BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Comput. Sci.
Sec. Human-Media Interaction
This article is part of the Research TopicArtificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies for Inclusive and Innovative EducationView all 4 articles
Exploring Gender as a Determinant of Game Element Effectiveness
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Software Quality and Architecture, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
- 2Department of Teaching and Learning with Intelligent Systems, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
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Student diversity, for example, in terms of gender, characterizes higher education learning settings and presents a challenge for optimally supporting all learners. Therefore, digital learning environments are increasingly employed to provide a personalized learning experience. To enhance motivation, game elements, such as points, badges, leaderboards, avatars, and feedback, are commonly used in these environments. However, their impact on performance and motivation appears to vary across genders, and empirical evidence on the effects of individual elements remains limited. This study systematically examines gender differences in performance, motivation, self-efficacy, and anxiety in response to these specific game elements. Participants solved logical problems in digital learning settings featuring different combinations of the elements. Results reveal a significant gender difference in the influence of game elements on experienced external regulation, a dimension of motivation. Related research suggests that cultural factors and the learning context might shape gender differences, underscoring the importance of context-sensitive gamification design in digital learning environments.
Keywords: Anxiety, Digital Learning Settings, Gamification, gender differences, Motivation, performance, personalized learning, self-efficacy
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 02 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Koch, Gebert, Meißner and Wirzberger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nadine Nicole Koch
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