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Bridging Generative AI and Gamification in Moodle: Design and Evaluation of GamiBot

Authors José Carlos Paiva , Ricardo Queirós , Raquel Simões de Almeida , Teresa Terroso , Mário Pinto

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OASIcs.ICPEC.2026.17.pdf
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Document Identifiers

Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Applied computing → Education
  • Applied computing → E-learning
  • Human-centered computing → Interactive systems and tools
  • Computing methodologies → Artificial intelligence
  • Human-centered computing → HCI design and evaluation methods
  • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing systems and tools
Keywords
  • Generative AI
  • Educational chatbot
  • Pedagogical agent
  • Gamification
  • Moodle
  • Retrieval-augmented generation
  • Self-regulated learning

Metrics

Abstract

While Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle are ubiquitous in higher education, they often lack dynamic, personalized academic support. We present GamiBot, an intelligent pedagogical agent natively integrated into Moodle to bridge this gap. GamiBot combines Large Language Model (LLM) assistance, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) grounded in course materials, adaptive quizzes, and a structured gamification backend. To evaluate its effectiveness, we conducted a two-week pilot study across two higher education institutions. Results from telemetry (773 interactions) and student surveys demonstrated high system usability (74.6% positive sentiment) and strong chatbot performance (69.4%). Students heavily favored active self-regulation, dedicating 53% of interactions to generating adaptive quizzes rather than passive content summaries. Conversely, gamification elements received mixed feedback (31.7%), underscoring the need for technical refinement and high customizability. Ultimately, GamiBot suggests that integrating generative AI directly into existing LMS workflows can provide reliable, context-aware formative support that aligns with self-regulated learning strategies.

Cite As Get BibTex

José Carlos Paiva, Ricardo Queirós, Raquel Simões de Almeida, Teresa Terroso, and Mário Pinto. Bridging Generative AI and Gamification in Moodle: Design and Evaluation of GamiBot. In 7th International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2026). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 145, pp. 17:1-17:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026) https://doi.org/10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2026.17

Author Details

José Carlos Paiva
  • Pedagogical Innovation Center, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Ricardo Queirós
  • CRACS, INESC TEC & ESMAD, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Raquel Simões de Almeida
  • CIR, ESS, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Teresa Terroso
  • ID+, ESMAD, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Mário Pinto
  • ID+, ESMAD, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal

Funding

  • Queirós, Ricardo: This work is funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the support UID/50014/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/50014/2025).
  • de Almeida, Raquel Simões: This work has been supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through R&D Units funding (UID/5210/2025) https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/05210/2025.
  • Terroso, Teresa: Funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/04057/2025, https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/04057/2025).

Supplementary Materials

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