18.06.2026
The paper “Gamification in University Education as a Regime of Visibility: Between Instrument, Playful Experience and Institutional Dynamics” by Prof. Neviana Krasteva, DSc and Dr. Aleksey Potebnia from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” has been accepted for presentation at the international conference “Visible and Invisible Universities”, which will take place on 18–19 June 2026 at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
The conference brings together scholars from various disciplines to explore the processes of visibility and invisibility in higher education, ranging from institutional governance and academic labor to digital technologies and the transformation of university environments in the context of platformization and the growing influence of artificial intelligence.
In their paper, the authors examine gamification in higher education as a specific regime of visibility that shapes what is recognized, measured, and valued as academic activity. The study combines theoretical perspectives with empirical evidence gathered from three universities through surveys, interviews, and comparative analysis. Particular attention is devoted to the ways in which gamified systems and AI-supported platforms render certain forms of student engagement highly visible and measurable, while other essential dimensions of education—such as critical thinking, creative reflection, and informal collaboration—often remain beyond the reach of algorithmic observation.
The research raises an important question: do digital technologies merely record educational reality, or do they actively participate in its construction? By approaching gamification from this perspective, the study moves beyond purely technological and pedagogical considerations and becomes a broader philosophical inquiry into how contemporary universities define what counts as valuable knowledge, meaningful achievement, and legitimate participation.
The paper has been developed within a research project funded by the National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria under the Competition for Fundamental Scientific Research 2024, Contract No. KP-06-N85/3 of 5 December 2024. The project contributes to the advancement of interdisciplinary research on the digital transformation of higher education by integrating economic, organizational, educational, and philosophical perspectives in the analysis of contemporary university practices.
Participation in the conference provides an important opportunity to present the project's findings to an international academic audience and to contribute to ongoing discussions about the future of the university. At a time when increasing aspects of education are translated into data, metrics, rankings, and algorithmic indicators, this research reminds us that the essence of academic life cannot be reduced to what can be measured. Instead, it draws attention to those often invisible dimensions- intellectual curiosity, critical dialogue, and the collective creation of knowledge -that continue to form the very foundation of the university’s mission.