Positive motivational qualities are important criteria to promote positive learning experiences in school and foster academic success (Ruppert, 2013; Ryan and Deci, 2017). An adequate degree of self-determination, tasks that match the students’ abilities, and a stimulating learning environment can have a positive effect on motivational qualities (Ryan and Moller, 2016). In intrinsically motivated learning, the driving force lies in the action of learning itself, which becomes the goal of learner behavior (Deci and Ryan, 1985). A rather autotelic aspect of intrinsic motivation is flow experience. In a flow state, the complete absorption in an activity is experienced. Action and awareness merge and an absorbedness in the task occurs (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). An activity should fulfill certain requirements in order to foster flow experience: (a) the structure of a task needs to be very clear; (b) the learner receives unambiguous feedback on their performance and knows at all times what to do; (c) and there is no room for misunderstandings (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014; Engeser and Schiepe-Tiska, 2021). Furthermore, the task should present an optimal challenge by creating a balance between the requirements of the task and the skills of an individual (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Digital gaming elements might fulfill these requirements. By adopting digital gaming elements into biology lessons, the flow experience could be supported in the learning process. Both, intrinsic motivation according to Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci, 2017, 2020) and flow theory according to Csikszentmihalyi (1975; see Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014) describe an autotelic situation. During an autotelic experience, the action is performed regardless of external consequences. External stimuli are not involved, since the experience of the action itself is the reason to act (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Flow experience is often intertwined with the occurrence and development of intrinsic motivation. Both flow experience and intrinsic motivation have been found to positively affect school performance (Csikszentmihalyi and Schiefele, 1993; Kowal and Fortier, 1999). The relationship between flow experience, intrinsic motivation, and basic need satisfaction has been investigated in previous studies (Kowal and Fortier, 1999; Lüking et al., 2021; Wilde, 2021). The satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and the need for competence have already been identified as predictors for the flow experience in out-of-school learning settings (Lüking et al., 2021). In these settings, learners can directly interact with original objects by touching or smelling them, and their actions may merge with the environment to a high degree. In digital learning settings, information processing is limited to two sensory channels, the visual and auditory. In addition, there is a difference in the possibilities of communication with classmates. These are rarely addressed in digital learning environments, because they are highly individualized (Hillmayr et al., 2020). In the field of biology education, there is currently no empirical evidence that the perceived satisfaction of basic needs is related to the flow experience in digital learning settings. The following study aims to address this research gap.

In addition to intrinsic motivation, the satisfaction of basic needs may also foster the level of flow experience (Kowal and Fortier, 1999; Schüler et al., 2013). In biology education in traditional classroom settings and in out-of-school learning settings, there is already some evidence that the satisfaction of basic needs and the experience of flow may be positively related (Großmann and Wilde, 2016; Lüking et al., 2021). These findings lead to the question of whether the relationship between basic need satisfaction and flow experience can also be transferred to digital learning settings. Gamification might promote motivation through the use of elements from entertainment games in the design of digital learning settings (Werbach et al., 2012; Dicheva et al., 2015; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2022). Game design elements include avatars, a narrative context, feedback, and scoring points (Sailer et al., 2017). When using these, the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness might be addressed and might increase the learner’s autotelic qualities of motivation (Schüler et al., 2013; Sailer et al., 2017). This raises the question: Do the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness represent predictors for the flow experience of students in the digital gamified learning setting?

This study investigated whether there is a relation between the perceived satisfaction of basic needs and the experience of flow in a digital learning environment. The assessed values for flow and basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as well as correlations between these factors are shown in Table 2.

Based on these values, a multiple linear regression was performed. This resulted in a significant model for the relationship between the experience of flow as the dependent variable and the basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as independent variables, R² = 0.24, corr. R² = 0.22, F(3,157) = 16.37, p < 0.001.

The regression model showed a significant predictor effect for the basic need of autonomy on the learners’ flow experience with a stand. β = 0.25 (t = 2.86, p = 0.005). For competence, we found a significant predictor effect with a stand. β = 0.22 (t = 2.48, p = 0.014) for experienced flow. The predictor effect of the basic need for relatedness on students’ flow experience was not significant with a stand. β = 0.15 (t = 1.97, p = 0.050). Overall, the model indicated that the basic needs of autonomy and competence in particular are variables that predict flow experience when working in a digital gamified learning setting.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the perceived basic needs of the self-determination theory autonomy, competence, and relatedness are predictors for flow experience in a digital gamified learning environment. We found that perceived autonomy and perceived competence were predictors for flow. However, perceived relatedness did not predict flow experience. It has already been shown that the use of game design elements in a school context can contribute to the satisfaction of basic needs and thus to increased intrinsic motivation (Sailer et al., 2017).

The basic need for autonomy can be addressed by providing meaningful choices (Schüler et al., 2013). This perception of freedom of choice was enabled for the students with regard to the choice of the avatar in the gamified learning setting. In addition, the learners had the opportunity to decide individually when to work on which topic. The provision of these choices may have encouraged them to learn at their own pace according to their preferences, thus achieving an optimal match between the requirements of a task and learners’ individual skills (Rheinberg et al., 2003). This optimization of task demand is an important prerequisite for flow (Rheinberg, 2000).

The need for competence describes the striving to perceive his/her own actions as effective and to expand his/her skills (Reeve, 2015). This is also important for a smooth, automatic flow of an activity. A person who feels competent knows what to do and feels like he/she can control his/her actions (Ryan and Deci, 2017). This, in turn, is a characteristic of the flow experience (Rheinberg et al., 2003; Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). In the digital learning environment, perceived competence was to be addressed via some interactive elements. Through self-assessment tests and a scoring system, the learners always received direct feedback on their actions. These design elements might lead learners to perceive themselves as initiators and their actions as meaningful in order to satisfy the basic need for competence (Ryan and Deci, 2017).

In this study, relatedness was not found to be a significant predictor of flow experience. There may be several reasons for this result. First, a statistical issue needs to be addressed: a β-error cannot be excluded (Cohen, 1982). Hence, further studies should assess the relationship between basic need satisfaction and flow experience. Furthermore, the digital gamified learning setting that was used did not require interaction between students within the learning setting. In order to avoid a competitive situation, the website was designed without sharing the information about the learners’ results within the class.

The results are in line with previous studies (Großmann and Wilde, 2016; Lüking et al., 2021). Großmann and Wilde (2016) investigated the connection between autonomy and flow experience in the school learning setting and were able to show that autonomy promotion can foster flow experience in the classroom. Similar results were observed in a field trip in an out-of-school learning setting. While the needs for autonomy and competence were shown to be predictors of the flow experience, in this study perceived relatedness did not predict flow experience either (Lüking et al., 2021). Lüking et al. (2021) determined a variance explanation of the flow experience of R² = 0.52. According to Cohen (1988), this corresponds to a high variance resolution; the variance resolution in the present study was medium with a coefficient of determination of corrected R² = 0.22. It is therefore reasonable to assume that flow experience in a digital gamified learning setting is dependent on additional predictors.

In general, the basic needs for autonomy and competence from Ryan and Deci’s (2017, 2020) self-determination theory were found to be predictors for flow experience according to Csikszentmihalyi (1975). However, one should note that the extent to which the measured differences in the satisfaction of basic needs might be attributed to the digital gamified learning setting was not captured by this data. Moreover, a corresponding control group in a non-digital setting was not included in this study. In order to better evaluate the predictor effect of the basic needs on the flow experience, further studies should address these issues. For example, certain interactive elements can be beneficial while others can be detrimental. In order to be able to make clear recommendations for action, there is a need for both qualitative studies on the processes behind learning in such digital learning settings and also quantitative studies that examine individual elements of these learning settings. In addition, different digital learning settings need to be investigated. This is because the results found here cannot be generalized for all forms of digital learning settings and therefore only apply to the digital gamified learning setting with the topic of “The World of Movement” that was investigated in this study.

Still, more reliable statements about specific elements of the learning setting and the basic needs as well as the magnitude of the predictor effects of the basic needs on the flow experience could be achieved. A possible confound may be rooted in the novelty effect (Orion, 1989, 1993). This effect refers to the novelty of an unfamiliar learning setting. This can unsettle learners and thus divert their attention from the learning object (Falk et al., 1978). The novelty effect can be circumvented by designing further studies in such a way that digital learning settings are integrated into the lessons several times. The novelty effect could thus be eliminated over several measurements over time. Another, somewhat less time-consuming way of estimating this effect is by surveying how frequently and regularly digital learning settings are used in the learners’ regular lessons.

Nevertheless, it is worthwhile for developers of digital learning settings to consider the connection between the basic needs of autonomy and competence and the experience of flow. This relationship seems to play a significant role in school, out-of-school, and digital learning settings (Großmann and Wilde, 2016; Lüking et al., 2021). Flow experience is associated with high performance quality, that is, good learning success (Bätz et al., 2009), especially since there is already some evidence of improved learning success through the promotion of basic needs in the school learning environment. This leads to the goal of also considering the promotion of basic needs in digital learning settings. The exact way in which these can be promoted to a higher degree in digital learning settings should be the goal of further research.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary materials, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

The studies involving humans were approved by Ethics Committee of Bielefeld University. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Written informed consent for participation in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardians/next of kin.

SL: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. SW: Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. MW: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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