It is well known that in order for deep learning to occur, students need to be kept motivated. Motivation can be defined as Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation, both of which are powerful forces that shape how we behave. These philosophies of motivation were developed by Deci and Ryan, and further refined by other researchers since the original definition was introduced. Extrinsic motivation can be defined as doing an activity in order to attain some separable satisfaction, whereas intrinsic motivation can be defined as doing an activity for its inherent satisfaction. We will connect game-based learning to extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation will be discussed in further detail later.

Extrinsic Motivation and Game-based Learning/Gamification - Extrinsic motivation is easier to recognize, because it is associated with a reward of some kind. Using extrinsic motivation as educators/facilitators is important to keep students/participants motivated throughout their learning. Gamification has the power to keep learners engaged and more motivated and recent studies have researched the positive impacts of gamification on motivation (Diane 2020).

Gamification and game-based learning often utilizes extrinsic motivation in many ways. Factors such as rewards, incentives, levels, points or badges can keep players motivated to continue participating (Vermeulen 2021). This is particularly helpful for those who have trouble staying on task because they are not as intrinsically interested in what they’re learning. Add in an incentive to work as a team on completing a task and now kids are learning the excitement of competition and the value of working as a team to achieve success. By focusing on creating a gaming environment that includes factors that assist with extrinsic motivation, students will likely stay more motivated in their learning.

Entrepreneurial Education, Motivation and Game-based Learning/Gamification - Innovative educational methods like game-based learning, gamification and virtual reality have the potential to enhance and sustain entrepreneurship education. By using game aspects such as earning rewards, competing with friends, or working together, gamification and game-based learning helps to create and maintain the focus on players to keep going. With gamified entrepreneurship, this translates to either learning about or completing one more task so that a product can be sold.

An experimental study was performed to explore the learning efficiency of the environment and the gamified learning activities and assess their learning impact on student’s motivation and attitude as well as their overall learning experience. The evaluation study revealed quite interesting results and findings indicate that the framework offers efficient gamified learning activities that increase students’ motivation and assist in the formulation of entrepreneurship mentality, skills and competencies (Grivokostopoulou, Kovas, Perikos 2019). The results highlight that gamified learning activities that engage students in realistic situations which require students to put theoretical knowledge into practice have a greater impact on student learning with regard to entrepreneurship concepts and also their comprehension and learning experience.

The gamified approach improves experience and motivation with university entrepreneurship program managers (Diane 2020). Not only do students increase their motivation, they also show a deeper formulation of entrepreneurship mentality, skills and competencies (Grivokostopoulou et al. 2019). Studies even found that playing games motivated students to discuss new concepts with their peers more regularly (Vermeulen 2021).