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Grant support

This work was supported by research grants iProg of MINECO (ref. TIN2015-66731-C2-1-R) and has funded by the Madrid Regional Government, through the project e-Madrid-CM (P2018/TCS-4307). The e-Madrid-CM been co-project is also co-financed by the Structural Funds (FSE and FEDER).

Analysis of institutional authors

Borras-Gene, OCorresponding Author

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September 27, 2022
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Enhancing Fun through Gamification to Improve Engagement in MOOC

Publicated to:Informatics. 6 (3): 28- - 2019-09-01 6(3), DOI: 10.3390/informatics6030028

Authors: Borras-Gene, Oriol; Martinez-Nunez, Margarita; Martin-Fernandez, Luis

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Ingn Org Adm Empresas & Estadist, Madrid 28031, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Ciencias Comp Arquitectura Comp Lenguajes &, LITE Grp, Madrid 28933, Spain - Author

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), regardless of their topic, are a perfect space to generate, through virtual learning communities associated with them, very valuable resources for their participants and, in general, anyone interested in the topic covered. If in the design of these learning spaces, elements specific to games are added to them, which is known as gamification, we can try to increase the engagement of the student towards the course and, therefore, towards the community. This paper presents an experience of a MOOC of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) with a connectivist approach. Aspects such as fun and motivation have been worked on in the design, through the application of gamified activities and the use of elements from social networks, considered as gamification, with the aim of increasing participation and engagement within a Facebook group, used as a community to support the course. We have analyzed aspects such as enjoyment and motivation, the result of which has been active participation and high engagement within the MOOC community in the form of content and especially great interaction, highlighting the existence of continuous activity once the edition of the MOOC is finished, as a consequence of a habit generated in the student.

Keywords

EducationFunGamificationMoocSocial networksVirtual learning communities

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Informatics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Computer Networks and Communications.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 8.68, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-04, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 18
  • Scopus: 24

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 156.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 155 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 7.9.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 9 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Borrás Gené, Oriol) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Borrás Gené, Oriol.