Interactive Games: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation, Achievement, and Satisfaction

Abstract

People who have played games have often experienced the process of being fully absorbed by the task, or Flow. Engaged students experience aroused pleasure that is synonymous with intrinsic motivation. This study (N=160) looks at whether the game-derived motivation continues to impact students’ interest toward the subject matter at the end of the course, and whether it impacts their extrinsic motivation. In several college level courses where learning technology is the focus in class, we found a significant difference between the students’ intrinsic motivation and achievement scores when they have had game-based activities in class as compared to traditional non-game-based learning activities. Authors discuss the corresponding implications, as well as the implications for our results showing no significant difference in the participants’ extrinsic motivation and course satisfaction.