Programming modules in higher education often face challenges such as low student motivation and engagement, exacerbated by traditional, teacher-centred methods that limit active participation. Gamification offers a transformative solution, enabling educators to redefine programming education through innovative, gamified learning activities and software applications. This approach fosters engagement, addresses existing challenges, and creates a dynamic learning environment, empowering students to succeed in their programming endeavours. This study aimed to develop and empirically evaluate a theoretical model to assess the influence of gamification elements on the motivation and engagement of first-year higher education internet programming students. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, the GE-ARCS-E theoretical model was developed. Findings revealed that students’ interaction with achievement-related and social-related game elements significantly predicted the attention and satisfaction dimensions of motivation. Additionally, the interaction of students with social-related game elements and the relevance dimension of motivation significantly predicted the confidence dimension of motivation. Lastly, confidence and satisfaction dimensions of motivation significantly predicted the academic engagement of first-year programming students. The study’s scientific contribution lies in presenting a statistically validated theoretical model that measures the interaction of students with game elements and its predictive impact on ARCS motivation, while also quantifying the influence of motivation on academic engagement. A key recommendation is that institutions should invest in the development of customisable gamification tools and platforms tailored to programming education, enabling educators to design and adapt gamified learning experiences that align with specific course objectives and student needs.