Use of Digital Games in Writing Education: An Action Research on Gamification

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the contribution of gamification to writing skills of middle school students. For this study, a lesson plan has been developed to relate Writing and Authorship Skills lesson to the gamification for middle school students. From this lesson plan, it was tried to determine the effectiveness of the teaching process. Therefore, the study was designed as action research. The research group is composed of seventh grade students. Criteria sampling technique was used to determine the participants. As a data collection tool, student diary, semi-structured interview form, semi-structured observation form, digital content of the students were used. Data obtained from the semi-structured interview form were analyzed by content analysis; other data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Writing skills and gamification were related in the study. Turkish Language Teaching Program (2018) has been taken into consideration in the action plan which relates to gamification and writing skill. As a result of the study, it was seen that all participants were actively involved in the implementation process. In addition, it was concluded that gamification increased the interest of students towards the course, combined school and non-school life, facilitated classroom management, supported collaborative work, and developed creativity. As a result of this study, it is suggested that digital games can be used as a text type in Turkish language lessons with the method of gamification in order to positively affect motivation of the middle school students toward writing education.