Effectiveness of gamification in the engagement of students

This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification platforms as a strategy for the engagement of students from the 8th year of elementary school in Brazil. We chose two badging platforms - ClassDojo and ClassBadges - to be evaluated based on 7 different criteria. The main objectives were to generate involvement among individual and particular situations, increasing the interest, engagement and efficiency while performing a specific task. We observed the behavior of 61 students from an elementary public school in Brazil as part of our field research. Data were collected using observation, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Quantitative data were statistically analyzed using a multivariate technique known as cluster analysis. The results allowed us to classify students in 4 distinct groups and showed that students who received more rewards from the teacher got significantly better average performances.