The Gamification of E-learning Environments for Learning Programming

Abstract

Gamification is the most active methodology utilized in the E-learning environment for teaching-learning in computing; however, this does not restrict its use in other areas of knowledge. Gamification combines elements of play and its design techniques in a non-ludic context, achieving a motivation factor for the students. This systematic study aimed to collect and synthesize scientific evidence from the gamification field for learning programming through the E-learning environment. In order to do this, a systematic literature review was done, following the guidelines proposed by Petersen, which propose the definition of questions, search strategies, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and characterization. As a result of this process, eighty-one works were completely reviewed, analyzed, and categorized. The results revealed favorable learning among the students, the most used platforms and gamification elements, the most used languages and focuses of programming, and the education level, where gamification is most used to learn to program in an E-learning environment. These findings evidenced that gamification is a good active strategy for introducing beginning students to programming through an E-learning environment. Within this context, Learning programming through the use of gamification is a topic that is growing and taking force, and after what occurred during the pandemic, it is projected that there will continue to be more students who are focused on understanding its implementation and the impact it has on the different levels of education and the areas of knowledge.