Students' perception of a leaderboard-based mathematics game

In gamification, the leaderboard is a game design element that visually displays rankings based on relative progress during an activity. Through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT), a study was designed around the leaderboard to examine the intersections between students’ perceived competence, autonomy, relatedness, and enjoyment during a leaderboard-based mathematics game. After participating in a leaderboard activity during a quantitative reasoning class, students responded to open-ended questions to articulate their perceptions. These responses reveal a correlation between students’ perceived need satisfaction and their enjoyment, aligning with SDT and informing what types of students benefit from the use of a leaderboard and what characteristics need to be considered during design. In particular, our findings support that team-based leaderboard activities may be more effective, and practitioners should exclude any type of time restraint.