Modern day students in higher education are challenged by the daily struggle of balancing life outside of school, the impetus to use technology in many aspects of their daily tasks, and their self-identified placement along the Self-Determination Theory continuum; however, gamifying a class may benefit students needing motivational incentives as a component of their higher education courses. Open badges are digital credentials, earned by fulfilling the specified badge criteria. Once earned, the open badges can be seen in the course leaderboard, as well as, shared to professional and social networking sites whereby positive feedback may be received. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental independent-samples study was to investigate whether the use of an open badge tool affected assessment scores of students who completed the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ); thus, self-identifying whether they were intrinsic or extrinsic learners. A total of 210 participants in the study were enrolled in 200-level psychology course sections in a socioeconomically diverse community college in suburban Illinois. The results of an independent samples t-test, t(133) = -7.157, p < 0.0005, indicated a statistically significant increase in posttest exam scores for extrinsic learners when open badges were offered in their course compared to the control group who did not have the opportunity to earn open badges. No significance was found as a result of the independent samples t-test among posttest exams scores of intrinsic learners when that had the opportunity to earn open badges in comparison to those who did not. Finally, using an independent-samples t-test, a statistically significant change in posttest exam scores between intrinsic and extrinsic learners was identified when open badges were used. The extrinsic learners did significantly better on their posttest exam in comparison to the intrinsic learners, t (40.15) = 3.01, p = 0.005. Overall, the existing literature along with the results of this study provide ample evidence that open badges provide motivational benefits to the extrinsic learner; yet, future research is needed to identify other methods of implementation and application in academia, to seek optimal motivational outcomes for both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated learners. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]