On Gamification in the Context of Education: A Systematic Review and Evaluation Framework

ABSTRACT The application of gamification techniques in education is becoming increasingly common across different educational stages and disciplines. However, the widespread acceptance of their benefits leads to their implementation without verifying whether these benefits occur, what they are, and to what extent. This work addresses the need for a rigorous methodology to evaluate gamified experiences and aims to facilitate objective comparison between them. A robust statistical evaluation methodology, termed Gamification Impact Evaluation based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (GIE‐AHP), is proposed and implemented. GIE‐AHP weighs multiple relevant criteria and sub‐criteria in an adaptable and reproducible manner. This work also presents a systematic review of previous empirical studies on gamified education, identifying success parameters, techniques employed, and methodological shortcomings, which serve as the basis for defining the GIE‐AHP criteria. Finally, the GIE‐AHP approach is validated empirically through the development and analysis of the Project Pony, a set of five real‐world experiences carried out in diverse educational settings. The results demonstrate the utility of the GIE‐AHP methodology for objectively quantifying the impact of experiences in terms of their academic, motivational, and behavioral dimensions, as well as design aspects. Therefore, this represents a substantial advancement in the direction of achieving uniformity in educational gamification evaluation.