An examination of middle school students' participation motivation in physical education in the context of gamification user types: A relational, predictive, and decision tree-based analysis

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between gamification user types and participation motivation in physical education classes among middle school students, to identify differences based on demographic variables, and to determine the predictive effect of user types on motivation. In this context, data collected from a total of 407 students enrolled in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades were analyzed. As data collection tools, the "Motivation Scale for Participation in Physical Education Course" developed by Demir-Tekkurşun (2023) and the "Gamification User Types Hexad Scale" originally developed by Marczewski (2015) and adapted into Turkish were used. Differences in motivation and user types based on demographic variables were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, relationships between variables were examined using Spearman correlation analysis, and predictive relationships were evaluated through multiple regression and CHAID analyses. The analyses revealed that variables such as gender, grade level, preferred game type, game play preference, and preferred game element caused significant differences in both motivation and user types. In particular, 5th grade students were found to have higher levels of intrinsic motivation compared to 7th and 8th grade students. Gender-based analysis indicated that male students scored significantly higher in the "player" and "disruptor" user types. In terms of the relationship between user types and motivation sub-dimensions, it was found that the "socializer", "free spirit", "achiever", "philanthropist", and "player" types were positively associated with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, while the "disruptor" type was negatively associated with motivation. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that the "socializer" user type was a significant positive predictor of intrinsic motivation, while the "free spirit" and "disruptor" types were significant negative predictors (R² = .167). Similarly, in the extrinsic motivation model, the "achiever" and "player" types emerged as significant positive predictors (R² = .135). The motivation sub-dimension was excluded from regression analysis due to unmet assumptions of normality and linearity. Furthermore, CHAID (Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis indicated that grade level was the most influential variable on intrinsic motivation, while gender and user type interactions were determinative on extrinsic motivation. Specifically, the "player" and "achiever" types were associated with higher levels of extrinsic motivation. The findings suggest that gamification practices should be designed by taking individual demographic differences into account, and that gamification user types play a decisive role in students' motivation during gamified learning processes.