Gamification in Vietnamese education: Assessing psychological need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and learning effectiveness

Academic institutions are actively seeking new and innovative methods to improve student learning outcomes, and gamification has emerged as a promising technique to enhance student engagement, motivation, and satisfaction. This study examined gamification’s impacts on learning effectiveness, focusing on how intrinsic motivation and the fulfilment of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) affect Vietnamese students in higher education. A total of 762 Vietnamese university students were surveyed using a quantitative approach. The findings indicate that gamification has a direct positive impact on learning effectiveness and significantly enhances intrinsic motivation by fulfilling students’ basic psychological needs. Findings revealed that gamification positively moderates the relationship between relatedness and intrinsic motivation and negatively moderates the relationship between competence and intrinsic motivation. These findings offer valuable insights for educational administrators and policymakers seeking to implement gamification strategies that promote intrinsic motivation and improve learning effectiveness.