Using Information Visualization to Promote Students' Reflection on "Gaming the System" in Online Learning

"Gaming the system" is the phenomenon where students attempt to perform well by systematically exploiting properties of the learning system, rather than learning the material. Frequent gaming tends to cause bad learning outcomes. Though existing studies tackle the problem by redesigning the system workflow to change students' behaviors automatically, gaming students discover new ways to game. We instead propose a novel way, reflective nudge, to reflectively influence students' attitudes by conveying reasons not to game via information visualizations. Particularly, we identify three common gaming contexts and involve students and instructors in co-designing three context-specific persuasive visualizations. We deploy our information visualizations in a real online learning platform. Through embedded surveys and in-person interviews, we find some evidence that the designs can promote students' reflection on gaming, and suggestive data that two of them can reduce gaming compared with control groups. Furthermore, we present insights into reflective nudge designs and practical issues concerning deployment.