Gamification in education: Productivity and motivation through gamified time management software

This paper presents gamified time-management software designed and developed as part of an empirical study to investigate the effects that a gamified Pomodoro application has on student performance and engagement while also analyzing student work patterns. This software represents an important first step in this study. It is envisaged that the findings from this study will have implications in education and in software development environments. The time management software developed as part of this study is based on Francesco Cirillo’s Pomodoro Technique. However, gamification has been integrated into the newly developed software tool. Research suggests that extended work sessions result in a lack of dopamine release and, therefore, reduce motivation and productivity. The mechanisms used as part of the Pomodoro Technique are theorized to trigger these dopamine releases. Gamification research has also been shown to increase motivation and productivity during complex tasks. The hypothesis proposes that the combination of gamification and the Pomodoro Technique has a significant positive effect on user motivation and productivity within an education context. The software records work session timestamps, the number of consecutive sessions completed, badges earned, usage goals, virtual currency and rewards earned. At the time of writing, this research project involves 87 student participants from undergraduate classes in IT related modules at the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. The participants will use the applications during continuous assessment tasks and examination study periods from September 2018 to January 2019. User data will then be collected and analyzed. Participants will be divided into a control group, supplied with a simplified time-management version of the software and a test group, supplied with a gamified version of the software. It is expected that the test group will show improved grade performance, better submission time management and improved positive engagement with the software than the control group.