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This article discusses a quantitative study, gamification and motivation to learn math using technology which focused on gathering information to answer the questions "Can gamification motivate students toward learning mathematics?" Gamification, a method used to describe the use of game-based mechanics in nongame contexts, can influence behavior, improve motivation, and increase engagement of students thereby promoting learning and problem solving (Kapp, 2012; Marczewski, 2013). Although gamification involves many aspects such as components of a gamified software, the present study focused on motivation to learn. The theoretical framework used to guide this research is the self-determination theory of motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2017).
The research took place at a primary school in an eastern Kingston inner-city community in Jamaica. Sixth-grade students were selected because they were preparing to sit the national standardized exam, Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and the Edufocal gamification mathematics software was being piloted. Sixty-one students were randomly assigned to two classes based on the scores they obtained on the pretest (Diagnostic Mathematics Test/ Jamaica). One group (the experimental, n = 35) was given complete access to the Edufocal gamification software for instructional purposes while the other class (control, n = 26) received traditional mathematics instructions. It was hypothesized that students exposed to the gamified intervention will have a significantly higher GSAT gain score than their peers, the control group.
A survey was used to collect data on the participants' perceptions of mathematics on two occasions; that is, pre- and postgamified interventions, over two consecutive academic terms. SPSS was used to conduct a paired two sample for means t test. The results revealed that postmean scores for the experimental group (M = 104.31, t(37)-0.38, N = 38, p - 0.71) was significantly greater than the premean score M = 105.5, t(37) = -0.38. For the control group, the postmean score was also greater than the premean score with (M = 108.08), /(37) = 2.31) while the pre scores were recorded as (M = 100.16, t(37) = 2.31, N = 38, p = 0.26).
The results proved that students expressed increased motivation and increased engagement with the subject postgamified intervention, but the result was not significant. The data also revealed that gamification could provide a temporary solution to the failing Math scores. In...