TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE: IS THAT A DILEMMA FOR GAMIFIED FLIPPED LEARNING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS?

Abstract

Gamification plays an important role in flipped learning environments. Recent studies underscore the effectiveness of gamified approaches within these settings, but also indicate that most designs for gamification are predominantly digital-based. This study aims to explore the competition between tangible (physical) and intangible (digital) forms of gamification in the context of flipped learning. Specifically, it assesses the impact of both tangible and intangible gamified flipped learning approaches on students’ mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs and their engagement levels towards learning activities. The study group for this quasi-experimental study was composed of 69 fifth-grade students from a public school in Türkiye. The study group was separated into three groups: two experimental groups (tangible and intangible) and one control group. The findings indicate that both tangible and intangible gamification in a flipped learning environment have a positive impact on students’ personal experience of their mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs. However, neither approach had a significant impact on students’ engagement levels. These results suggest that gamified flipped learning could be an effective strategy for enhancing students’ personal experience of their mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs at the primary education level. The study provides pedagogical implications based on these results and offers recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Gamification, flipped learning, primary education.

Ethics and Conflict of Interest

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Gazi University (dated 06.03.2023 and numbered E.603958) and the Governorship of Düzce (dated 13.04.2023 and numbered E-10240236-20-74353790). Canva design tools were used to develop gamification elements and research visuals. The authors would like to thank the Gazi University Academic Writing Application and Research Center for proofreading the manuscript. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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