Ethnographic Analysis of a Gamified Course

The Federal University of Paraná, in Brazil, offers an introductory course as part of the Computer Science bachelor degree. To engage students, these classes use gamification. Although the lectures use gamified resources, a better understanding of how gamification elements contribute to engagement in this context was needed. With this goal, ethnography was used to understand whether and how students interact with game elements and to raise ideas to improve the design of gamification elements. Results suggest that narrative and cognitive challenges are gamification elements that provoke student engagement.