A focus group study on gamification applications in undergraduate education

Games are part of our daily lives. Games and gamification have an important place among effective learning methods. Gamification is an advanced approach that makes information more permanent. Therefore, the purpose of programming is to obtain information from undergraduate departments about the activity periods of game technical developments and to examine the effectiveness of the method. Within the scope of the research, the effectiveness of gamification elements designed to increase students' motivation, participation and learning performance was examined. It was collected through focus group interviews in order to understand students' thoughts and experiences regarding gamification applications more deeply. In these interviews held with Management Information Systems department students, students' perceptions and experiences of gamification and how it can be integrated into teaching strategies more effectively were discussed in detail. As a result of this study, it was seen that gamification applications in undergraduate education increased student motivation and participation in the course, and the courses became more interesting and productive. This study, conducted on senior students of Bucak Zeliha Tolunay Applied Technology and Management School, management information systems department, showed that gamification supports the retention of lessons and visual memory. However, it has been observed that some students have low awareness levels about gamification. This shows that the method needs to be better introduced.