The main research question was to find out what educational potential students see in the application of game principles in teaching with an e-learning component? And then to identify the possibilities and limits of the application of learning game principles in the education process. We also asked what motivates students to study online. We decided to conduct an analysis of subject surveys and questionnaires among students, knowing that in terms of user experience their results may show some similarities and differences in attitudes and preferences of various groups of respondents.

Therefore we present a poster from our preliminary research, which focused on the possibilities of
implementing game elements into e-learning at university. We were interested in the attitudes
and preferences of the students. Among them a questionnaire survey was conducted. We asked students what potential they see in the application of educational principles of digital games in e-learning, what motivates them to study online and what advantages and limits of the educational game principles they see in e-learning. The questionnaire was distributed among students of Masaryk University.

The text inspires to work with educational game principles in a class. It explores how digital games can enter teaching and learning in school, whether educational game principles are compatible with the logic of the dominant educational paradigm, and what their advantages and disadvantages are. Studies on learning with game elements will help to grasp their possible benefits and pitfalls in education. Based on the discussion of the findings, the author recommends to teachers, organizations, and developers of gamified learning environments how they could improve their teaching design in accordance with students’ needs and different learning styles.

Users’ satisfaction depends on their good experience. Research on users of gamified learning environments focuses on understanding their behavior, needs, and motivation through interviews, analysis of surveys, and other methods of feedback. Studies of the motivational potential of educational game principles are still somewhat limited by the development of learning management systems. However, it is necessary to start gaining insight to the preferences and needs of key actors in the learning process, in order to contribute to the development of good gamification practices in education.

Gamification is an approach that uses the properties of games (e.g., their various elements, mechanics, frameworks, aesthetics, game thinking or metaphors) situated outside the virtual world of the game. Its application is recommended in areas of everyday life where boredom, passivity, and repetition predominate to support the desired behavior. Applications of the gamification approach in education aim to improve student motivation and involvement and maximize learning. They are based on the need to arouse students' interest in learning and engage them so that they can have fun, encouraging them to achieve more ambitious goals and comply with the rules.

According to Gee (2003), digital games convey learning experiences that show how learning and literacy change in the modern world. He names the learning principles of digital games, the application of which is understood by the author as a way of satisfying basic psychological needs according to the self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2009). Gamification is “the use of elements of game design to motivate users in nongame contexts” (Deterding et al., 2011, p. 9). Van Roy and Zaman (2017) proposed procedures for effective gamification implementation in online learning system. These heuristics aim to provide autonomous motivation. 

The visitor should gain a better comprehension of how interaction with the gamified system can develop in education before addressing the question of whether gamification works. As such, it provides guidance for researchers, educators, designers, and software developers in building a new generation of gamified educational contexts.

To collect answers for the questionnaire survey, we used the free online tool Google Forms, which provided us with a clear summary of results, from which we draw when describing the data from 150 respondents who completed and submitted the form. These were bachelor students, usually in the first year of study, mostly women. Our approach to data processing was descriptive and informative at this stage. The research design of the user-centered study thus utilises questionnaire surveys among students. The questionnaire contained both closed and open questions, where students had the opportunity to comment in more detail on some topics. Unless otherwise stated, we work with data from all participants in the preliminary research, i.e. N = 150. We quantified the answers from the open question on the preferred teaching methods according to their frequency for the graph. In these cases, we also report a reduced sample size (e.g., N = 100). For better comprehensibility and reduction of numerical data, we combined some ordinal, semantically close answers by simply expressing the overall inclination, direction of thinking, tendency or position of respondents within a wider range of graded attitudes, e.g., we combine agree “yes” and “rather agree” in the description. We proceed similarly with rather negative or negative answers. When describing the data, we offer the visitor qualitative examples, excerpts and quotations, so that they can form their own idea of their content and meaning. We provide a summary of the answers at the end of the section of the analytical part devoted to the results of the quantitative research. A detailed analysis is an impetus for a qualitatively deeper elaboration of the theoretical challenges of game studies, pedagogy, sociology, psychology and computer science, which are generally associated with teaching and learning in e-courses. A summary of the partial findings from the analysis of the questionnaires will help us to deepen our understanding of the role that game principles can effectively play in teaching. Several thematically similar questions highlight one central category of student motivation towards e-learning. A presentation of the results of the questionnaire survey among students and their subsequent discussion conclude this phase of the research. We want to present the perspectives of key participants in the educational process.

Gamification design requires a user-centered approach focused on students’ needs. Gamified systems are automated, and the awarding of prizes takes place from derived indicators, which may not be accurate, lead to patterns of behavior that students would not otherwise replicate or even to a weakening of their autonomous motivation. Gamification thus obscures its goal and can have far-reaching negative effects on learners with the worst performances and on the least motivated (Hanus & Fox, 2015). The use of game elements affects the learning performance of different demographic groups differently, and it is up to the educator to consider the predispositions of individuals. Students' personality traits need to be taken into account in the gamification design and offer different learning styles. Teaching with game elements could be suitable for those with insufficient inner motivation who do not like traditional forms of teaching; it also suits competitive types, students with special needs, and those who self-study remotely. Others prefer cooperative game principles and team play. However, it may not be pleasant for introverts. Teachers believe that change would benefit most students playful in nature. Hopefully, some insight will be useful and transferable to other educational contexts for practical purposes and development of gamification. Based on the findings, we recommend to educators and developers of the online learning environment how they could improve the design of e-learning in accordance with the needs and different learning styles of students.

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