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Gamification and SQL: An Empirical Study on Student Performance in a Database Course

Authors:

Miguel Ehécatl Morales-Trujillo,

Gabriel Alberto García-MirelesAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), Volume 21, Issue 1

Article No.: 3, Pages 1 - 29

https://doi.org/10.1145/3427597

Published: 31 December 2020 Publication History

Abstract

Gamification, defined as the integration of game elements into non-gaming environments, is a promising approach to increase student engagement, motivation, and performance in Computer Science and Software Engineering education. This viewpoint encouraged the creation of QueryCompetition, a web system that allows students to practice SQL in a competitive environment. Our goal was to obtain empirical evidence on how gamifying elements, such as challenges, points, and leaderboards, integrated into QueryCompetition, affect student performance, motivation, and user experience. We carried out a quasi-experimental study with two groups in a Database course. One group used a gamified version of QueryCompetition having access to points and leaderboards, while the other used a non-gamified version with no access to the above mentioned elements. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through tests and a survey. The results showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in student performance in the gamified group as compared to the non-gamified group. In addition, a higher motivation was observed in the gamified group. The empirical evidence presented in this article supports the claim that inclusion of challenges, points, and leaderboards, together with the competitive nature of QueryCompetition, impacts positively on student performance and motivation to practice SQL.

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Cited By

Miedema DTaipalus TAjanovski VAlawini AGoodfellow MLiut MPeltsverger SYoung TMonga MLonati VBarendsen ESheard JPaterson J(2025)Data Systems Education: Curriculum Recommendations, Course Syllabi, and Industry Needs2024 Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3689187.3709609(95-123)Online publication date: 22-Jan-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689187.3709609
Xu WXu GXing Q(2024)The impact of different combinations of game elements for gamified learning in higher education on student learning outcomes: a multilevel meta-analysisStudies in Higher Education10.1080/03075079.2024.2416498(1-28)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2416498
Lepe-Salazar FCortés-Álvarez T(2024)Towards an effective methodology for the integral gamification of classesMultimedia Tools and Applications10.1007/s11042-024-19846-wOnline publication date: 18-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-19846-w
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Index Terms

Gamification and SQL: An Empirical Study on Student Performance in a Database Course
1. General and reference
  1. Cross-computing tools and techniques
    1. Empirical studies
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computational science and engineering education

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computing Education

ACM Transactions on Computing Education Volume 21, Issue 1

March 2021

211 pages

EISSN:1946-6226

DOI:10.1145/3446622

Editor:
Chris Hundhausen
Washington State University, USA

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Copyright © 2020 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Publication History

Published: 31 December 2020

Accepted: 01 September 2020

Revised: 01 August 2020

Received: 01 April 2020

Published in TOCE Volume 21, Issue 1

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3689187.3709609
Xu WXu GXing Q(2024)The impact of different combinations of game elements for gamified learning in higher education on student learning outcomes: a multilevel meta-analysisStudies in Higher Education10.1080/03075079.2024.2416498(1-28)Online publication date: 16-Oct-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2416498
Lepe-Salazar FCortés-Álvarez T(2024)Towards an effective methodology for the integral gamification of classesMultimedia Tools and Applications10.1007/s11042-024-19846-wOnline publication date: 18-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-19846-w
Ceballos Torres C(2023)Gamificación en ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje: un cuasi-experimento con estudiantes de Diseño GráficoActualidades Pedagógicas10.19052/ap.vol1.iss79.9Online publication date: 4-Jul-2023
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Langlands EMorales-Trujillo MLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)Learning from Errors: An Empirical Study on the Impact of Gamification on SQL Query FormulationProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588821(341-347)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
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