Meta-Analytical Considerations for Gamification in Higher Education: Existing Approaches and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

Gamification is one of the most trending scientific topics in recent times, with higher education receiving the most concentrated focus of interest. Due to the relative infancy of this domain, three meta-analytical approaches were published in this domain, despite the accelerated speed of new manuscripts seeing light, indicating the need for more contributions in this regard. The present article explores this research area, concentrating on the relevance of publication bias tests in meta-analytical approaches, discussing the results of existing meta-analytical contributions in this sector. The heterogeneity of interpretation, analyzed constructs and relationships makes it, however, rather challenging to conduct a successful meta-analysis. The paper therefore deals with the comparison of existing methods for correction of publication bias, leading to an enhanced focus on evaluated constructs, and the effective exclusion of threats, such as population effect overestimation, selective reporting, and p-hacking.