The effect of mathematics teaching enriched with educational games on the mathematics achievement, attitude and knowledge retention of 7th grade students on equations

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of teaching with educational mathematics games on the achievement, attitudes, and retention of equations among seventh-grade secondary school students. The study group consists of 51 seventh-grade students studying at a secondary school in the Yenişehir district of Mersin province. In line with the research objective, the quantitative research method was employed, and a quasi-experimental design was chosen to identify cause-and-effect relationships between variables. Accordingly, experimental and control groups were formed. The equations achievement test and attitude scale were administered as pre-tests to both groups before the application began. Subsequently, educational games were used to teach first-degree equations with one unknown to the experimental group, while the control group was taught using the methods outlined in the current curriculum. At the end of the intervention, the achievement test and attitude scale were administered as post-tests to both groups. Two months after these applications were completed, the achievement test was administered again to examine the retention of the information. After verifying that the data showed a normal distribution, the dependent sample t-test was used for within-group comparisons, and the independent sample t-test was used for between-group comparisons. The research concluded that teaching mathematics using game-based methods positively impacted students' mathematical achievements and attitudes towards the course. Additionally, the analysis of the retention test data indicated that teaching mathematics through educational games helped students in the experimental group retain the knowledge more effectively. Keywords: Mathematics Education and Teaching, Educational Game, Academic Success, Attitude Towards Mathematics, First Order Equations with One Unknown