Utilising Online Gamification to Promote Student Success and Retention in Tertiary Settings

The role of gamification in Australian higher educational learning has gained increasing currency in recent years, with many proponents promoting its usefulness for improving the university student experience by increasing progression and lowering attrition, particularly among first year students (Charles, Charles, McNeill, Bustard, & Black, 2011). However, some students express reservations that the inherently competitive nature of some gamified learning activities negatively impact their learning experience, especially when compared to classic instructional methods (Charles et al., 2011). This discussion and instructional paper undertakes a review of the gamification literature within the Australian higher education context, concurrently exploring what it means and how to use gamification to enhance student learning. The paper provides a short biographic summary of the positive impact selected popular gamified activities has had on improving student engagement, participation and retention in tertiary settings.