The role of story and player type on engagement and english academic writing

Research examines the positive impact of gamification on engagement and academic performance and its impact on different game elements. However, there is little research investigating the impact of the use of stories. Research also highlights the influence of player types in the learning environment. This study investigates the impact of story element and player types on students' engagement and academic writing performance in a gamified environment. Using a quasi-experimental research method, 83 university students from four different English academic writing classes in a foundation university were assigned to experimental and control groups. Both groups were presented with the same gamified content throughout the application, except for the story element. The academic performance of each group was measured with a pretest and a post test. Students were also given engagement and player type scales. According to the findings, the story element in the experimental group did not significantly affect students' engagement. There was a significant effect of the use of the story on students' average performance, but there was no significant interaction with pre and posttest performance regarding the effect of player types on engagement by groups, socializer player type had a significant effect on cognitive engagement; killer type had a significant effect on affective engagement with the instructor; and killer and socializer type had significant effects on behavioral engagement only in the experimental group. The effects of different player types on performance in the experimental and control groups were not significant. The findings were discussed in line with the related literature.