Taking gamification from online to offline: a mixed-methods study on the (novelty) effects of a gamified blended course on English literature

This study investigates the effects of designing both online and offline gamification on students’ learning outcomes in a blended course. It first designs a blended gamified course on English literature, where both online and offline learning activities were gamified using six game elements (points, badges, leaderboards, feedback, chat, and progress bar). It then examines the (novelty) effect of gamification on students’ learning achievements, engagement, and perception toward the game elements over time by comparing its influence on both online and traditional learning activities. Specifically, 107 students, who were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group, took this gamified blended course for one semester (4 months). The obtained results revealed that those who took the gamified course had some improvements in learning achievements, where their learning engagement kept increasing during the whole learning process with variation in their perceptions toward the implemented game elements (online and offline). Additionally, the obtained results revealed that the implementation of gamification can be successful offline with low-cost resources and without technology. However, the design of some game elements (e.g. chat) can still be challenging as some specific classroom infrastructure is required.