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.
