The Cognitive and Social Motivational Affordances of Gamification in E-Learning Environment

Abstract

This paper explores the cognitive and social motivational affordances of gamification in e-learning environment. The cognitive motivational affordances are factors that enhance the cognitive engagement with the learning task. The social motivational affordances are factors that promote social interactions among students. The paper review some of the empirical studies that are conducted in an educational setting to test the effectiveness of specific game design elements on certain psychological outcomes such as motivation, attitude and enjoyment or behavioral outcomes. Results indicated that different game elements can promote different cognitive and/or social motivational affordances depending on the aim of using the element and the context where it has been used. Understanding cognitive and social motivational affordances of gamification can help educators and instructional designers to design effective gamified online courses that can invoke both cognitive and social outcomes.