Gamification in software engineering education: a systematic mapping

Abstract

The potential of gamification in education is based on the hypothesis that it supports and motivates students and can thus lead to enhanced learning processes and outcomes. Gamification in software engineering (SE) education is in its infancy. However, as SE educators we are particularly interested in understanding how gamification is pollinating our field and the extent to which the above claim is valid in our context. A systematic literature mapping has underscored the difficulty in fully corroborating the above claim because few empirical data are available so far. However, key trends and challenges have been identified. We found that the purpose of applying gamification in the SE field is mostly directly related to improving student engagement and, to a lesser extent, to improving student knowledge, although other targets are the application of SE best practices and socialization. We have also discussed insightful issues regarding the implementation cost of gamification, patterns in the most often used gamification elements, and the SE processes and teaching activities addressed. Of the identified challenges, we should highlight the complexity of deciding which gamification approach to follow, the lack of information for choosing gamification elements and the need to control the impact of gamification.