Exploring Collaborative Success of Undergraduate Students within a Cyberlearning Environment Using Gamification
Conference
Prieto, GE, Bennamane, N, Polyzou, A et al. (2025). Exploring Collaborative Success of Undergraduate Students within a Cyberlearning Environment Using Gamification
. 10.18260/1-2--56499
Prieto, GE, Bennamane, N, Polyzou, A et al. (2025). Exploring Collaborative Success of Undergraduate Students within a Cyberlearning Environment Using Gamification
. 10.18260/1-2--56499
In higher education, particularly at the undergraduate level, active learning has become an increasingly important pedagogical approach. It encompasses approaches including collaborative learning and gamification aiming to enhance student engagement, promote collaboration, and improve learning outcomes. However, the effectiveness of these approaches can vary significantly across different courses and student populations. This variation is due to the manner in which the approaches are implemented, such as the specific class activities, the modality of the class, and the pedagogical tools used to support active learning. In that direction, the Software Engineering and Programming CyberLearning Environment (SEP-CyLE) is a tool designed to provide students and instructors structured access to vetted learning content through learning objects and tutorials. It also employs three active learning approaches – a lightweight version of collaborative learning (team-based activities), gamification, and social interaction; and can be used in any class independent of the modality. Based on students’ interaction with SEP-CyLE and the assigned activities, they are awarded virtual points that may be converted to points used towards their course grade. This tool has been used in software engineering, software testing, and programming classes at a large urban Hispanic-serving institution. While the related work recognizes the need and benefits of collaborative learning and gamification, there is a gap in the analysis of its effects on student learning, especially while it is facilitated by a cyberlearning tool. This paper addresses the challenge of quantifying and analyzing student collaboration and engagement in the context of SEP-CyLE. Our research aims to identify distinct student engagement profiles and their correlation with academic performance. We utilize behaviorally based metrics collected through SEP-CyLE for 12 semesters, starting in the spring of 2017 until the fall of 2020, for a software testing class taught by the same instructor. The data collected for each student includes their SEP-CyLE interactions (the total virtual points awarded, time spent on learning objects, team performance, and number of comments posted), team assignments, and course grade data. The insights gained from this study may lead to more personalized learning experiences, enhancing student satisfaction and success rates in team-based learning environments.
