Abstract Modeling is an essential and challenging activity in any engineering environment. It implies some hard-to-train skills such as abstraction and communication. Teachers, project leaders, and tool vendors have a hard time teaching or training their students, co-workers, or users. Gamification refers to the exploitation of gaming mechanisms for serious purposes, like promoting behavioral changes, soliciting participation and engagement in activities, etc. We investigate the introduction of gaming mechanisms in modeling tasks with the primary goal of supporting learning/training. The result has been the realization of a gamified modeling environment named PapyGame. In this article, we present the approach adopted for PapyGame implementation, the details on the gamification elements involved, and the derived conceptual architecture required for applying gamification in any modeling environment. Moreover, to demonstrate the benefits of using PapyGame for learning/training modeling, a set of user experience evaluations have been conducted. Correspondingly, we report the obtained results together with a set of future challenges we consider as critical to make gamified modeling a more effective education/training approach. 

/pdf/gamifying-model-based-engineering-the-papygame-experience-2p8h7g7z.pdf

Gamifying model-based engineering: the PapyGame experience

Business Process Modeling (BPM) is a skill considered fundamental for computer engineers, with Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) being one of the most commonly used notations for this discipline. BPMN modeling is present in different curricula in specific Master’s Degree courses related to software engineering, but, in practice, students often underperform on BPMN modeling exercises due to difficulties in learning good modeling practices. In recent years, more and more fields of computer science have employed gamification (the usage of game elements in non-recreational contexts to gain benefits in terms of interest, participation, motivation, and enjoyment) with positive results during both development and teaching processes. Thus, we have developed a platform for BPMN modeling that employs gamification mechanics to facilitate learning good modeling practices with mechanisms such as rewarding good modeling solutions and penalizing less correct ones, with a dedicated feedback mechanism that maps correctly modeled elements to the corresponding concept. A preliminary laboratory experiment has been conducted with students of an Information Systems course to evaluate how students receive the mechanics and if there may be benefits in using a gamified environment for teaching process modeling throughout an entire course.

Gamification of Business Process Modeling Notation education: an experience report

Gamifying Model-Based Engineering: the PapyGame Tool

Abstract Modelling is an important activity in software development and it is essential that students learn the relevant skills. Modelling relies on dedicated tools and these can be complex to install, configure, and use—distracting students from learning key modelling concepts and creating accidental complexity for teachers. To address these challenges, we believe that modelling tools specifically aimed at use in teaching are required. Based on discussions at a working session organised at MODELS 2023 and the results from an internationally shared questionnaire, we report on requirements for such modelling tools for teaching. We also present examples of existing modelling tools for teaching and how they address some of the requirements identified. 

Requirements for modelling tools for teaching

Gamification, the practice consisting of adapting game elements and features in non-recreational contexts to increase user motivation and interest, has become increasingly common in recent years in the different fields of Software Engineering such as development, requirements definition, testing, and education. Among the different educational fields to which gamification has been applied, process modeling is currently not much explored: there are few examples of game-like approaches used for teaching process modeling, and such examples have yet to be applied for the duration of an entire course to assess possible benefits. We thus describe the use of BIPMIN, a platform that implements elements regularly used in gamified tools such as levels, avatars, and leaderboards, in an Information Systems course, where students used the tool to perform practical BPMN modeling exercises over the whole duration of the course to get feedback on their modeling strategies. The students’ opinions have been gathered in the form of an end-of-course questionnaire and have been analyzed following the Straussian grounded theory approach to assess the general sentiment regarding usability, appreciation, and possible issues and improvement areas of the tool. The gathered results are encouraging, as they show that the tool has been well received and that its features that help student understanding the reasons behind their errors have been perceived as helpful for learning and improving BPMN modeling.

Gamifying Business Process Modeling Education: A Longitudinal Study

Gamification, commonly described as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, is frequently adopted to enhance users' motivation, engagement, and happiness while supporting them in reaching different objectives, related to learning activities and behavioral changes. Despite being a widely used approach, several studies show that the final outcomes following gamification use are not always positive. To face this problem, we developed a tool called GamiDOC composed of different features aimed at facing the existing problems in the gameful systems design process and, at the same time, guiding designers and practitioners in the design and evaluation of gamified solutions. In this paper, we present the elements that make gameful systems design a challenging process, the state of the art in gamification design, and the issues that are still open in the design of gameful systems. Finally, we provide a detailed description of GamiDOC and why the tool stands as a valuable solution to guide users across all the stages of gameful systems design, development, and evaluation. Finally, we present a usability evaluation of GamiDOC and a use-case scenario. 

GamiDOC: The Importance of Designing Gamification in a Proper Way

Gamification has been increasingly used to foster motivation and engagement in adopting and maintaining a desired behavior. In recent years, the tailoring of gamification, based on the users’ necessities, has gained a central role in research. To this end, we propose an End-User Development (EUD) solution that enables users who are not experts in programming to create and customize gamified systems according to their specific needs and preferences. In particular, our EUD solution focuses on providing users with intuitive verbal primitives for creating Trigger-Action rules, which are the basic building blocks of gamified mechanics. To illustrate the potential of our approach, we provide some examples of how users can adopt our system to create customed gamification strategies. These examples demonstrate the flexibility of our EUD system, highlighting how it can be adapted to a wide range of applications.

Enhance Gamification Design Through End-User Development: a Proposal

In the current Work in Progress we present the SmartGame, a gamified web-app designed to support children in learning math and connected to an already existing tangible IOT device called SMARTER. Through introducing a cooperative modality and the union of digital and tangible advancements in technology, we also aim to foster interpersonal relationships in children from primary school, who suffered a lack of social interactions in person due to the recent pandemic. In the current project, we will study different possibilities of cooperation within the SmartGame, along with the ways in which teachers can personalize the activities and the gamification design based on students’ needs. Finally, we will test the web-app usability, user experience, effectiveness in supporting students’ education, and outcomes in fostering interpersonal relationships.

The SmartGame: mixing digital and tangible to foster math education and social interaction

"React", "Command", or "Instruct"? Teachers Mental Models on End-User Development

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