - Definitely yes,

Yes Play Do not

play p-value,

χ2 You would like to use an ECG

in your training 66% 49% 0,000 You would like to use game elements in your training 74% 59% 0,001

ECG are suitable for university education 70% 48% 0,008

Game elements are suitable for university education 70% 52% 0,012

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