Background. Programming is a challenging and highly important topic for introducing learners to our digital world. Research has shown that motivation plays a key role in programming performance. Gamification using digital badges has the potential to influence motivation, provide social recognition and encourage learner participation. More research is recommended to evaluate its motivational impact in different contexts. Intervention. This research explores the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programming students within a higher education institution. The course is offered during the first year of the programme. We report the results of a baseline study without badges and four subsequent badge experiments of different designs over a four-year period. Methods. This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test/post-test design to measure the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of university-level introductory programming students. Badges were designed and implemented. Feedback via focus groups and a post-badge survey was collected. Results. Findings are inconclusive as the quantitative results suggest that badges did not increase intrinsic motivation scores. Contrastingly, badge survey and qualitative data indicate that badges were received more positively on average. Discussion. We analyse and discuss the results within the context of motivation and the programming discipline, and discuss external factors that may impact the relationship between gamification and motivation. Conclusion. Further research is necessary to investigate whether gamification, through the use of digital badges, can foster positive intrinsic motivational results, particularly in the well-known challenging domain of introductory programming.

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This Research Full Paper presents the qualitative findings from a study that implemented digital badges in a university-level programming course. Motivation has been shown to play a key role in programming performance. Increasingly, gamification is being used to facilitate student learning of concepts and skills in programming. Our study examined the impact of digital badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programmers and the badge design features leading to motivational effects. We collected data over two academic sessions in 2015 using a badge system design implemented in the Moodle learning management platform. This paper focuses on the qualitative findings from three focus group sessions and personal interviews which explored student understanding of their badge experiences. Focus group results indicated that badges were positively received and motivating. Student recommendations included physical badges to highlight achievements, and competitive badges for added motivation. The results suggest that students' social interactions play a role in how badges are perceived. This study should be of interest to badge designers and educational stakeholders using or contemplating badge systems. In particular, it may be of significance to stakeholders involved in computing education as it seeks to contribute to ongoing research efforts in the introductory programming domain.

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Digital badges, touted as a gamification tool that can potentially influence learner motivation, engagement and participation, are being used increasingly in a variety of educational domains to facilitate and motivate learning. Using a badge system design implemented in the Moodle learning management platform, data was collected from four experiments from 2015 to 2017 to examine the effects of gamification with the use of digital badges on introductory programming students’ intrinsic motivation. This paper provides an in-depth examination of seldomly discussed technological and implementation issues we encountered in implementing our Moodle-based badge system, worthy of exploration to support future gamification studies in this area. Our gamified implementation is analyzed according to five main factors primarily adopted from an IT implementation framework: (1) assessment of needs, (2) choice of technology, (3) technological infrastructure, (4) system and environmental factors and (5) evaluation. The findings highlight enabling and challenging factors associated with the technology and badge implementation. Our experience shows that badge systems may be influenced by contextual factors such as cost and scale of implementation. We provide recommendations to guide educational stakeholders, particularly those considering Moodle as their badge implementation platform.@en