Winner and Losers in Gamification? The Role of Gamification in Third Level Learning and Higher Order Processing

Abstract

A Marketing Plan Online Simulation Game was played as part of an Introduction to Marketing for a Business masters. Gamification is increasingly being used in both business and academic settings to support learning (Werbach, 2014; Simoes, Diaz and Vilez, 2013; Duvernet and Popp, 2014; Muntean, 2011). This paper presents preliminary finding from a study which explores the use of an online collaborative serious business game for student learning in a postgraduate introductory marketing module. This study found that there were many positive outcomes notably the increased engagement of students with theory and content and the development of higher order processing skills. The game also more accurately reflected the world of business and gave the students a sense of business practice and business team dynamics. The findings suggest that there are a variety of wins that students and lecturers get from this game but that the winner group did not necessarily learn the most. So the winners did not take all. The research shows that there was very valuable learning for the students who performed less well in the game but who focused more on the learning.

Keywords: Business simulations, Serious Games, Higher order learning, game based learning, blended learning, students and technology.