THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLAYER MOTIVATION AND GAMIFICATION ELEMENTS IN LEARNING SCIENCE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

Games and technology have become the norm in the daily life of the current generation. Accessibility to the technology of games has become easier in comparison those days where one has to own either a console or computers to get access to the games. Recent innovation such as apps, allow games to be played on smartphones, anywhere and anytime. Thus with the re-emergence of games into our life thus has opened up a new window of opportunity and exploration in the field of game based learning and more recently gamification. As gamification only requires the use of game elements as opposed to a whole game, harnessing it as an educational technology tool can have vast remunerations. Based on prior researches it is crucial to identify the needs of the users over the organization as it is important in creating a meaningful gamification. This can be done by identifying the correct game principle that suits the users whereas in this research the use of player motivation has been highlighted as a key game principle. This research will look at how certain Player Motivation types will have effect on the gamification elements that is introduced using the gamified platform of learning. A mixed mode method research design was carried out at a secondary School in Johor, Malaysia. A total of 28 students completed the research which was carried out for the duration of 4 weeks. The findings showed that majority of the students' Player Motivation levels pre and post gamified intervention was in the Immersion category and pre intervention; the students had a high preference towards points and leader boards'; and post intervention the students had a high preference towards leader boards' and badges. Based on the findings, the students were enthusiastic in learning using a different method, especially when it came to e-learning system. The ease of access to technology and background knowledge in using tech tools such as computer and smart devices also may have contributed to a high level of immersion player motivation among them. Throughout the learning process using the gamified platform, game elements were first looked at in the traditional sense of video games before the students eventually understood its contrasting role when it came to learning using the gamified platform.