Applying Gamification to Undergraduate Accounting Education: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

By 2023, gamification was entering just about every sector and industry including education, fitness, crowd sourcing, social media, and corporate environments. Gamification often offers promises of motivation, engagement, fun, and even higher performance. At the time of the study, there were few studies that examined gamification in accounting higher education. Thus, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand the effect of badging (a gamification element) in an undergraduate accounting course. This study contributed to the literature by testing different badging merit systems while holding a classic feature of gamification fixed, namely the leaderboard. More specifically this research examined the effect of participation badges versus skill-based badges. The quantitative results found no significant differences in student motivation, behavioral engagement, and academic performance across the three groups even after controlling for pre-existing factors that are known to be associated with gamified learning experiences. Females experienced differential motivation and behavioral patterns between groups compared to males. Although motivation did not change significantly over the five-week period of the study, the findings around motivation may be of practical significance for sustaining student engagement since the study was implemented at a time when motivation and engagement normally dips during the semester. The qualitative results found varying levels of motivation and behavioral engagement. Some students enjoyed the feeling of being recognized for their efforts by the instructor while others did not see any value in badges. Overall, the gamification intervention had positive and negative outcomes reported. With two varying experiences, the average of those outcomes may have contributed to average, non-significant quantitative results for the gamification intervention. Findings indicate that badging may not be as impactful on motivation, behavioral engagement, and academic performance of students in an introductory accounting course.