Meaningful gamification and students’ motivation: A strategy for scaffolding reading material

Gamification is an innovative pedagogical strategy where digital games are used in an educational setting and as an aid to learning. Recent publications on gamification in the classroom investigate the concept of “meaningful gamification” where, in line with Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory, competency, autonomy and relatedness are prioritized (Ryan and Deci, 2000, p. 68). The paradigm of meaningful gamification works well as a catalyst in motivating students to read background material and grasp key concepts that facilitate a flipped classroom, and this study measures the impact of this intervention by meaningful gaming on students’ motivation at a higher education level. The context for this study is the module ‘Women in Film’, which is part of the Ideas and Exposition Programme at the Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore.