The Future of Education

Museums increasingly compete for visitors’ attention while pursuing educational missions that depend on sustained engagement and meaningful interaction. This paper presents a stamp-based gamification model designed to increase museum engagement, support informal learning, and encourage repeat visits. The intervention combines a physical “passport” for collecting stamps with an optional QR-supported layer that enables hybrid participation and flexible visitor routes.

The model was developed through course-based projects in marketing and cultural management and informed by established gamification design principles (e.g., clear goals, feedback, autonomy-supporting choices, and meaningful rewards). Each museum implementation integrates a curated route, micro-tasks and inquiry prompts linked to exhibits, and lightweight rewards (stamp collection milestones) to stimulate exploration and reflection.

The approach was piloted with small visitor groups across 15 museums in Bulgaria. Feedback was collected through a mixed-method design: (1) on-site observation and immediate debriefing, and (2) structured, on-site interviews supported by a short survey form. “Recall” was operationalized as correct responses to 2-3 post-visit questions delivered via the survey form, targeting core information from the curated route.

Across pilot sites, participants reported higher satisfaction and perceived involvement than in typical unguided visits, while observational notes indicated longer dwell time around selected exhibits. Post-visit responses also suggested improved short-term recall of key content addressed by the prompts. The paper concludes with operational guidelines for low-cost deployment (station placement, flow management, staff coordination, and QR integration) and discusses transferability to other cultural institutions seeking scalable, human-centric engagement tools.