The Impact of Gamification on Students’ Attitudes and Achievement in Mathematics Instruction: An Action Research

Students’ Attitudes and Achievement in Mathematics Instruction

Abstract

Abstract

Within the scope of this paper, which was designed as an action research study, the researcher—who is also a mathematics teacher—investigated the role of gamification in mastery-based mathematics instruction. The study was conducted with 25 seventh-grade students attending a public middle school in the Akdeniz district of Mersin. It examined how the implementation affected students’ academic achievement, and attitudes. While designing a six-cycle action plan, an instructional program incorporating gamification activities based on mastery learning was prepared. Climate change themes were placed at the center of the instructional program. By utilizing the similarities between the elements of gamification and those of the mastery learning model, these components were integrated with one another. In addition, the study explored how gamification contributed to mastery learning throughout the research. Quantitative data were collected through an academic achievement test, an attitude scale, a retention test, and parallel tests. Quantitative data were analyzed using the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test, and qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. According to the results, there was a significant difference between the students’ pre-test and post-test scores in the implementation where mastery-based mathematics instruction was carried out through gamification. Furthermore, the retention test and parallel test results indicated that gamification contributed to mastery learning.