Gamification in higher education: The ECOn+ star battles

Gamification is a thriving technique that has attracted attention in higher education. Despite the increasing number of studies published in recent years, the problem is that the relationships between gamification and students' knowledge, engagement and satisfaction have not yet been theoretically and empirically explored in the same piece of research in the literature. As an added value to the literature, our study provides, for the first time, a complete conceptual framework for the implementation of a global gamification strategy in higher education, which leads to an improvement in the teaching-learning process -The 8-Pointed Higher Education Gamification Star-. This conceptual framework is concretized in a detailed gamified instructional activity -The ECOn+ Star Battles-ready to be replicated in any other higher education context that would be interested in adopting it. Furthermore, our research is supported by a quantitative analysis based on the PLS-SEM data analysis technique proposing The Higher Education Gamification Measurement Scale-HEGx+ and providing statistically significant results that shed light on the influence of gamification on students' knowledge, engagement and satisfaction. Our results conclude that gamification directly influences students' engagement and knowledge. At the same time, gamification does not directly affect students' satisfaction; it indirectly affects it through knowledge and engagement. These results are particularly relevant in a gamified instructional design in higher education where without student satisfaction, gamification and the advantages it can bring to the teaching-learning process are not sustainable in the long term. •The 8-Pointed Higher Education Gamification Star framework is formulated to better understand gamification.•The Higher Education Gamification Measurement Scale-HEGx+ is proposed and tested in Higher Education.•The ECOn + Star Battles show a successful teaching and learning gamified experience.•Empirical evidence is provided on the relationships among students' knowledge, engagement and satisfaction.•Helpful insights and recommendations are made available for academia.