Perception of game in primary school students

In this research, which was carried out in order to determine the game perception of primary school-age children, an exploratory mixed pattern was applied. In accordance with the exploratory mixed design, the research was carried out in two stages, qualitative and quantitative. 14 voluntary primary school students between the ages of 8 and 10 from the province of Elazig participated in the study. In the qualitative stage carried out in the phenomenological pattern, 13 open-ended questions were asked to the participants and the answers they gave were analyzed by content analysis. The findings obtained as a result of the analysis, the information obtained from the literature review and the expert opinion were taken and a 6-factor and 32-item item pool was created. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was applied to the item pool with 303 participants and as a result of the analysis, the final version of the scale with 4 factors and 14 items was created. In order to verify the factor structure of the scale, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to verify the factor structure of the scale. In the quantitative phase of the study, the Game Perception Scale developed by the researcher was applied to 421 participants and parametric tests were performed based on the normal distribution. According to the findings obtained at the qualitative stage of the research, it was concluded that primary school students perceive the game as a fun, instructive, mostly played in the park-garden and with friends, as a regular and planned activity. In the quantitative dimension of the research, according to the perception of primary school students, the game; it is a regular and harmonious activity, associated with happiness, educational and socializing. In addition, according to some demographic data of the participants, the differences were examined and various results were reached.