2022 EDSIG Proceedings: Abstract Presentation
The influence of gamified cybersecurity labs on Student’s motivation and learning
Swetha Raj Ganiga
University of Tampa
Chen Zhong
The University of Tampa
Hong Liu
Indiana University Kokomo
Joo Baek Kim
Sykes College of Business
Effective cybersecurity education is the key to developing the cybersecurity workforce. Gamification has been known as an effective mechanism that increases the participant's engagement in cognitive tasks (Papastergiou, 2009). Through the experiment of gamification cybersecurity labs designed and developed by the authors, this article examines the process of how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence students’ learning.
This study aims to answer the following research questions:
1. How do the students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation change over time when they play gamified cybersecurity exercise labs?
2. How are the students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations related to the performance and learning in the gamified cybersecurity exercise labs?
Ryan and Deci (2000) defined intrinsic motivation as “the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequences (p. 56)”. Intrinsic motivation is highly efficient for superior quality learning, according to a self-determination theory (Reeves, 2002). Most gamification users are less concerned about the rewards while their focus is to connect with peers, gain expertise in a subject or play for fun which is a trait of intrinsic motivation. Although this intrinsic motivation of the student is to seek a sense of self-desire and satisfaction in learning, over time it could fade away (Ujang Subagja1, 2021). In gamified labs, such motivational affordances as scoreboards, points-based tasks, leaderboards, challenges, and rewards encourage students to persist and increase the time that they are engaged in playing. The learners finally attribute their motivation to external factors which wanes any traces of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is defined as “a construct that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome.” (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 60) If tasks are interesting, rewarding, and appropriately challenging, intrinsic motivation will be replenished. At any point, if a learner finds a task laborious, it is natural human behavior to move on since there is no reward that keeps the challenge going. Another factor is when the learner is stuck at a task, he could either just quit playing and never get back to the same task or even the lab the next day. Over time, having been incentivized by reward, learners start losing their initial intrinsic drive. Eventually, extrinsic motivation transforms into intrinsic motivation when a student realizes that participation in the activity or task by itself is a reward regardless of the outcome.
To test our hypothesis, we conducted an experiment that ran gamified cybersecurity labs in classrooms for three regular semesters at a mid-sized university. Students are given 5 different gamified labs throughout the course. Each gamified lab was designed to have multiple tasks and each task has a set of instructions and challenges to complete. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and perceived learning were measured using survey instruments after each lab. We also measured the students’ lab performance based on the reward points. In total, we collected survey responses from 110 students. For analysis, levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations will be compared across labs to see how they change over time considering the level of difficulty of labs. Our findings on the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations will help educators understand how students' interests drift over time, which will help us discover an effective way to teach students through gamification.
REFERENCES
Papastergiou, M. (2009). Digital game-based learning in high school computer science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation. Computers & Education, 52(1), 1-12.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321063416_The_Effect_of_Gamification_on_Motivation_and_Engagement
https://www.warse.org/IJATCSE/static/pdf/file/ijatcse111052021.pdf
Gamification as an Effective Learning Tool to Increase Learner Motivation and Engagement. Ujang Subagja1 , Arnold Sigit Saputra2 , Yanditya Ekaputra Dwipada3 , Yoga Ardo Maulana4 , Gunawan Wang5 , Emil Robert Kaburuan6
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10589298/
https://cisse.info/journal/index.php/cisse/article/view/129/129
https://www.ntnu.edu/documents/139799/1279149990/04+Article+Final_camildah_fors%C3%B8k_2017-12-06-13-53-55_TPD4505.Camilla.Dahlstr%C3%B8m.pdf
Reeve, J. (2002). Self-Determination Theory Applied to Educational Settings. In Handbook of Self-Determination Research, Deci, Edward L. & Ryan, Richard M. pp. 183-203. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68.
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