{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T13:02:43Z","timestamp":1780578163354,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768003200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci\u00f3n y Universidades","award":["TED2021-130283B \u2013 C22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TED2021-130283B \u2013 C22"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MTI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Gamification is widely used to enhance student motivation, yet many educational design proposals remain conceptual and provide limited operational guidance for digital learning environments. This paper introduces APAR (Activities, Points, Achievements and Rewards), a content-independent structural framework for designing and implementing educational gamification in learning platforms. Grounded in motivation theories (including Self-Determination Theory and Relatedness\u2013Autonomy\u2013Mastery\u2013Purpose) and reward taxonomies (Status, Access, Power and Stuff), APAR distinguishes high-level design constructs from concrete game elements (e.g., points, badges and leaderboards) and provides a systematic design loop linking learning activities, feedback, intermediate goals and reinforcement. The contribution includes (i) a mapping table relating each APAR construct to motivation models, supported dynamics and typical learning-platform implementations; (ii) an actionable design guide; and (iii) an empirical illustration implemented in Moodle in a higher-education Computer Networks course. In this setting, the proportion of enrolled students taking the final exam increased from 58% to 72% in the first year, and the proportion of enrolled students passing increased from 17% to 38%; in 2022\u20132023 these values were 70% and 39%, respectively (56% of exam takers passed). While the use case relies on quantitative course-level indicators and is observational, the findings support the potential of structural gamification as an integrated methodological tool and motivate further mixed-method validations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mti10010010","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T07:30:34Z","timestamp":1768203034000},"page":"10","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["APAR: A Structural Design and Guidance Framework for Gamification in Education Based on Motivation Theories"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3390-0035","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J. Carlos","family":"L\u00f3pez-Ardao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5965-1076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3417-5821","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergio","family":"Herrer\u00eda-Alonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3963-0451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M. Estrella","family":"Sousa-Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8697-4807","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alfonso","family":"Lago Ferreiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronic Technology, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8402-9825","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9s","family":"Su\u00e1rez-Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3299-150X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ra\u00fal F.","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Rubio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"atlanTTic Research Center for Telecommunication Technologies, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1177\/0973258621992644","article-title":"The Role of Creative Communications and Gamification in Student Engagement in Higher Education: A Sentiment Analysis Approach","volume":"17","author":"Bilro","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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