Gamification and games-based learning (GBL) have gained increasing attention in higher education as strategies to enhance student engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes. Despite their documented benefits, faculty adoption of gamification in online teaching remains limited. This study examines the factors influencing faculty attitudes toward gamification and GBL in online courses at four-year public universities. Using a quantitative survey-based research design, the study explores the relationships between political climate (PC), anxiety (ANX), institutional gamification readiness (IGR), perceived usefulness of gamification (PUG), perceived ease of use (PEUG), attitudes toward gamification (ATG), subjective norms (SN), and intention to use gamification (IUG).
The study indicates that faculty autonomy and confidence are crucial in gamification adoption. PC and ANX significantly predict PUG, while IGR does not. However, IGR is a key determinant of PEUG, suggesting that structured faculty support reduces implementation barriers. The study also confirms that PEUG fully mediates the relationship between PUG and ATG, demonstrating that faculty are unlikely to develop positive ATG unless they also find it easy to implement. Furthermore, ATG is the strongest predictor of faculty intention to adopt gamification, while SN is not significant.
These results highlight that faculty adoption of gamification is driven more by individual attitudes and perceptions of usefulness than by institutional mandates or peer influence. The implications of these findings suggest that universities seeking to increase gamification adoption should focus on faculty-centered support strategies rather than relying solely on administrative encouragement. Structured professional development programs, instructional design consultations, and financial incentives may enhance faculty confidence and ease the adoption process.
Future research should explore disciplinary differences in gamification adoption, assess its long-term impact on faculty and student outcomes, and investigate how institutional incentives influence faculty engagement with gamified teaching strategies. This study contributes to the growing body of research on technology adoption in higher education, reinforcing the importance of faculty autonomy, structured support, and ease of implementation in the successful integration of gamification and GBL into online learning environments.