Classes with game features may help learning, but studies varied a lot.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   About 5,000 students took part in 41 studies, from primary school to university. The subjects included science, maths and business.

2. 02

   What they did

   Classes added game features such as points, badges and leaderboards, and were compared with classes without them. The game features ran from under a week to more than a semester, online, in person or both.

3. 03

   What happened

   Students in classes with game features did better overall; grades and test scores rose more than in ordinary classes. Engagement rose a little, and the motivation result was not clear, since it came from three studies. Some of the review's numbers don't agree with each other, so treat the sizes with care.

What the review found

1. HelpedGoals

   Across 41 studies, students with game features did better than those in ordinary classes.

   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
   • Rule: Make it enjoyabletested

   Pooled analysis of 49 studies with 5,071 people · vs classes with no game features · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

2. HelpedGoals

   Across 30 groups, students with game features got better school results than in ordinary classes.

   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
   • Rule: Make it enjoyabletested

   Pooled analysis of 30 studies · vs classes with no game features · ⚠ results look too good to be true; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

3. HelpedMotivation

   Across 16 groups, students with game features were more engaged than in ordinary classes.

   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
   • Rule: Make it enjoyabletested

   Pooled analysis of 16 studies · vs classes with no game features · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

4. No differenceMotivation

   Across three groups, students with game features were not clearly keener to learn than in ordinary classes.

   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested
   • Rule: Make it enjoyabletested

   Pooled analysis of 3 studies · vs classes with no game features · they rated themselves · ⚠ results look too good to be true; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source