Leaderboards - A Motivational Tool in the Process of Business Education

摘要

The main aim of this article is to examine the possibility of using leaderboards as a motivational tool in the process of business education. Rankings represent one of the main elements of gamified systems and appear to be an ever-increasing part of many educational tools. With the rising popularity of game-like systems, there is a growing need to conduct research concerning the particular elements and the mechanics that create them. The objective of the study is to compare individuals' reactions and attitudes to scores presented using traditional tables versus a group absolute ranking system. The quantitative study in question has been conducted in order to examine the utilization of leaderboards in the process of education. In the questionnaire featured in the study, respondents were asked to compare two different methods of score presentation - a traditional one (table-based) and one in the form of a ranking. The study has been conducted among 150 students at one of the Polish business universities. The results show that the majority of business school students in the sample prefer it when their results are presented to them in a leaderboard rather than in a traditional table. Students find it more motivating when they can see how many peers from their group get better and worse scores than they do. The matter of the influence of gender and students' score on their perception of rankings is also explored.