IMPACTS OF MODES OF GAMIFICATION ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES IN PHYSICS IN ONDO CITY, NIGERIA

Abstract

Physics is an important science subject that should be given a solid foundation at secondary school level. However, reports have shown that students, especially in Ondo city, Nigeria, considered it as a difficult subject due to its abstract nature. Previous studies focused largely on predisposing students‘ factors with less attention paid to interventions, such as Storytelling Points and Levels Strategy (SPLS) and Storytelling Leaderboards and Badges Strategy (SLBS), which are interactive, capable of making learning fun, and providing opportunity for students to see real- world application in physics. This study, therefore, was carried out to determine the impact of modes of gamification of SPLS and SLBS on senior secondary school (SSS) students‘ learning outcomes (motivation, interest and achievement) in physics in Ondo, Nigeria. The moderating effects of gender and computer self-efficacy were also examined. The Social Determination and Flow theories provided the framework, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design using a 3x2x2 factorial matrix was adopted. Six public SSS with functional computers and standby generators were purposively selected. The participants in the schools were randomly assigned to SPLS (84), SBLS (56) and control (81) groups. The instruments used were Instructional guides, Physics Achievement Test (r=0.75), Student Motivation in Physics (r=0.94), Students‘ Interest in Physics (r=0.70), Computer Self Efficacy (r=0.73) scales. The treatment lasted 12 weeks. Data were analysed using Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The participants‘ age was 17.50±2.30 years and they were mostly males (62.9%) with a high level of computer self-efficacy (65.5%). There were significant main effects of treatment on students‘ Motivation (F (2, 206) =14.44; partial η2=0.12), Interest (F (2, 206) = 14.17; partial η2=0.12) and Achievement (F (2, 206) = 16.19; partial η2=0.14) in physics. The students exposed to SPLS had the highest adjusted post-motivation mean (78.63), followed by SLBS (75.34) and control (69.71) groups. The students in SPLS had the highest adjusted post-interest mean score in physics (34.10), followed by SBLS (32.62) and control (30.61) groups. The students exposed to SPLS group also had the highest adjusted post achievement mean score in physics (23.13), followed by SBLS (22.98) and control (18.03) groups. There were no significant main effect of gender and computer self-efficacy on students‘ learning outcomes in physics. There were no significant two-way and three-way interaction effects on learning outcomes in physics. Storytelling points and levels and storytelling badges and leaderboards strategies improved secondary school students‘ motivation, interest and achievement in physics in Ondo, Nigeria. Teachers should adopt these strategies for improved learning outcomes in physics.