GinEB 2013 - Call for Chapters: Aiding greater understanding of Gamification in the business and education environment

The concept of gamification ? of injecting regular, work-related, or other non-game tasks with a sense of fun, encouraging users to experience more passion and a sense of play ? is set to grow in importance over the coming decade. However, research remains in a state of infancy, possibly due to the strong multi-disciplinary approaches required to extract the greatest value. Meanwhile, industry has surged ahead, with many ‘turnkey’ solutions offered that can be easily attached or included in existing social media applications; these ‘solutions’ are, however, basic and tend to cover only three major gamification components and neglect careful gamified design, seen by many to be crucial to achieving objectives.
Key theory comes from:
behavioural economics; e.g., incentivising executive behaviours
psychology; e.g., examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivations
game theory; e.g., influence of individual actions to get vaccinated
social network theory; e.g., changing the role of the Sales Manager
complex adaptive systems; e.g., improving outcomes through modification of system dynamics
Thus, we seek a range of contributions from researchers with different theoretical backgrounds. Furthermore, we seek to detailed case studies that demonstrate applied gamification; covering pitfalls and guidelines to successful implement a project.
Gamification can, when poorly considered during implementation, cause significant difficulty and heartache for users. Some firms have also struggled to withdraw or remove gamified applications. The book will highlight these issues and how they can be resolved.
At present there is a weak relationship between Gamification and other, established disciplines. This is one of the most important sections of the volume, where we seek a range of contributions from researchers with diverse backgrounds. Assuming that the readers will have little grounding in their discipline, the discipline experts are invited to contribute a chapter based on the theory in their field and connect this to gamification principles. We see this as one of the most crucial contributions of the volume, seeking to establish strong theoretical principles for gamification in practice. Specifically, we seek contributions from (but not limited to) the following areas:
Behavioural Economics
Psychology
Game theory
Social Network Theory
Empirically validated and supported contributions will be strongly welcomed, along with suitable syntheses of the relationship between other disciplines and gamification.
Objective of the book
Many existing books have a particular lens when examining gamification and tend to explore based on a popular science perspective, focus on entertainment elements, or remain strongly focused on one single element. Meanwhile, most the journal and conference contributions still present preliminary prolegomena on the phenomena or evidence of efficacy in poorly designed experiments that suffer from limited analysis.
In contrast, this edited volume aims to integrate theory from multiple disciplines with the fields of practice in education and business and provide strong empirical validation to key concepts of gamification.
Recommended topics
We are particularly keen on receiving proposals and chapters concerning the following topics and welcome proposals on other relevant topics:
Design of (complex, adaptive) Systems/Methodology/Theory ? this broad category invites contributions relating to the design of such systems. Gamified systems are complex and challenging to design effectively due to the involvement of (perhaps many) humans with their own drivers, beliefs, and emotions. Current research notes that the design of the system is crucial to success and achievement of desired outcomes.
Benefits from Gamification ? This has been discussed in general terms in relation to society and particular groups, but seems to have been rarely measured or discussed in relation to theory. We invite specific discussions on the benefits tied to theoretical foundations and empirical evidence demonstrating efficacy of gamification.
Education ? while it is undoubtedly true that it is easier to motivate students when they are engaged in classes and what they are learning, not every subject or discipline seems to be amenable to gamification. Further challenges exist where institutional culture or policy places firm strictures on what can and cannot be undertaken, with little devolution of design power to front-line staff who may otherwise implement gamification principles.
Drawbacks to Gamification and the ‘Dark Side’ of Gamification ? as with any technology, gamification is open to abuse. This category explores gamification with detailed, actual case studies, and frameworks to prevent such occurrences. Where it has occurred, the challenges of rectifying and remedying the situation will be explored and detailed.
Critical perspectives ? there are a range of opinions on gamification, with one of the most colourful being Bogost’s carefully articulated, blog-based claim that “Gamification is bullshit”. While we clearly don’t share the entirety of Bogost’s opinion, he raises important issues.
Framework for Gamification ? drawing on previous frameworks and materials presented elsewhere, a framework for the design and implementation of gamification technology is welcome, particularly one focusing on both education- and business-oriented outcomes.
Measurement of benefits ? the measurement of benefits within gamified systems is tricky and must be carefully evaluated as there are many confounding factors that must be untangled. Methods and methodological contributions in this area are welcome.
Relationship to existing concepts ? there are many overlapping concepts, such as game design (e.g., the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework) and serious games. Examinations of these areas of overlap are welcome.
Gamification recovery ? not every system is destined to be gamified for all time and some systems will need to be ungamified during a ‘recovery’ phase. There are two possible reasons for this. First, after the initial wave of gamification, we anticipate that many system designers will eventually attempt to revoke the gamified components and un-gamify their system. Second, system designers may poorly gamify a system and realise that they have created harmful dynamics that they wish to remove. However, indications are that this recovery or revocation of gamification process may be tricky to navigate and is not straight forward.
Service operations ? many social media and social networks have been successfully gamified. Other business systems are less easily gamified, but service operations will likely be the next big area of interest in gamification. It is not clear, however, how gamification will impact on existing service-oriented concepts such as the servicescape model, the service-profit chain, or the service-dominant logic (SDL) model.
Target Audience
The audiences for the proposed book will include the following professionals and researchers:
Educators ? case studies will be included on class-room based redesign of activities, coupled with strong theoretical principles that will enable interested readers to go beyond the ideas presented in the volume.
Researchers ? with a strong theoretical background included in the volume, this will provide a valuable springboard to researchers (particularly from education and business) to engage with the concept of ‘gamification’ and work on new elements. This will be aided by the emphasis of key gaps in existing research and providing details on what areas need more careful research and empirical validation.
Business Managers (e.g., Marketing and Human Resources) ? With a range of case studies and theoretical chapters we aim to highlight how and why gamification is useful, while also providing some concrete guideline for implementation and a strong theoretical basis that should, when coupled with the cautionary tales (i.e., the ‘dark side’ of gamification) may be able to avoid dangerous or damaging implementation of gamification technology in the future.
IT Departments ? Many gamification concepts require strong IT support in the implementation to fully connection and gain the most motivational benefit from the approach. Therefore, IT workers and managers will need to understand what gamification aims to achieve, as well as ‘why’ they should be taking a particular path in implementation; this is achieved with the theoretical background that will help them to go beyond the details presented in other chapters of the volume.
General audience with interest in upcoming IT trends ? the volume will cover a range of focused chapters but we will work with authors and will endeavour to have these as self-contained, stand-alone chapters that can inform readers who do not possess a strong background in the subject, but who seek an overview of the subject and the range of application and value of gamification principles.
The Structure of Submitted Chapters
We anticipate chapters being between 8,000 and 15,000 words. This accommodates longer submissions.
Important Dates
2013/05/15: Proposal submission Deadline
2013/16/01: Notification of acceptance of proposal
2013/08/31: Full chapter submission
2013/09/30: Review results returned
2013/10/31: Revised chapter submission
Submission Procedure
Professionals and researchers are invited to submit a proposal to submit a chapter proposal by May 15, 2013. This should be a 2-3 page proposal that states and explains the mission and focus of your chapter.
All authors of accepted proposals will be notified by June 1, 2013 the status of their proposal and they will be provided with comprehensive chapter guidelines.
We request that the completed chapters be submitted by August 31, 2013. All chapters will be reviewed (double-blinded review).
Please note that as a contributor, you may be requested to review other submissions to the book.
Publisher
The book is schedule for publication by Springer in 2014. Additional information about Springer can be found on their main webpage: www.springer.com
Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document):
Dr. Torsten Reiners (primary contact)
School of Information Systems
Curtin University
Kent St
Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia
Tel: +61 (0) 8 9266-7642
Fax: +61 (0) 8 9266-3076
Email: t.reiners-AT-curtin.edu.au
Dr. Lincoln C. Wood
Department of Business Information Systems
Faculty of Business and Law
Auckland University of Technology
Private Bag 92006
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
Tel: + 64 (0) 9-921-9999 x6912
Fax: +64 (0) 9-921-9876
Email: Lincoln.Wood-AT-aut.ac.nz