Effect of Gamification on Secondary School Students’ Performance in Computer Studies

Abstract

This article investigated the effects of using gamification on students' performance in Computer Studies using a quasi-experimental approach. The study targeted twelve secondary schools with computer laboratories, internet connectivity, and students taking Computer Studies as an examinable subject in Murang’a County, Kenya. The Solomon Four Group, Non-equivalent Control Group Design, was employed in the study. A total of 142 Form Three Computer Studies students from four secondary schools with internet connections were purposively sampled. The computer studies class in each of the five schools were randomly assigned to either Experimental or Control groups. The experimental groups (E1 and E2) utilized gamification in their teaching and learning, while the control groups (C1 and C2) used the conventional teaching and learning methods for five weeks. The differences between the pre-test and post-test group means were analysed using a t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results indicated that the students in the experimental groups outperformed those in the control groups in the post-test. Based on these findings, it was concluded that gamification has the potential to raise students’ performance and should be investigated more widely to take a role in modern computer pedagogy, even in a developing country. There is a case for including gamification in the pedagogy curricula of future computer science teachers.