Abstract :
[en] Gamification, which can be defined as the art of using game elements in non-game contexts, has spread widely over the last few decades and is now clearly positioned as a recognized educational approach in its own right. Its applications range from encouraging employees to adopt new habits or new tools (Werbach et al, 2012), to developing interactions between consumers and a brand (Terlutter et al, 2013) and of course to facilitating learning processes (Sailer and Homner, 2020).
The main idea behind gamification, to make a task or activity "more fun" through elements of play, seems innocent, interactive and even fundamentally beneficial. In many cases, this turns out to be true. Gamification has the ability to transform seemingly monotonous tasks into stimulating experiences, making educational, professional or even everyday processes more attractive and giving them new meaning. In other contexts (Suyunov et al, 2023), it can also help to break down communication barriers and encourage collaboration.
However, like any approach, its effectiveness, impact and the success of its objectives depend greatly on how it is used and implemented. The clear benefits and motivational contributions can turn into frustration, stress and the appearance of a sense of exclusion if poorly implemented.
As with any innovative approach, it is essential to understand the wider implications of its adoption and implementation. In particular, in this article, we will look at the impact of gamification-related competition and the good practices that need to be put in place to ensure that it is benevolent. The content of this article will be structured around four points. The first will define the concept of competition and present the benefits it brings in the context of gamification. The second will highlight the main dangers of putting participants in competition. The third will propose a series of best practices and points of attention necessary to maintain the benefits of gamification based on competition. The fourth and last point will support the previous ones, based on the analysis of data from 52 bachelor and master students following a civil engineering course, and 17 students following a course on cybersecurity applied to Process Mining.
