Investigating the Effectiveness of Gamification on Group Cohesion, Attitude, and Academic Achievement in Collaborative Learning Environments

Abstract

Although collaborative-learning as an instructional method has shown promising results since the 1970's, a number of significant problems within collaborative learning environments have been encountered. These problems relate to aspects of group dynamics including group cohesion, participation, communication, collaboration, and trust. Although the literature suggests various instructional techniques to increase group cohesion and learners' attitudes towards group learning environments, new methods and techniques should be explored in order to address and eliminate these problems. Gamification, which is the use of game elements and techniques in non-gaming environments, can be leveraged as a new method in order to increase group cohesion and group performance within collaborative learning environments. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of gamification (both online and face-to-face) on the attitudes of students towards group learning environments, their course, group cohesion, and their academic achievement. The study aims to promote learners' collaboration in groups utilizing gamification elements. In this quasi-experimental design study, gamified (44 students) and traditional (48 students) groups were compared. Although no significant difference was established between the gamified and traditional groups in terms of students' attitudes towards group learning environments and the course, the gamified group outperformed the traditional group in terms of group cohesion scores and team member evaluation scores.