Assessing the Effects of Flow, Social Interaction, and Engagement on Students' Gamified Learning: A Mediation Analysis

The positive impact of gamification on student learning has been empirically asserted, and previous studies have identified engagement as crucial for the effects. However, what causal mechanisms render the gamification effects still needs further exploration. We incorporated psychological and social factors to examine how they affect students' perceived learning through engagement in a mediation model. The flow antecedents (perceived challenge of gamification and skill) and social interaction (peer interaction and social influence) were indicators of psychological and social factors, respectively. A survey was conducted to collect data from 250 college students in Taiwan. The PLC-SEM results indicate that the effects of perceived challenge and peer interaction on student learning were mediated by engagement. In addition, the impact of students' perceptions of their skills was partially mediated by engagement. Both engagement and social influence exerted a direct effect on student learning. Among the predictors, engagement was the most influential factor for students' gamified learning and had the highest performance volume. Based on the results, we suggest advancing flow antecedents and social interaction to sustain students' gamified learning.