Gamification is the use of a game-like concept to create engaging and supportive learning environments that motivate students. Elements of games have been historically important in teaching and learning. Game elements effectively engage students, and the primary role of educators to engage students in learning is becoming a priority [1-3]. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the process of integrating new tools and technologies that involve game elements depends on the educator’s ability to: (1) construct a learning environment by employing new ideas; (2) consolidate new technology with a new pedagogy; and (3) promote socially active classrooms to encourage group work, cooperative interaction, and collaborative learning [4]. Furthermore, integrating game elements in education is a technique that is used to foster collaboration among students [5] and to extend learning while developing their cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions [6].

The application of game elements, such as game dynamics and game mechanics, commonly known as “gamification” has been entering the realms of education, lifestyle, and health [7]. In the education context, gamification is regarded as a tool that has been influential [8] and a prominent trend in recent years [9]. It creates a great deal of value for students since it encourages learning through entertainment [10]. With multifunction tools, gamification is defined as the use of game design elements in nongame contexts [11]. The entire process of gamification is to create interactions between educators and machines, but not to replace educators [11].

Gamification is an application that integrates both game mechanics and game dynamics with the support of a virtual learning environment, offering various benefits to humans [12]. Previous studies have investigated the development and usage of gamification across disciplines. For instance, gamification positively influences consumers’ behaviors in switching intention between membership cards and mobile apps [13]. On the other hand, gamification increases bicycle riding activities and logging behaviors through a point system [14], promotes the quality of teacher education and in-service training, assists researchers in environmental multicriteria decision analysis specifically related to water [15], and supports collaborative learning in primary education through implementation of a tactile and tangible multitablet gamified quiz system [2].

Gamification researchers have also explored personality types that can predict players’ preferences for game elements and mechanics [7], as well as energy-related behaviors that are necessary to engage residential customers in energy application enabled by smart meters [16]. Interestingly, many researchers have designed gamification-based applications to capture consumers’ fun and “gameful” experiences [9] and to observe weight loss in overweight and obese adolescents, which eventually improves their health conditions [12]. On the other hand, Zhang et al [17] used gamification for cognitive bias modification. Besides usage, usability of gamification is equally important as it enables users to perform tasks effectively and efficiently. Usability ensures a gamification-based tool impacts users in many ways, such as achieving goals, increasing proactive behaviors, and improving performance; otherwise, the tool would be worthless.

Similarly, usability was the main concern in this study. It is critically important to measure the usability of a gamification-based tool to ensure it is usable, useful, and effective in teaching and learning ethics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to present the development of a gamification-based mobile app called Ethoshunt and assessment of its usability in ethics education. The researchers used a correlation method to examine the relationships between mobile app usability and positive emotions, ethical competency, and user experience. Opinions from students based on their experiences of using Ethoshunt were also gathered. The results were expected to provide evidence of the effectiveness and usability of Ethoshunt.

The development of Ethoshunt is divided into four steps. The first step is the identification of the game mechanics and game dynamics of Ethoshunt. The second step is the definition of the components of the overall mobile app process module workflow. The third step is the presentation of how Ethoshunt functions. Finally, the fourth step is the identification of the learning flow through Ethoshunt integration.

The participants were students enrolled in a counseling ethics education course at a public university in Malaysia. The students were all first semester undergraduate students who were diverse in terms of age, gender, race, and cultural identity. The participants were chosen based on the research purpose and consideration of the comprehensiveness of the resources available. Ethics education is a cut and dry course. The course is considered complex and covers a large number of topics. The students registered for the counseling ethics education course are required to read, digest, and memorize the contents included in the Malaysian Counselor Act 1998 (Act 580) and Counselors Code of Ethics [45]. They are also required to attend lectures that are conducted traditionally in a classroom setting and complete assignments given by their educator. Therefore, a change is needed to ensure that student motivation to learn ethics is sustained and to provide an engaging learning environment.

A total of 39 undergraduate counseling students participated in this pilot study. They were selected through cluster sampling, in which a particular batch of students was chosen as participants. The Ethoshunt development project was conducted throughout four full semesters, which is equivalent to 2 years. On the other hand, the ethics education course is offered once in a year, resulting in two batches or clusters of students for 2 continuous years. Each cluster consists of students studying in the following two programs: (1) Bachelor of Education in Guidance and Counseling with Honors and (2) Bachelor of Counseling with Honors. Therefore, one cluster of students was selected randomly as participants of this study, resulting in 39 counseling students. The population consisted of 84 participants.

Besides development of Ethoshunt, the researchers employed a mixed-methods research design to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data gathered from a sample introduced to Ethoshunt. The researchers conducted a pilot study to assess the extent of positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability among undergraduate counseling students introduced to Ethoshunt and to capture their experiences of using Ethoshunt. The first stage of the pilot study involved survey analysis using Pearson correlation, and the purpose was to examine the relationships between two constructs as follows: (1) positive emotions and mobile app usability; (2) ethical competency and mobile app usability; and (3) user experience and mobile app usability. This was also called the quantitative phase.

The Gamification User Scale, a Malay language Likert-type scale ranging from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree), was developed to measure positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability. Positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability are grouped into four sections, and the scale consists of 20 items. The first section consists of four items, and it measures students’ positive emotions regarding Ethoshunt. The second section consists of four items about mobile app usability. The third section consists of eight items on students’ ethical competency, and the final section involves four items that measure user experience. The scale has a high internal consistency (reliability, Cronbach α coefficient of .94). A panel of experts evaluated the content validity of the scale. Three experts, who are registered counselors with the Board of Counselors (Malaysia), evaluated the content validity of the scale in terms of comprehensiveness and clarity of the items. The examples of items for each construct are as follows:

Another separate sheet was attached to the scale, and it involved the second stage of analysis, which is the qualitative phase. The separate sheet sought to collect students’ opinions based on their experiences using featured gamification elements. The researchers conducted analyses manually to understand students’ insights. An affinity diagram was used as a tool to analyze qualitative data by integrating the traditional qualitative simple data analysis method of using a pen and sticky notes. Opinions gathered from the students were transformed into an affinity diagram involving the following three steps: (1) capture; (2) group; and (3) label. The opinions from all participants were captured, grouped, and labeled to determine students’ insights regarding Ethoshunt as a gamification tool in ethics education. A total of five open-ended questions were included in the questionnaire, in addition to the scale (Multimedia Appendix 1). All opinions provided by the participants were coded using a traditional simple qualitative data analysis tool.

The developed Ethoshunt app was used in parallel with conservative classroom lectures. It was not meant to replace the lectures, but rather complement them in a fun way. The ethics course instructor conducted the conservative classroom lectures for the first three topics. Thereafter, the instructor started the first set of hints, and the students followed the hints to get their ethos points, which eventually brought them to the next level of hints. The Ethoshunt was used until week 12 of the semester academic calendar. The ethics course instructor then rewarded the students who successfully managed to get to the next level up to the matured adult level, with treats, educational visits, or educational cash vouchers. Based on the developed Ethoshunt, the students’ positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability were assessed, and evaluations were conducted on a scale of 1 through 5. Students who used Ethoshunt indicated whether they strongly agree or strongly disagree with the items that reflect their perceived level of positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability. Furthermore, students responded to five open-ended questions concerning Ethoshunt. The surveys were distributed to the students, and they returned the surveys to the researchers after completion.

Ethoshunt has been designed and created by the researchers through an understanding of game elements from traditional treasure hunt to aid learning, which is not seen as a serious game. Game mechanics refer to building blocks for gamifying offers, such as badges and scoring systems [35]. On the other hand, game dynamics describe the effects of game mechanics on students [35]. The game mechanics integrated in the mobile-based Ethoshunt trigger exploration in finding information relevant to the ethics course being taught, and there is a competition element as the game dynamic of Ethoshunt. Competition in Ethoshunt refers to a healthy game that creates collaboration among classmates or other game users in the long term. It involves a combination of game mechanics and motivational drivers to make Ethoshunt more fun and appealing to students. Levels, points, and rewards were also chosen as the game mechanics of Ethoshunt from other types of game mechanics, such as prizes, badges, and progress bars. In Ethoshunt, ethos levels eventually unlock the ethics course contents and ethos points increase the running numerical value of students’ work.

Figure 1 presents the game plan of Ethoshunt for introducing four levels of ethics acquisition, which include comprehension and application. All students can choose the gender (male or female). They start at the infancy level and progress to the childhood level, teenager level, and eventually matured adult level. If they fail to secure points at any level, they may be demoted to an earlier level. Students who have achieved the matured adult level are considered competent, and they are perceived to have gained good understanding, experience, and application of the ethics course content. Ultimately, students at the matured adult level will experience a sense of pride in learning the ethics education course.

Figure 2 illustrates the system architecture used in developing Ethoshunt. The system architecture was designed to handle three types of interfaces, including mobile web browser, desktop web browser, and Android mobile app. The administrators have a lot of information to view; hence, specifically for administrators, Ethoshunt is designed to be viewed using a desktop web browser. The system has been tested on the desktop web browsers Google Chrome (version 74.0.3729.131, official build, 64-bit; Google) on Windows 10 (Microsoft) and Safari (version 11.0.3; Apple) on Mac OS X El Capitan (version 10.11.6; Apple).

Users can use either a mobile web browser or the Android mobile app to access the system. The system has been tested on the mobile web browser Google Chrome (version 74.0.3729.157; Google), and the Android mobile app has been tested on Android Pie (version 9.0; Google).

All views from the mobile web browser, desktop web browser, and Android mobile app are connected to the application server that stores the Ethoshunt database. A unique architecture needs to be implemented for the Android mobile app, where a web service module and sync module need to be placed in between the interface and server to establish a compatible connection between the app and the server. This ensures a real-time update of the Android mobile app once the server has been updated using either a desktop or mobile web browser.

Game mechanics and game dynamics are two crucial components in a gamification-based mobile app. Hint is used as a game mechanic in Ethoshunt. The ethics educator sends hints relevant to the ethics course contents to the students (Figure 3). It can be at any time of the day. The dedicated Android app receives the hints automatically via message, and an alert is displayed. The types of hints can lead to two types of activities as follows: (1) hidden information in the virtual world that requires students to find internet stories, links, movies, notes, quotes, images, and sounds related to the topics being discussed, with guidance by the hints and (2) hidden information in the real world that requires students to find physical clues related to the topics being discussed, with guidance by the hints. Students then submit the answers to the ethics educator and are given points for correct answers.

In the context of this study, a total of 39 students used Ethoshunt. The ethics educator initially sent a hint to the students after completion of the first three topics. They responded to the hint by submitting the required format of answers to the ethics educator through Ethoshunt. Points were given for correct answers, and the process was repeated throughout the semester. The achievement of each student, which is the level of ethics acquisition, was determined at the end of the semester. Examples of hints sent to the counseling students and types of hints required by the ethics educator are as follows: (1) What makes counseling supervision effective? (text); (2) What are the ethical dilemmas encountered in counseling research? (animation); (3) Therapeutic counseling relationship (image); (4) The counselor as a person and professional (video); (5) What a counselor should do when his or her client reports suicidal ideation? (text); (6) Songs relevant to confidentiality (audio).

Students who use Ethoshunt will be able to take part in the learning process through a meaningful educational flow. Through this flow, students develop their competence in ethics education and meaningfully reflect on what has been taught by the ethics educator prior to making their own revisions. Furthermore, this flow strengthens the process of conveying ethics course contents using gamification. Figure 4 shows the learning flow that every student will experience. First, achievement enables students to earn public recognition (learning peers and educator) for completing the tasks given. Second, students will check on their appointments, where they need to check in to receive new hints from their ethics educator. Third, students will collaborate and work with other learning peers to accomplish learning goals. Fourth, students are encouraged to work on the epic meaning, where they are expected to work to achieve excellent learning outcomes. Thereafter, students will receive unexpected rewards or bonuses for their achievements, and this is to motivate students to move forward and set countdowns. Through countdowns, students will tackle challenges in a limited amount of time. The seventh component in the flow is discovery. Students will navigate through the learning space and uncover pockets of knowledge. Students will then learn to synthesize the knowledge they have gained and work continuously on challenges that require multiple skills to solve. The ninth component is loss aversion, where students play to avoid losing what they have already gained, and finally, students will go through infinite play, where they continuously learn until becoming experts in the field. Students who are active throughout the learning process involving Ethoshunt will achieve unexpected positive outcomes.

The mean scores of positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability were calculated. The mean scores ranged from 2.2 to 5.0, which indicates that most of the participants’ selections on the scale fell between 2 (disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). Figure 5 shows the distribution of the mean scores among the participants. The distribution pattern suggested that there were relevant relationships among positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability.

For the first stage of analysis (Table 1), Pearson correlation indicated that positive emotions, ethical competency, and user experience were significantly related to mobile app usability. Positive emotions were positively related to mobile app usability (r=0.744, P<.001). There were also significant positive relationships between ethical competency and mobile app usability (r=0.686, P<.001) and user experience and mobile app usability (r=0.614, P<.001).

Thereafter, Guildford rule of thumb was used to determine the strength of the relationships. Based on the rule of thumb (Multimedia Appendix 2), positive emotions had high correlation, followed by ethical competency and user experience, which had moderate correlation with mobile app usability.

For the second stage of analysis and referring to question one in Multimedia Appendix 1, it was found that 74% (29/39) of students had a better understanding of ethics education. They mentioned that their knowledge about ethics expanded, and it was their most meaningful experience. However, the opinions of 26% (10/39) of students were focused specifically on the ethics educator, ethics course, and classroom, instead of delivering perceptions about their most meaningful experiences in learning ethics.

For the second question, 36% (14/39) of students mentioned that the opportunity given to them to present in the class and the ethics educator’s sharing of own experiences in ethics education were the most helpful experiences in the ethics class. They were able to make their own reflections based on the support provided by the ethics educator and were able to share their reflections with their classmates. One of the students mentioned that knowledge gained through the technology-based education tool was the most helpful experience, as the student could learn while enhancing the understanding of ethics. The remaining students stated that the activities conducted in the ethics class and the support from the ethics educator were the most helpful experiences in learning ethics.

In responding to what can be improved in the ethics education class, 26% (10/39) of students were expecting technology-based elements in learning ethics and 74% (29/39) of students focused on traditional teaching methods. For the fourth question, 38% (11/39) of students stated that the technology-mediated ethics education class can be improved by providing high-speed internet facilities in the classroom, extending the duration of the ethics class, and including more game elements in the mobile app. The rest of the students suggested frequent use of game-based tools in the classroom, as well as an attractive, colorful, and user-friendly mobile app. Finally, for the last question, 59% (23/39) of students wanted to see improvement in the elements of Ethoshunt. They suggested more game elements, more challenging questions, and more button functions, as well as the inclusion of animation with motions, attractive graphics, and ethics notes in games to improve ethics education classes that use Ethoshunt. The remaining students commented on the external factors of Ethoshunt, such as accessing Ethoshunt offline and internet speed.

In this study, the researchers found relationships between mobile app usability and positive emotions, ethical competency, and user experience. In addition, the researchers gathered new insights to be incorporated as ideas of gamification in ethics education. It is interesting to note that most of the students had meaningful experiences in learning ethics, and they considered Ethoshunt as a good mobile app with room for improvement.

The results of the survey analysis showed that there were relevant relationships between positive emotions and mobile app usability, ethical competency and mobile app usability, and user experience and mobile app usability. The highest correlation with mobile app usability was noted for positive emotions, followed by ethical competency and user experience. The results are in line with findings from other studies, which emphasize positive emotions as the effect of gamification techniques [35,36]. Blohm and Lelmelster [6] mentioned that gamification promotes behavior changes that could be the result of positive emotions exhibited after being exposed to gamification elements. Students who have experienced positive emotions as a result of using gamification in ethics education would most probably support mobile app usability. They would consider a gamification-based mobile app as a useful tool that can assist them in learning ethics. On the other hand, ethical competency and user experience recorded moderate relationships with mobile app usability. It can be seen that ethical competency and user experience do not greatly alter the idea of using gamification in ethics education. Although Ethoshunt was used to enhance the understanding of ethics education, students still perceived that there was not much difference in their ethical competency after using Ethoshunt. Their experience of using Ethoshunt was also almost similar to what they experience with traditional teaching and learning methods. Their positive emotions flourished more compared with ethical competency and user experience, which indicates the great impact of using gamification in ethics education. The findings reflect that positive emotions were associated with the usability of Ethoshunt. The primary objective of developing Ethoshunt was to improve students’ ethical competency. However, the findings showed that students prefer a fun, contented, and interesting learning environment to learn ethics education. This would eventually help them to invest more time in exploring Ethoshunt and learn ethics education simultaneously.

The second stage of analysis that involved qualitative data reported various comments or feedback from students. Most of the students experienced fun and joy in learning ethics. They preferred more games in ethics education. However, they suggested providing high-speed internet and more time to explore Ethoshunt. All students participating in the study owned mobile phones and were able to access mobile data. However, the speed of the internet varies depending on multiple factors, such as network, mobile processor, and type of mobile phone. In addition, the design of the mobile app affects usability. A mobile app that is designed well will definitely attract users and increase the chance of improving usability [43].

Past literature reviews relevant to gamification that can explain positive emotions, ethical competency, user experience, and mobile app usability are very limited. This restricted the researchers in providing arguments that could support the research findings. Ethoshunt requires good internet connectivity, which is a constraint for some students who do not have access to smartphones and the internet. As for gamification itself, the newly developed online-based mobile app Ethoshunt can be used for all ethics-based courses, which can be expanded in the future to benefit other disciplines, such as ethics in engineering, ethics in medicine, ethics in law, ethics in business and marketing, ethics in technology, etc. In the future, a larger sample size can be used to broaden the perspectives of gamification, and assessments should be conducted in large-scale actual research.

Ethics education is one of the most important areas of knowledge acquisition in any profession. It is the responsibility of ethics educators to prepare students to learn, understand, experience, and apply ethics education to their personal and professional work. Lack of ethics knowledge and self-care awareness can contribute to poor ethical decision-making ability. Therefore, it is necessary to implement new strategies in teaching and learning to enhance the understanding of ethics education among students. The integration of gamification elements, integration of the use of game dynamics and game mechanics, and implementation of gamification deserve greater attention. Ethoshunt, a gamification-based mobile app, is one of the tools that can be integrated in teaching and learning ethics, as it enables creative and intuitive skills, which may encourage students to learn ethics more attractively and effectively. Furthermore, the nature of ethics education is complicated, and it is quite challenging to comprehensively teach ethics education in a semester. Thus, ethics educators may use Ethoshunt (although it requires improvement) to disseminate and apply ethics-related knowledge while making learning enjoyable.