Alessandra Antonaci

Since its origins (2011) ‘Gamification’ has gained popularity as a very engaging, mo- tivating technique, in both academic and corporate fields. Despite this assumption, there is a general need of understanding when and under which conditions gami- fication works as an engaging and motivational boost for users. More specifically, there are still some confusions in relation to the empirical effects of gamification on short and long term. As a consequence, in both academic and corporate fields, there is a need for more rigorous studies focusing, on the one hand, on the impact of gamification, and on the other hand, on its design and implementation. As far as the gamification design is concerned, it relies on several disciplines such as psy- chology, learning science and design, game design, user experience (UX) design, human-computer-interaction (HCI) and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) (when the intervention implies the use of technology). Furthermore, its design and there- fore implementation are strictly related to the context of application and its target audience. This dependency from the context makes generalisations difficult. This thesis contributes to the field of gamification by providing the gamification design process (GaDeP) which is context-independent and consists of six consecutive phases: 1) analysis of the application scenario; 2) problem definition; 3) theoretical framework; 4) game elements selection; 5) game elements design and implementa- tion; 6) evaluation. In addition, this thesis addresses, through GaDeP, the current lack of designing and evaluating gamification by offering a methodology that can be applied in the specific case of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), like in this thesis, as well as in a broader range of fields. The main objectives addressed and presented in this thesis are (1) validate the applicability of GaDeP to MOOCs; (2) implement a new way of designing game elements, without relying only on external rewards; and (3) bring a more objective way of testing the effects of a gamification design to the field. The thesis approaches these objectives in four distinctive but interrelated parts. Part I introduces the gamification design process in general, and the conceptual design on how to apply it to MOOCs, in particular. Furthermore, Part I specifically addresses the first objective, validate the applicability of GaDeP to MOOCs, which is however to be considered the fil rouge of the whole thesis, as all GaDeP parts outline the thesis itself. Part II and part III address the second objective, i.e. implementing a new way of designing game elements. Based on the results of the systematic literature study and the need to move towards a more meaningful gamification (Part II), Part III presents the game elements suitable for the gamification design, the methodologies applied to find them, and connects the target problems with the theoretical framework and the game elements identified. As a consequence, the Alessandra Antonaci inhoud tabs v3.indd 208 2-9-2019 11:47: Since its origins (2011) ‘Gamification’ has gained popularity as a very engaging, mo- tivating technique, in both academic and corporate fields. Despite this assumption, there is a general need of understanding when and under which conditions gami- fication works as an engaging and motivational boost for users. More specifically, there are still some confusions in relation to the empirical effects of gamification on short and long term. As a consequence, in both academic and corporate fields, there is a need for more rigorous studies focusing, on the one hand, on the impact of gamification, and on the other hand, on its design and implementation. As far as the gamification design is concerned, it relies on several disciplines such as psy- chology, learning science and design, game design, user experience (UX) design, human-computer-interaction (HCI) and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) (when the intervention implies the use of technology). Furthermore, its design and there- fore implementation are strictly related to the context of application and its target audience. This dependency from the context makes generalisations difficult. This thesis contributes to the field of gamification by providing the gamification design process (GaDeP) which is context-independent and consists of six consecutive phases: 1) analysis of the application scenario; 2) problem definition; 3) theoretical framework; 4) game elements selection; 5) game elements design and implementa- tion; 6) evaluation. In addition, this thesis addresses, through GaDeP, the current lack of designing and evaluating gamification by offering a methodology that can be applied in the specific case of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), like in this thesis, as well as in a broader range of fields. The main objectives addressed and presented in this thesis are (1) validate the applicability of GaDeP to MOOCs; (2) implement a new way of designing game elements, without relying only on external rewards; and (3) bring a more objective way of testing the effects of a gamification design to the field. The thesis approaches these objectives in four distinctive but interrelated parts. Part I introduces the gamification design process in general, and the conceptual design on how to apply it to MOOCs, in particular. Furthermore, Part I specifically addresses the first objective, validate the applicability of GaDeP to MOOCs, which is however to be considered the fil rouge of the whole thesis, as all GaDeP parts outline the thesis itself. Part II and part III address the second objective, i.e. implementing a new way of designing game elements. Based on the results of the systematic