Motivational Factors in Game Play in Two User Groups

Abstract

Motivation is one of the driving forces behind the recent interest in games with educational goals. People willingly play complex games and we would like to channel that willingness to participate in complex challenges into the educational context. In this paper, we report on a survey administered to computer science and business students, two distinct groups of game players, in order to examine the role of motivation in electronic games. The results of the survey are presented, including a gaming profile of each group, as well as a series of design suggestions for educational games and activities that are based on these results.