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Game Elements to Engage Students Learning the Open Source Software Contribution Process

Italo Santos, Katia Romero Felizardo, Marco A. Gerosa, Igor Steinmacher

TL;DR

This study addresses how to engage students learning the OSS contribution process through gamification. It uses a survey of 115 CS-related undergraduates, guided by the Toda taxonomy and GenderMag facets, to identify which game elements are most engaging and whether preferences differ by cognitive style, gender, or ethnicity. Results show strong support for performance-oriented elements (Points, Levels, Stats, Progress Bars, Badges) and certain personal elements (Novelty, Puzzles, Quests, Renovation), while competitive and time-pressure elements are less favored, with only two notable exceptions: Tim-oriented storytelling and Hispanic/LatinX preference for Choice. The findings inform design recommendations for inclusive, gamified learning environments that support OSS contribution processes and motivate a diverse student audience.

Abstract

Contributing to OSS projects can help students to enhance their skills and expand their professional networks. However, novice contributors often feel discouraged due to various barriers. Gamification techniques hold the potential to foster engagement and facilitate the learning process. Nevertheless, it is unknown which game elements are effective in this context. This study explores students' perceptions of gamification elements to inform the design of a gamified learning environment. We surveyed 115 students and segmented the analysis from three perspectives: (1) cognitive styles, (2) gender, and (3) ethnicity (Hispanic/LatinX and Non-Hispanic/LatinX). The results showed that Quest, Point, Stats, and Badge are favored elements, while competition and pressure-related are less preferred. Across cognitive styles (persona), gender, and ethnicity, we could not observe any statistical differences, except for Tim's GenderMag persona, which demonstrated a higher preference for storytelling. Conversely, Hispanic/LatinX participants showed a preference for the Choice element. These results can guide tool builders in designing effective gamified learning environments focused on the OSS contributions process.

Game Elements to Engage Students Learning the Open Source Software Contribution Process

TL;DR

This study addresses how to engage students learning the OSS contribution process through gamification. It uses a survey of 115 CS-related undergraduates, guided by the Toda taxonomy and GenderMag facets, to identify which game elements are most engaging and whether preferences differ by cognitive style, gender, or ethnicity. Results show strong support for performance-oriented elements (Points, Levels, Stats, Progress Bars, Badges) and certain personal elements (Novelty, Puzzles, Quests, Renovation), while competitive and time-pressure elements are less favored, with only two notable exceptions: Tim-oriented storytelling and Hispanic/LatinX preference for Choice. The findings inform design recommendations for inclusive, gamified learning environments that support OSS contribution processes and motivate a diverse student audience.

Abstract

Contributing to OSS projects can help students to enhance their skills and expand their professional networks. However, novice contributors often feel discouraged due to various barriers. Gamification techniques hold the potential to foster engagement and facilitate the learning process. Nevertheless, it is unknown which game elements are effective in this context. This study explores students' perceptions of gamification elements to inform the design of a gamified learning environment. We surveyed 115 students and segmented the analysis from three perspectives: (1) cognitive styles, (2) gender, and (3) ethnicity (Hispanic/LatinX and Non-Hispanic/LatinX). The results showed that Quest, Point, Stats, and Badge are favored elements, while competition and pressure-related are less preferred. Across cognitive styles (persona), gender, and ethnicity, we could not observe any statistical differences, except for Tim's GenderMag persona, which demonstrated a higher preference for storytelling. Conversely, Hispanic/LatinX participants showed a preference for the Choice element. These results can guide tool builders in designing effective gamified learning environments focused on the OSS contributions process.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 2 figures, 3 tables)

This paper contains 15 sections, 2 figures, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and Related Work
  3. Research Method
  4. Survey design
  5. Pilot
  6. Recruitment
  7. Filtering
  8. Data analysis
  9. Participant Demographics
  10. Results
  11. Students' perception about game elements
  12. Students' preferences of game elements concerning diverse characteristics
  13. Discussion
  14. Limitations
  15. Conclusion

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Responses to the 5-point Likert-scale items for the game elements. The left hand (yellow) shows levels of disagreement, the middle (grey) shows neutral, and the right (green) shows levels of agreement.
  • Figure 2: Responses to the top 3 ranked game elements ordered by rank 1. Each bar represents the percentage of respondents who ranked a particular game element as their top three preferences.