The effect of educational games on the teaching of core values in the religious culture and ethics education program

The Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge (DKAB) course curriculum aims to help students identify and internalize moral values. The moral values aimed to be acquired in the curriculum are referred to as "core values," and it is stated that students can acquire these values through various methods and techniques. One of these methods and techniques is educational game. Game is inherent in a child's nature, animportont need like nutrition and sleep, and facilitates with plaasure withaut getting bored. Because of the contributions of games to education, it is necessary to prepare educational games for DKAB courses and utilize them effectively in lessons. However, there are few empirical studies on the use of educational games in DKAB courses and their impact on teaching values. This study aimed to investigate the effects of educational games on the teaching of core values using an experimental method. The research was conducted using a nested design, which is a mixed method design, and a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest matched control group design was preferred to collect the quantitative data, while interview and observation techniques were used for the qualitative data. The quantitative part of the study aimed to investigate the effects of educational games on students' success in acquiring core values and their attitudes towards these values using an experimental method. The qualitative part aimed to understand and interpret the research findings by determining the students' opinions on core values and educational games. The research was conducted with 7th grade students at Yirmiüç Ağustos Secondary School in Kastamonu province in the 2023-2024 academic year within the "Moral Behaviors" unit of the DKAB course. A total of 66 students, 33 in the experimental group and 33 in the control group, participated in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using achievement tests, core values scales, an educational game-playing skill observation scale, learning diaries, and observation and interview forms. Following the application, SPSS 25 was used for quantitative data analysis, and dependent and independent samples t-tests, Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests, and Mann Whitney U tests were used in the data analysis. Descriptive analysis was conducted for qualitative data using the MAXQDA 2020 program. In the final stage, the qualitative findings were evaluated to determine how they explained, supported, and expanded the quantitative findings. In the quantitative dimension of the study, it was observed that learning occurred through both educational games and traditional methods in both the experimental and control groups, that there was an increase in student achievement, but that in the experimental group, educational games were more effective than the traditional method in increasing course success, that the information learned was permanent, and that students' attitudes toward root values changed positively. The qualitative aspect of the study revealed that all students believed that core values were important to them, felt the need to acquire them, recognized that not acting in accordance with them was wrong, and stated that educational games made learning fun. It was concluded that educational games that made learning fun increased student achievement, provided permanent learning, and helped students develop positive attitudes toward core values.