Applying Gamification to Undergraduate Accounting Education: A Mixed-Methods Study

Gamification is increasingly being adopted across industries including education, fitness, social media, crowdsourcing, and corporate environments due to its potential to enhance motivation, engagement and performance. This study included a three group, quasi-experimental design with focus groups. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to understand the effect of badging (a gamification element) in an undergraduate accounting course through the lens of Self-Determination Theory. The quantitative results found that motivation remained high during a period often associated with declining motivation or the mid-semester slump, but no significant differences were found in motivation between the beginning and the end of the intervention. Although students reported positive outcomes such as chunking material, tracking progress, a sense of learning autonomy, and feedback/recognition, behavioral engagement and academic performance showed no significant differences across the groups. At the end of the intervention, males in the badge experimental groups exhibited higher intrinsic motivation than males in the leaderboard only (no badge) group. Conversely, females in the leaderboard only (no badge) group exhibited higher intrinsic motivation than in the badge experimental groups. Further, females showed significantly higher behavioral engagement in terms of pageviews. The gamification intervention evoked both positive and negative outcomes in terms of motivation with some students reporting high intrinsic motivation and integrated regulation while others reporting high extrinsic regulation or amotivation. These contrasting experiences may have offset one another when averaged across the group, contributing to non-significant quantitative results for the gamification intervention. Implications for practice are discussed for students, accounting teachers, and decision makers.