Does Gamification Affect Academic Achievement? A Meta-Analysis of Studies Conducted in Turkey

Gamification helps to make learning fun and motivate students by attracting the attention of students. In the literature, it is seen that the studies conducted to determine the effect of gamification of learning on academic achievement have reached contradictory results. While some studies have found that gamification increases academic achievement, some studies report that gamification of learning has no effect on academic achievement. In this direction, the aim of the study is to examine the effect of gamification of learning on academic achievement through meta-analysis. Some moderator analyses were also carried out to determine the exact efficiency of gamification in terms of kinds of games (digital and non-digital games), publication year, school subjects in which games were used, class sizes, student levels. In this context, master's thesis, doctoral dissertation and articles that were conducted between 2010 and 2020, were appropriate for the research problem and had statistical data to be included in the meta-analysis study were reviewed and investigated in Turkish and English from databases. As a result of the literature review, 1746 studies were reached. Among these studies, it was determined that 52 studies met the inclusion criteria. According to the research findings, it is possible to allege that Cohen d value which was estimated to be 0.862 for the overall effect size of gamification learning on student achievement indicates a large effect. In the study, it was determined that the effect size of academic achievement did not differ significantly according to the student levels, publication years, and class sizes. Moreover, it was determined that the widespread effect size on academic achievement differed significantly according to kinds of games and school subjects in which games were used. In this context, it can be said that gamification is an effective method for teaching.