Intrinsic Motivation in Child-Computer Interaction: A Scoping Review

Authors : Gökçe Elif Baykal, Burcu Ünlütabak

Pages : 14-37

Doi:10.26650/SP2023-1406711

View : 126 | Download : 103

Publication Date : 2025-05-07

Article Type : Review Paper

Abstract :Child-computer interaction research focuses on the design of technologies that support the learning processes of children. Intrinsic motivation is an important factor that influences children\\\'s interactions with technology and their learning processes. However, the relationship between technology and children’s intrinsic motivation in learning processes has not yet been sufficiently examined. In this review, we examine how intrinsic motivation is defined and measured in relation to learning and technology design in the child-computer interaction (CCI) research field. For this purpose, we conducted a scoping review in the leading venues of CCI research: the International Journal of ChildComputer Interaction and the ACM Digital Library. This eventually resulted in 27 publications that used the word stem ‘intrinsic motiv*’ in the title, abstract, and keywords. Our analysis revealed that intrinsic motivation is commonly defined as an inherent characteristic of the learner and is associated with the characteristics outlined in SelfDetermination Theory in the field of psychology. Approximately half of these studies (15 studies) used experimental methodology and a quantitative research approach. The remaining studies were highly varied and included case studies, observations, interviews and surveys, user studies, field trials, and secondary data analysis using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method research approaches. Although most of the experimental studies highlighted the link between intrinsic motivation and learning, only six studies measured whether there is an increase in children’s learning outcomes, constituting only 20% of the entire corpus. We discuss the implications of these findings for technology design, CCI research, and finding ways to improve children’s learning in different contexts. The main contribution of this scoping review is to provide suggestions for future research about methods of assessing intrinsic motivation in children’s learning. Accordingly, future directions that will shed light on the research on technology designs developed to support children’s intrinsic motivation in the learning process are discussed.
Keywords : Çocuk-bilgisayar etkileşimi, iç motivasyon, teknoloji tasarımı, öğrenme

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