Does gender-stereotyped gamification increase negative thinking? Results from an experimental study with logic tutoring systems

ABSTRACT

Gender-stereotypical design, such as the predominance of blue colors in interfaces, leaderboards with only men at the top, and male avatars, may have negative effects on women in gamified tutoring systems, especially in courses with a majority of male participation, such as courses of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). We conducted a quasi-experimental study with 133 Brazilian high school students in order to determine the impact of gender stereotypes on the flow state of students, their negative thinking, and their learning performance. These participants were divided into a control group (non-stereotyped) and two intervention groups (male and female stereotypes). Girls' flow state and academic performance were negatively impacted by male stereotypes, as indicated by p.adj values of 0.031 and 0.046, respectively. Contrary to popular belief, participants' negative thoughts were more prevalent in a neutral (non-stereotyped) context than in one with a stereotype threat condition with p.adj value of 0.039. These findings suggest that gender stereotypes should be investigated further, as there are instances in which, contrary to expectations, their effects can be positive. Therefore, the primary contribution of the study is to provide funding for future research into the causes of the observed effects of gender stereotypes on negative thinking. These findings are also applicable to specialists in the design and development of gamified systems, as they support guidelines and the need to develop mechanisms for adapting game elements and the interface of these systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Gamification
• negative thinking
• flow
• stereotypes
• educational technologies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical standards conformity

Ethical Approval: The prerogatives contained in the 466/12 and 510/16 resolutions of the National Health Council of Brazil were rigorously met. The Committee for Ethics in Research with human beings of the center for the University Federal of Alagoas (Brazil) approved, in the protocol N 44824621.1.0000.5013, the procedures, instruments, and data collected in the research. Hence, the participants were informed that they were not obligated to collaborate with the research, being able to refuse to participate at any moment. Prior to answering the questionnaires and accessing the platform, the participants agreed with the Free and Informed Consent Term. It was indicated that the information provided was confidential, without the possibility for individual identification, and that their answers would only be analyzed as a whole and not individually.

Informed consent: The term of consent was digitally signed by every participant for the data collection in the study, and all this data is completely available without restrictions.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Figshare at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19358819

Additional information

Funding

This work has been supported by the following institutions: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas (FAPEAL), and Beijing Normal University (BNU).

Notes on contributors

Jessica Fernanda Silva Barbosa

Jessica Fernanda Silva Barbosa has degree in Information Systems from the Federal University of Alagoas, and she is Master's student in Institute of Computing at the same institution. She is currently carrying out research in Computing Applied in Education, and her research interest included Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Gamification, and Stereotype Threats. She has experience in the area of Computing in Education as an Auxiliary Teacher in the disciplines of Applied Logic, Database and Business Process Management. She also currently teaches computer classes in a technical course at a private institution in Penedo / Alagoas.

Geiser Chalco Challco

Geiser Chalco Challco is a Lecture at the Center of Excellence for Social Technologies (NEES) of the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil. He is also a Lecture at the Computer Science Center (C3), Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), Brazil. He received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil, with a collaborative period in Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan. He received his M.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and his B.Sc. degree in Engineering Information System from National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco (UNSAAC), Peru. His research interests include Gamification, Ontology Enginnery, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, Automated Planning, and Artificial Intelligence in Education. His research has been disseminated in various international journals, conferences and workshops.

Ig Ibert Bittencourt

Ig Ibert Bittencourt is an Associate Professor at Federal University of Alagoas (Brazil) and Co-Director of the Center of Excellence for Social Technologies. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2009 from Federal University of Campina Grande (Brazil) and his Post-Doctoral degree in Computer Science in 2013 from University of Campinas (UNICAMP, Brazil). Ig Ibert was capable of finishing his PhD in two years and five months, he was one of the most productive graduate students in the history of Computer Science Program (since 1973) and he was awarded with the PhD Thesis Distinction. During the PhD, he proposed a theoretical and computational model to build Semantic Web-based Educational Systems (the main paper has more than one hundred citations). His research career has been devoted to Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), working on the design, development and experimentation of educational technologies. Ig Bittencourt was also a visiting researcher University of So Paulo (Brazil), Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - JAIST (Japan), Mannhein University (Germany) and Beijing Normal University - BNU (China). He was the president of the Special Committee of Computers and Education from Brazilian Computer Society (leading around 2500 researchers), W3C Advisory Committee Representative and Brazilian Computer Society Representative of IFIP TC on Education (TC 3). Prof. Ig Bittencourt co-founded an awarded company called MeuTutor (now eyeduc) and he stand out from his peers by creating one of the most innovative companies in the field of educational technology in Brazil (and Latin America). As a result, MeuTutor won three important awards, including Innovation Hall Award at the RioInfo - the biggest event in Software Industry in Brazil. His new company, called eNeuron - Cognitive Computing, developed an algorithm to automatically correct essays in Portuguese (that can be adapted to other 20 languages). In his career, Ig Ibert won more than 30 awards (including national and international awards) and he was the first Latin-American to be awarded with the IEEE TCLE Early Career Researcher Award (2019). He believes in innovative social entrepreneurship as a model for promoting a sustainable economic and social development to mankind.