This paper guides factors influencing undergraduate students’ cognitive engagement intention, using activities in the preliminary Information Systems (IS) course as the gamified settings. A simple process, using student-led activities, to implement gamification in educational environments, is described. A research model, consisting of game elements, perceived game usefulness, attitude towards the course, and cognitive engagement intention, is proposed. The main objectives are to examine the impact of these factors on students’ cognitive engagement intention. Data are collected using questionnaires. The model is statistically tested using structure equation modeling. The results show that game elements directly and indirectly affect cognitive engagement intention. Student’s attitude towards the course, which is strongly influenced by perceived game usefulness, is also important to raise their cognitive engagement.