The effect of the use of educational digital games in the life studies course on the academic achievement of the students

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of using digital games in the teaching of the "healthy life" unit of the life science course on the academic success of the students. As a method in the research, a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group, which is one of the quantitative approaches, was used. The research was carried out with 51 students studying at Rafet Üçelli Primary School in Kula District of Manisa Province in the 2021-2022 academic year. The experimental group consisted of 20 students and the control group consisted of 31 students. In the study, which lasted four and a half weeks, the experimental group was taught using educational digital games, while the control group was taught with the activities in the current curriculum. The research data were obtained with an academic achievement test consisting of 25 questions. The obtained data were analyzed by independent sample T-test, dependent sample T-test and item statistics in spss 26.0 package program. As a result of the research, it was determined that the use of educational digital games in the life science course increased the academic success of the students. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in the comparison of the success levels of the experimental group taught with educational digital games and the control group taught according to the current program. In addition, significant difference was not found in the comparison of the pre-test and post-test scores made to determine the effect of the experimental process on the experimental group according to gender. The use of educational digital games in the life science course did not differ between the academic achievements of male and female students.