Gaming with Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is one of the most powerful motivating factors for people. Intrinsic motivation is what keeps players playing. They play for the love of the game instead of for a particular reward. But what is intrinsic motivation? What is motivation in general?

This article will address intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation and how you can use both in games-based learning.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is the individual drive for someone to engage or pursue an activity for one’s own enjoyment. This drive is entirely internal and doesn’t rely on external pressures to affect behavior. Intrinsic motivation allows players to continually engage and play in games based learning environments. The effect of which is more educationally purposeful activities for students who engage in intrinsically motivating environments. This results in students who are more focused on meeting games based outcomes rather than seek an external reward.

Some examples of intrinsic motivation include participating or playing in a sport because the player enjoys it. Tidy people are driven by intrinsic motivation to clean up. Many readers enjoy word puzzles because they find it challenging or fun. Ideally, our students are intrinsically motivated to study a subject because they find it interesting and fascinating.

Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is when someone is motivated to perform or do something in order to either earn a reward or avoid a punishment. This means that you engage or do something not necessarily because you enjoy it; but because you know that you’ll get something out of it or at least avoid something unpleasant.

Some examples of extrinsic motivation is playing a sport for a reward; doing the dishes for an allowance; or entering a contest to win a scholarship.

Deciding between intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation

Most will see that intrinsic motivation is one of the most powerful ways to keep players and students engaged. But that can be difficult if you have particularly challenging subject matter or are creating really difficult activities. Including rewards for activities can be a good move: especially to spur interest.

This is particularly relevant if you want the student to acquire or develop a skill that will benefit them at a later time. This is beneficial because it gives the student an opportunity to observe the skill in use; preferably in the application to solve a problem. Once they see the benefit of that skill; they are more intrinsically motivated to keep learning and applying that skill to solve more problems.

Additionally, you can always use extrinsic rewards as a source of feedback for your learners . This way they know when they’ve reached a certain level of achievement that validates a reinforcement for an activity. We see this in FitBit and other activity trackers when accomplishing daily milestones (i.e. step goals) versus lifetime achievements (i.e. walking 100 miles).

When should extrinsic motivation be avoided?

Extrinsic motivation should be avoided in situations where the your players or students already find the activity rewarding and stimulating. This act of “overcompensation” or “over reinforcement” can be detrimental. By providing this extrinsic reward you can make the activity seem more like work.

Applying motivation to games-based learning

Motivation is one of the hallmarks for game design and active instructional design. Using it wisely and efficiently is critical to helping students meet learning outcomes in a games-based learning environment.

You can use intrinsic motivation to create more socialized learning environments. Activities that are socially oriented, where others students or players reinforce individuals’ behaviors, is intrinsically motivating. There is social proof involved in validating a students’ activities through their peers.

Additionally, you can introduce purpose in game-based learning by wrapping your learning content in an agreeable theme. Learning bout literature alone can be un engaging. But wrapping it up in a theme can give students more purpose.

An excellent example of this is in the course “Fantastic Places, Unhuman Humans: Exploring Humanity Through Literature” offered at Brown University. In this class, students must serve as liaisons for humanity by communicating with an alien. They must interpret some of history’s greatest fiction stories in order to relate to another being what it is like to be human through our literature.

Self-direction; self-efficacy; agency; and autonomy also helps motivate learners intrinsically. This enables students to choose a direction and learning path. The decision is given to them on where to go next and what to do next, rather than having that decision dictated to them.

Lastly, don’t forget to include levels of feedback to learners. By gaining a sense of mastery through feedback in the form of progression; recognition; or achievement; students are better motivated to accomplish and engage more.

Takeaways

Motivation is a powerful factor for games-based learning in driving players and students. That motivation comes in two major types. Intrinsic motivation addresses players’ desires to achieve something that is inherently rewarding. Conversely, extrinsic motivation is driven by engaging in something for the reward. Extrinsic motivation can be used to motivate learners early; but relying on intrinsically motivating activities helps students and players continue to engage in the long run.

This article covered motivation in games-based learning. To learn more about motivation applied in gamification then check out the free course on Gamification Explained.

Dave Eng, EdD

Managing Partner

dave@universityxp.com

www.universityxp.com

References

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Padilla-Melendez, A., delAguila-Obra, A. R., &Garrido-Moreno, A. (2013). Perceived playfulness, gender differences and technology acceptance model in a blended learning scenario. Computers & Education, 63, 306-317. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.12.014 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257171632_Perceived_playfulness_gender_differences_and_technology_acceptance_model_in_a_blended_learning_scenario

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Cite this Article

Eng, D. (2019, October 29). Gaming with Motivation. Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2019/10/29/gaming-with-motivation

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