游戏化设计对在线异步讨论生生互动的影响研究

The Influences of a Gamification Design on Student Interaction in an Asynchronous Discussion Forum

游戏化设计在教育领域的应用受到了广泛的关注,然而现有相关研究较少采用多轮迭代的实证研究方式对游戏化设计进行理论与实践上的精炼。采用基于设计的研究范式,以基于需求满足的游戏体验(PENS)这一设计框架为基础,对一门研究生阶段的小规模专属在线课程(SPOC)进行了游戏化设计,并进行了两轮迭代。首轮研究发现,基于该框架的游戏化教学设计对促进学生在在线论坛中的互动有积极效果。本文聚焦于第二轮研究,即进一步对首轮游戏化教学实施过程中出现的问题进行改进,并探究这些改变的影响。通过对异步讨论质量进行内容分析与滞后序列分析,研究发现,每门课程每周各有显著互动序列;相较于首轮游戏化,第二轮游戏化促使学生在讨论中添加更多新的信息和新的观点,以更快适应课程,并在课程后期保持稳定的参与水平。两轮研究表明,基于PENS的游戏化设计有助于提升异步讨论中学生的互动质量。而使用基于设计的研究范式有助于回应真实在线课程环境中影响游戏化设计实施的种种“噪音”,且使用内容分析与滞后序列分析相结合的方法能捕捉异步讨论的动态发展特点。

Gamification design has earned many attentions in recent years in the educational research field. However, few studies had used a design-based research approach to continue to refine the design framework. This study employed a PENS-based(the Player Experiences of Needs Satisfaction) gamification design in a graduate level small private online course(SPOC) to improve student interaction through two iterations of design and implementation. The pilot gamification design showed positive effects on student interaction. This paper focused on the revised gamification design which explored the solutions to the issues found during the first iteration and their effects on student interaction. Through content analysis and lag sequential analysis of the student discussion transcripts in the two versions of the course, the study identified and compared the significant two-response chains of each week in each course. The findings showed students in the revised gamified course were more likely to add information and opinions in the discussion. Moreover, their interaction quality was higher than their counterparts in the pilot course in both the first week and last week. The two iterations of research showed the potentials of the PENS-based gamification design’s impact on student interaction in asynchronous discussions. Additionally, through a design-based research approach, the study responded to the real classroom setting’s “noises” during the implementation. Finally, a combination of content analysis and lag sequential analysis could benefit the analysis of asynchronous discussion threads by revealing the developing process.