How Gamification Leads to Continued Usage of MOOCs? A Theoretical Perspective

The high dropout rate, lack of learners’ motivation, and MOOC users’ diversity are significant issues in MOOCs. In this sense, gamification is used to investigate if it can help to increase MOOC learners’ motivation and engagement, leading to a continued usage scenario. Further, this article aims to propose a theoretical model to identify the factors affecting MOOC learners’ continuance and empirically measure these factors. The model is based on the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) with additional constructs of motivation and gamification. Data is collected from 206 university students using an online survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used for data analysis. The results show that motivation, satisfaction, and perceived usefulness influence continuous intention, with satisfaction being the most significant predictor (
$\beta =0.373$
, p < 0.000). Motivation, confirmation, and perceived usefulness have a significant positive effect on satisfaction. Among the three gamification categories, achievement has the highest impact on motivation (
$\beta =0.208$
, p < 0.001), followed by the social category (
$\beta =0.143$
, p < 0.032). The effect of the immersion category is found to be non-significant. Based on the results, appropriate theoretical and practical implications are discussed.