Gamification and Student Engagement with a Curriculum-based Measurement System

In this study, we employed a random control experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification (e.g. scores, goal, progressive bar, etc.) and initial task difficulty on college student engagement in computer-based assessments. A group of Chinese college students (N=97) were randomly assigned to four groups obtained by crossing the two independent variables: gamification (with or without) and initial difficulty level (low or normal). The experiment lasted for 35 minutes, and each student was asked to complete several mini-tests (named maze tests). Student engagement was measured by the average off-task time between two maze tests. The results showed that both gamification and low-difficulty entry level reduced students’ off-task time.  However, the gamification effect was only significant for male students but not for female students. The study also demonstrated that the maze test can be a potential method to predict the general English proficiency with Chinese English language learners.