Abstract

Motivation has been a topic of vast interest in the realm of education for close to four decades. Technological advancements have paved way for concepts such as gamification, a strategy intended to address motivation and engagement with learning, in the world of computerized learning. Notwithstanding, it has not yet been determined precisely what game elements work best to motivate learners when gamifying educational content, and if different types of students prefer certain game elements amongst others. In efforts to investigate those areas, this thesis explores, via surveys, the perceptions of 42 Lebanese post-secondary students on the influence of a specific set of game elements on Keller’s (1987) four components of motivation: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Preliminary results showed that the participants perceived an overall positive influence of the selected game elements on motivation. Further analysis revealed that stories and narration topped the list as the most influential game elements on motivation. Minor differences were found in the perceptions of different types of students in terms of their age, gender, level of studies, and the hours they spend gaming per day.
Keywords: game elements, gamification, motivation