Gamification in Ethics Education: A Literature Review

Abstract

Ethical literacy plays a significant role in human beings’ decision-making, influencing the quality of interpersonal relationships, harmony, well-being, and the sustainable development of society, economy, and technology. Among various pedagogical techniques, gamification, simulations, roleplay, and other game-based approaches have been recognized as potential avenues for experience and interactive-based pedagogy for ethics education. Although there is a rapidly increasing number of studies on game-based learning, the effect of gamification on the success of ethics learning is still unclear. Therefore, by conducting a systematic review of the extant empirical literature (N=101), this study aims at exploring the state of the art of gamification in ethics education, considering research design, adopted theories, gamification interventions, dimensions of ethics learning and effects of gamification. The literature synthesis revealed a variety of utilizing gamification for ethics learning in different facets with mostly positive outcomes. Based on the discussion of the main findings, seven different directions for future research are further proposed.