Adopting gamification as a strategy to support students’ motivation in Higher Education: the teachers’ role

Abstract

Students' academic performance and learning outcomes are significantly influenced by their level of
engagement in learning activities and their motivation to learn. Several studies referred to gamification
as a possible strategy to foster students’ engagement and motivation at the Higher Education (HE)
level. However, a crucial factor affecting the adoption and the success of this new pedagogical practice
is the fact that teachers possess the needed skills’ set to implement it. To equip teachers with the
competences needed to effectively design, implement, and evaluate a gamified learning activity, an
online course was prepared and piloted in the framework of the European project ECOLHE. This work
will offer an analysis of the course design process and a synthesis of the course implementation results.