Enhancing Learning with Gamification: Empowering Students in Web Development Education

Digitalization has transformed educational practices, extending its impact to non-technical fields by incorporating technical subjects such as web development. Students from diverse backgrounds frequently encounter difficulties when attempting to learn web development, often experiencing feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated. This study aimed to address student challenges by identifying their needs and developing a supportive tool to enhance their learning experience in web development. Therefore, human-centered design was used to conduct preliminary interviews with the students in order gain deeper insights into their perceptions on how to enhance their learning experience. In response to this feedback, a gamified learning platform (GLP) was designed and developed. Subsequently, the same group of students evaluated the GLP through interviews, questionnaires and eye-tracking analyses. The evaluation indicated that students perceived the GLP to be a valuable supplementary tool, although not a comprehensive substitute for conventional methods. The findings suggest that refining the GLP, e.g. modifying the color scheme, and integrating it with approaches like flipped classroom could lead to enhanced learning outcomes in subsequent semesters. This study underscores the importance of student-centered design in developing effective educational tools for technical subjects.