GAMIFICATION OF LEARNING AND EDUCATIONAL GAMES

Studies have shown that game elements such as rewards and progress bars are generally associated with extrinsic motivation [Malone and Lepper, 1987], which may decrease the level of intrinsic motivation [Deci et al. 2001]. Extrinsic motivation may be useful for games aiming at acquiring declarative knowledge. These games usually involve labeling, drilling, matching or drag and drop. As the activity implies repetitive, routine actions, keeping score and offering rewards is an important part of keeping the player motivated to go through with the game [Kapp, 2012]. Extrinsic motivation seems to be less important when aiming to achieve educational objectives on a higher level (comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Malone and Lepper [1987] describe four factors that trigger intrinsic motivations: challenge, curiosity, control and fantasy. a. Challenge. It appears that people prefer an optimal level of challenge, not too easy and not too difficult. The presence of an explicit goal seems to be important in increasing motivation, but having a goal alone is not enough to make an activity challenging. Some techniques to make outcomes uncertain for students are preferably to use, such as: levels of difficulty for an activity (this can be chosen by the user), scorekeeping systems (different for levels), and the use of random elements. For an activity to provide continued challenge, performance feedback is very important. It needs to be frequent, clear, constructive (providing useful information concerning the direction and nature of one's errors) and encouraging. If the learner's self-esteem is engaged, the challenge seems to be intrinsically motivating. For that, the performance feedback should be structured in such a way to promote perceptions of personal competence and effort. b. Curiosity. Cognitive curiosity could be stimulated by designing digital content that makes students to be surprised and intrigued by paradoxes, incompleteness or potential simplifications. When activities deal with topics in which the pupil is already interested, the cognitive curiosity will be enhanced. c. Control. It appears that a captivating game is one that seems to give the user a sense of control. The amount of control a person has in a particular environment depends on the range of the outcome that the environment provides and the extent to which the probability of each result can be influenced by responses available to the person in that environment. The game may be personalized by allowing the student to construct, select or name the characters, and the computer uses this information later, in feedback. In fantasy the user can experience the satisfactions of power, success, fame, and/or fortune or master situation unavailable in real life. When fantasies provide imaginary characters with whom the individual can identify, they are most likely to fulfill emotional needs. The identification with a character is determined by the similarity between the user and that personage, admiration for it or its perspective in the fantasy. There is also a cognitive component to involvement with fantasies, by offering analogies or metaphors that may provide the user better understanding new information by relating it to previous knowledge.

已有研究表明，奖励、进度条等游戏化元素通常与外在动机（extrinsic motivation）相关[Malone与Lepper，1987]，而外在动机可能会降低内在动机（intrinsic motivation）水平[Deci等人，2001]。外在动机对于旨在传授陈述性知识（declarative knowledge）的游戏而言或许颇具价值。这类游戏通常包含标注、操练、匹配或拖拽操作等环节。由于此类活动涉及重复性、常规性操作，计分与提供奖励是维持玩家持续参与游戏动力的重要环节[Kapp，2012]。当目标是达成更高层级的教育目标（理解、应用、分析、综合与评价）时，外在动机的重要性似乎有所降低。Malone与Lepper[1987]提出了四类触发内在动机的要素：挑战感、好奇心、掌控感与幻想式体验。
a. 挑战感（Challenge）。研究表明，人们更倾向于处于最优挑战水平——既不过于简单，也不过于困难。明确的目标设定似乎对提升动机至关重要，但仅拥有目标并不足以让活动具备挑战性。优选可采用一些提升结果不确定性的教学方法，例如：活动难度分级（可由用户自主选择）、分级计分系统（随关卡不同而调整），以及随机元素的引入。若要让活动持续提供挑战感，表现反馈极为关键。此类反馈需具备高频性、清晰性与建设性（可提供关于错误方向与本质的有效信息），同时兼具激励性。若能激发学习者的自尊感，挑战感便具备内在激励作用。为此，表现反馈的设计应助力学习者形成个人能力与努力程度的正向认知。
b. 好奇心（Curiosity）。可通过设计能让学生对悖论、信息缺口或潜在简化方案感到惊讶与好奇的数字内容，来激发认知好奇心。当教学活动涉及学生已感兴趣的主题时，认知好奇心会进一步增强。
c. 掌控感（Control）。引人入胜的游戏似乎能为用户带来掌控感。个体在特定环境中所拥有的掌控程度，取决于该环境提供的结果范围，以及个体在该环境中可通过自身行为影响各结果发生概率的程度。游戏可通过允许学生自定义、选择或命名角色，并让计算机在后续反馈中调用这些信息，实现个性化定制。
d. 幻想式体验（Fantasy）。用户可在幻想情境中体验现实中难以获得的权力、成功、名望、财富带来的满足感，或是掌控各类情境的快感。当幻想内容提供了可供个体认同的虚拟角色时，最易满足其情感需求。对角色的认同程度，取决于用户与该角色的相似性、对角色的钦佩程度，或是角色在幻想中的视角。此外，幻想式体验还具备认知维度：通过提供类比与隐喻，帮助用户将新信息与既有知识建立关联，从而实现更深入的理解。