The role of design in gamification of education for children 7-11 years old

This study aims to explain how experts who provide education to the K12 student group view gamified education and how a more efficient learning environment can be created. The concept of gamification is an approach designed to increase a child's motivation in the learning process, and this approach includes a wide range of design elements and principles in the process. These design elements and principles use various shapes, spaces, forms and types to affect children's learning experiences. For example, a game environment can be equipped with colors, patterns and materials that will attract children's attention. The spatial arrangement of the game can be designed to encourage children to interact. Gamification efforts strengthen children's intrinsic motivations such as the desire to fulfill the task and the sense of achievement. The goals of a learning game can be determined in a way that children can see their own development. The design process plays an important role in the implementation of gamification. Design aims to create original and effective learning experiences by taking into account children's needs and interests. This process ensures that games are designed appropriately to maximize children's learning potential, thus increasing children's passion and enthusiasm for learning. In this study, the "purposive sampling" method, which is one of the non-probability-based sampling methods, was used. A structured interview form was applied to 5 experts who were teaching the K12 student group and the opinions of 5 experts who were living on the European side of Istanbul and who were teaching in 5 different schools in Küçükçekmece Halkalı, which was selected as the pilot region. The "structured interview form" was used in the study and the open-ended interview type, which is one of the interview techniques, and the qualitative data collection method were used as the data collection tool. Each interview lasted approximately 5-10 minutes and was audio-recorded with the approval of the participants. It is assumed that the potential of gamification in increasing children's learning motivation and enriching their learning experiences will be clearly seen when used correctly with its design elements and principles.