Title: Tracking English language learners' progress through a gamified social visualisation tool to increase motivation and performance

Authors: Wala Bagunaid; Maram Meccawy; Zilal Meccawy; Arwa A. Allinjawi

Addresses: Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia ' Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia ' Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia ' Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Students need to monitor their progress constantly to improve their performance, and with large classes at university level education, both online and offline, most instructors are not able to provide individual students with progress reports other than separate assignments or exam results. Some e-learning systems track students' progress; however, these traditional personalised e-learning systems hide students' data; thus, students are not provided with the full picture of their progress and are unable to position themselves among their peers. This research aims to introduce a way to track English language learners' progress through an interactive gamified social visualisation tool in the form of a car race game without jeopardising student privacy or hiding crucial progress information. The results of this study showed that social comparison of students' progress and the gamification aspects of the tool made students more engaged and motivated to win the race, which affected their academic performance positively.

Keywords: personalisation; user modelling; open social student modelling; social visualisation; motivation; gamification; English language learners; KAU; King Abdulaziz University.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2022.123652

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022 Vol.14 No.3, pp.286 - 306

Received: 04 Jan 2021
Accepted: 27 Apr 2021
Published online: 30 Jun 2022 *

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