The effect of using gamification on student's academic achievement and motivation for matter and change unit

In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of gamification use on students' academic achievement and motivation in the teaching the matter and change unit in secondary school science course and to reveal the students' views on the use of gamification. The sample of the study was determined in accordance with the purposive sampling method in accordance with the distance education conditions carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic process. In this direction, the sample of the research, it consists of a total of 36 students, 18 girls and 18 boys, at the fifth-grade level, studying at a private secondary school in the Buca district of İzmir province in the 2020-2021 academic year. Explanatory sequential mixed method design was used in the study. In the quantitative part of the research, a single-group pretest- posttest model, one of the pre-experimental designs, was used to measure the effect of gamification on academic achievement and motivation. In this section, "Matter and Change Unit Semi-Structured Interview Protocol" and "Motivation Scale for Science Education" were used to obtain quantitative data. In the qualitative part of the research, the "Semi-Structured Interview Protocol" was used to examine the data obtained in the quantitative part in depth. The analysis of the obtained quantitative data was carried out in the SPSS 23.0 package program and the necessary analyzes were used in line with the test of normality. Qualitative data from the research were analyzed by descriptive analysis. As a result of the analyzes, it was concluded that the qualitative data were sufficient to explain the quantitative data. When the quantitative analyzes were examined, a significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test results for academic achievement and motivation. According to the findings obtained from the interviews with the students, it was seen that the gamification practice used in the teaching of the matter and change unit contributed to the students' feeling of success. At the same time, the activities and gamification elements used in the practice process have a positive effect on the motivation of students. During the gamification process that students experience using Classcraft, it was concluded that they have fun, enjoy, are not bored, and want to use it again both in other units and in other courses. Another result obtained from the research that many gamification elements such as avatars, points, and levels affect students' motivation positively and increase their participation in the lesson. In addition to the results, the students stated that they did not experience any adaptation problems in the gamification process, and gamification has similar characteristics to games, but that it is a method that can be used in lessons, unlike games. It is believed that the results of this study, will lead to new research that will be conducted in other areas, especially in Science Education. Keywords: Gamification, Classcraft, Academic achievement, Motivation, Matter and change.