A meta-analysis study on the researches on gamification in education

Gamification, adding game elements allows non-gaming environments to turn into games. In this study, the effect of gamification on education on five themes; academic achievement, performance, attitude, participation and motivation of students was investigated. Google Scholar, ERIC, Science Direct and YÖK Thesis Search databases were searched in Turkish and English with the key words gamification, gamification in education and effect of gamification. As a result of literature review, 41 quantitative studies which were conducted between 2008-2018, including statistical data suitable for meta-analysis, consisting of doctoral thesis, master's thesis and article were included in the study.. Since some of the included studies included more than one theme, 65 data from 41 quantitative studies were used. Of these 65 data, 23 were related to academic achievement, 11 to performance, 8 to attitude, 8 to participation, and 15 to motivation. The effect of gamification in education on academic achievement, performance, attitude and participation, and general effect size values according to random effects model were respectively .592, .813, .500, .315; and the effect on motivation was found to be .317 according to fixed effects model. According to Cohen, Manion and Morrison's (2007) effect size classification, the effect of gamification on students' academic achievement and performance was positive and moderate; and the effect on attitude, participation and motivation was positive and modest.