From Engagement to Endurance: A Conceptual Model of Gamification Adoption and Curriculum Misalignment in Higher Education

Abstract

This research was carried out to highlight the importance of contextualising Gamification in higher education. Despite the fact, that gamification is such a ubiquitous tool employed for student engagement, there is a need for profundity in its application beyond its use as a peripheral or supplementary instructional strategy. This paper presents a theoretical model that aims to establish adoption of gamification along the dimensions of academic culture, institutional support, student motivation, curriculum alignment, faculty competence, and assessment integration. The methodology adopted was a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique to examine these latent variables.  Two gamification tools were administered to a sample size of 146 students at a university during the period December 2024 to December 2025 and their experiences were recorded on a 21- item survey. The findings suggest that although the research constructs are internally valid, the empirical findings are constrained due to weak structural relationship with Gamification (R2=0.06).  The comparatively stronger association of Academic Culture (r = 0.23), and Institutional Support (r = 0.17) with gamification was found emphasizing the role of organizational climate and leadership endorsement to be salient factors in the success of gamification. Gamification was also found to be confined to engagement-oriented activities that are decoupled from formal learning outcomes and evaluative frameworks largely due to limited faculty agency in curriculum design or assessment reform, thereby constraining the structural integration of game-based elements into core academic processes. The paper contributes to the discourse on educational innovation by highlighting the need to reconceptualise gamification beyond isolated instructional interventions and advocates a curriculum-embedded approach and proves a structural disconnect between institutional innovation narratives and actual classroom integration.