Digitalisation and higher training demands make it increasingly important to enhance maritime students’ engagement. Gamification is considered an innovative approach that contributes to the intensification of educational activities and increases the effectiveness of professional training of maritime specialists. The objective of research was to explore the role of gamification in enhancing engagement in seafarers’ training online courses. The research methodology was based on a combined set of interconnected theoretical (analysis, synthesis, generalisation, comparison) and empirical methods (pedagogical experiment, observation, survey, testing), which provided a comprehensive study of the process of training future ship mechanics in a digital learning environment. The study analysed the possibilities of using gamification in e-learning for future maritime specialists on the LMS Moodle platform. It was found that the introduction of gamification elements, in particular maps, scores, leaderboards, digital badges, game exercises, task performance indicators, levels and missions, helps to increase the interest and involvement of cadets in the educational process. A gamified online course on the discipline “Life Safety” was developed, which contains educational materials on personal safety, firefighting, survival and first aid. The practical experience of creating gamification elements both in the LMS Moodle environment and on external web resources, with their subsequent integration into the educational course, was described. It was found that the use of gamification forms a more dynamic educational environment and has a positive effect on the motivation and educational activity of students. The study proved that gamified online courses increase learning efficiency and improve the overall educational experience of future maritime professionals. The results of the study can be used by teachers of maritime educational institutions to implement gamified approaches to increase the motivation and involvement of future maritime professionals in the learning process
Yurzhenko et al. (Thu,) studied this question.