Perceived Relevance of Digital Badges Predicts Longitudinal Change in Program Engagement

• Published in: Journal of educational psychology Vol. 112; no. 5; pp. 1020 - 1041
• Main Authors: Higashi, Ross, Schunn, Christian D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington American Psychological Association 01-07-2020
• Subjects: Access to Education; Age Differences; Curricula; Curriculum; Distance learning; Educational Equity (Finance); Educational Programs; Educational psychology; Equal Education; Ethnicity; Female; Gender Differences; High School Students; Human; Learner Engagement; Learning; Male; Middle School Students; Motivation; Online Courses; Online instruction; Predictor Variables; Programming; Racial Differences; Recognition (Achievement); Secondary school students; Student Attitudes; Student Engagement; Student Motivation; Test Construction; Time Perception; perceived relevance; engagement; digital badges
• ISSN: 0022-0663; 1939-2176
• DOI: 10.1037/edu0000401

Digital badges have long been assumed to possess motivational qualities that could encourage learners to engage with learning content. However, prior studies have found the effects of badges to be complex, differing by learner, type of badge, and potentially other factors. Qualitative reports suggest that individuals' perceptions of digital badges may play a role in moderating badges' effects: badges are only motivating when they are perceived as relevant and desirable. In the current study, we examine longitudinal episodes of data from 2,410 middle and high school users of a badged online programming curriculum to test whether there is evidence that learners' perceptions of badges' relevance predict changes in engagement over time; and whether that relationship is equitable with respect to age, sex, and ethnicity. We also investigate whether a reciprocal relationship may exist in which engagement predicts relative increases in learners' perceptions of badges as relevant to them. Learners' positive perceptions of badges' relevance predicted rank-order increases in engagement over time. Further, this relationship did not vary by age, sex, or minoritized racial/ethnic status. In addition, higher engagement also predicted upward shifts in perceived badge relevance. These results suggest that learners' subjective evaluations of digital badges are closely related to changes in their engagement with program activities, that badged engagement neither widens nor closes educational equity gaps, and that learners' regard for badges and engagement in program activities may be mutually reinforcing.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
Digital badges have been making inroads into classrooms and out-of-school time programs for nearly a decade, but their real-world effectiveness as motivational tools vary widely. In this study, we modeled individuals' opinions of badges, and found that learners who perceive a program's badges as sensible, valuable, and desirable become increasingly engaged with that program activities over time. This effect was equally true across age, sex, or race/ethnicity subgroups. Learners who are more engaged also tended to find the badges increasingly relevant over time, creating a "virtuous cycle" of increasing program engagement and perceived badge relevance over the course of the program. Thus, educational programs may be able to use digital badges to sustain and deepen student engagement, provided they create badges that participants find sensible, valuable, and desirable.