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Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers' Association

SACLA 2022: ICT Education pp 111–128Cite as

Gamification to Increase Undergraduate Students’ Teamwork Skills

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Part of the Communications in Computer and Information Science book series (CCIS,volume 1664)

Abstract

Historically, education is a highly competitive environment, where an individual is deemed successful based on high marks attained individually. The ability to work effectively in teams is an important learning objective for final-year undergraduate students. When undertaking group projects, undergraduate students are expected to collaborate effectively and solve real-world problems in groups of three or more individuals. Teamwork skills are among the highly desired soft skills recruiters struggle to find among many university graduates. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether gamification can aid in developing teamwork skills in undergraduate students. Following the design science research methodology, two games were developed. The first game is a computer-based cycling game for a single player, with concepts related to teamwork skills forming part of the in-play questions. The second game is a computer-based King of the Mountain-type game, played as a team. In order to move from one level of the Mountain to the next, players would need to answer general trivia questions, in addition to applying teamwork skills to specific questions. Each team was encouraged to come up with its own strategy to achieve the best results. There was no limit to the number of attempts players made in each game. Data was collected during play and via a questionnaire administered upon completion of the games. The results show that students found the games to be engaging and enjoyable. After a few attempts, a number of students noted that they felt part of the team and perceived that the games would enhance their teamwork skills. Participants felt that the games enhanced their team dynamics and that their desire to see their team succeed increased the more they played together. The results show potential for utilising gamification as a means to enhance students’ teamwork skills.

Keywords

  • Gamification
  • Teamwork
  • Teamwork skills
  • Team
  • Undergraduate teaching
  • Higher education
  • Computer-aided learning

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Tafadzwa Nyahuye & Adriana Aletta Steyn

Authors
  1. Tafadzwa Nyahuye
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  2. Adriana Aletta Steyn
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Correspondence to Adriana Aletta Steyn .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Richard J. Barnett

  2. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Daniel B. le Roux

  3. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Douglas A. Parry

  4. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Bruce W. Watson

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Nyahuye, T., Steyn, A.A. (2022). Gamification to Increase Undergraduate Students’ Teamwork Skills. In: Barnett, R.J., le Roux, D.B., Parry, D.A., Watson, B.W. (eds) ICT Education. SACLA 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1664. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21076-1_7

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