An Adaptive Gamification Model for E-Learning

Gamification has gained currency in the recent past and has widely being deployed in various disciplines such as health, education, marketing amongst others. The main driving factor of deploying gamification is due to its motivational element. Gamification, particularly in education, has been used to motivate and elicit engagement in learners. However the implementation of gamification within e-learning platforms has been of the "One size fits all" i.e., uniform application of gamification elements to all learners, albeit learners possess different characters which are distinct from each other. The need to embrace the "One size does not fit all" approach necessitates introduction of adaptive gamification. This study sought to develop an adaptive gamification model. The study used the Design science research methodology (DSRM) using the problem instantiation approach to develop the adaptive gamification model, which can be used to guide and implement adaptivity within e-learning platforms. In the development of the model the study reviewed 15 adaptive gamification studies from which the key components of an adaptive gamification model were synthesized and a final model proposed.