The effect of gamification on university student's academic success and motivation in distance language learning

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of gamification applications used in distance English classes over the student's academic success and motivation. The research is designed according to the "nested mixed design". For this purpose, the findings obtained from the quantitative part of the research conducted in accordance with the posttest only control group design were tried to be supported by the findings obtained through focus group interviews with the experimental group within the scope of the qualitative case study. The research group of the study is composed of 40 students who are studying at Aviation Department of Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University in the spring term of 2019-2020 academic year. Data collection tools used in research process consist of "Academic Achievement Test", "Motivation Scale Towards Learning English" and "Focus Group Discussion Form". As a result of the analyzes, it is observed that gamification used in distance English lessons increased the academic achievement of the students at a statistically significant level. As of the posttest scores, gamification applications does not make a significant difference in the overall motivation of the students, while a significant difference is observed in favor of the experimental group in terms of the ability factor, which is one of the sub-factors of the motivation scale. According to the results obtained from the delayed post test, gamification has a significant effect over the students' academic achievement and motivation. In addition, based on the findings from the focus group interviews, it was observed that the exercises and feedback practices based on gamification used in the experimental process has a generally positive effect on the students. However, it has been observed that the features such as competitive environment and time restriction in gamification practices are considered negative by students. Key words: Distance English learning, gamification, academic success, motivation