The Role of Perceived Relevance and Attention in Teachers’ Intention to use Gamification

Abstract

Gamification is becoming a trending topic in education as a new teaching methodology to increase attention and to engage students in their learning process. Despite the increasing academic interest in gamification little research has been devoted to analyze teacher’s beliefs regarding the use of gamification in their courses and how these beliefs affect their attitude intention to use gamification. Using Keller’s ARCS model as a theoretical framework the role of perceived relevance and attention in teachers’ attitude and intention to use gamification is analyzed. To do so a research model is tested using a sample of 312 higher education institutions teachers via structural equation modeling to predict teachers’ attitude and behavioral intention to use gamification in their courses. Results suggest that perceived attention drawn by gamified classes is a factor affecting teachers’ intentions to use gamification in their courses. Perceived relevance was not found to affect directly attitude while teachers’ perceived attention was found to affect teachers’ perceived relevance of gamification. Limitations of the study and future research lines are also addressed.