Research on gamification shows that it has positive impacts on learning, performance, motivation, and engagement. To have a big picture on gamification research in higher education, a combination of bibliometric and thematic analysis was conducted. For this study, a total of 432 documents from 2010 to 2020 which have been indexed in Web of Science database are investigated. Additionally, the researchers analyzed a group of 10 articles to review how much contribution they had to the body of research. General tendencies in the way gamification has been changing or developing in academic literature were scrutinized from the perspective of a variety of different factors including the time the works were published; the areas of the research field; and the authors, organizations, countries, and co-authorship publishing the most number of works in the issue. The possible future applications and results for educational organizations and academicians, top academic decision-makers, and educationists are discussed.

One of the innovative perspectives to increase student involvement is gamification. The article aims to analyse selected motivational mechanisms in the context of gamification tools. The pragmatic nature of students (obtaining a better final grade, improving the organisation of the learning process) is compared with players’ experiences and the offered gamification models. While students’ goals relate mainly to effectiveness (study certificates, practical skills and knowledge with minimum effort), games are process-oriented (fun, engagement). The paper states that the differences may be apparent and proposes motivational tools that can make learners’ experience resemble players’ one. Particular attention is paid to the art of failure, autonomy, community and mandatory fun, which are discussed from the perspective of the theory of self-determination (competence, autonomy, relatedness) and cognitive dissonance (effort justification, insufficient punishment, counter-attitudinal advocacy paradigm). The article advocates voluntary participation or at least the choice of different educational paths and tools. Secondly, the paper encourages implementing features enabling students stress-free freedom to experiment and experience failure.

Young people are increasingly engaging in contacts via social media. Although this activity is primarily a form of entertainment, students also treat social media as a learning-supporting tool. The aim of the studies presented in this paper was to determine whether using Facebook as an e-learning platform brings satisfying academic performance. Additionally, the application of the gamification feature was examined. Two quasi-experiments were conducted in which some of the subjects took part in traditional classes, while others participated in asynchronous classes conducted on social media. The results of the first experiment demonstrated that a Facebook-run e-learning course contributed to higher grades, while the second experiment showed the opposite effect. Gamification had a neutral or negative impact on the grades. The results are discussed in the context of differences between the designs of the two Facebook courses. The paper makes suggestions for future SNS-based or SNS-assisted classes. It is proposed to use informational feedback instead of a controlling one. Additionally, the use of team work is encouraged. The discussion includes a reflection on students’ autonomy.