Ocean literacy gamified: A systematic evaluation of the effect of game elements on students’ learning experience

Figures & data

Table 1. Session planning.

Session 1 Points	Session 2 Badges	Session 3 Leaderboard	Session 4 PBL	Session 5 Oral E.
Class presentation given to students on topics: • eutrophication • ocean plastic • sea level rise
Students interact with the application with the Points gamified version	Students interact with the application with the Badges gamified version	Students interact with the application with the Leaderboard gamified version	Students interact with the application with all 3 elements gamified version	Students had no interaction with the application
Ocean Literacy questionnaire (6 questions)

Table 2. Ocean literacy answers obtained for Points as a game element. Over 80% of correct answers are in bold font, and less than 20% are in red.

	U K = 6 (%)			P T = 14 (%)
Question	Right	Wrong	Don’t know	Right	Wrong	Don’t know
(a) What is eutrophication	50.0	50.0	–	92.8	–	7.10
(b) Nutrient origins	16.6	66.6	16.6	71.4	7.10	21.4
(c) Causes of sea-level rise	100	–	–	100	–	–
(d) Sources of greenhouse gas emissions	50.0	50.0	–	57.1	14.2	28.5
(e) Where the plastic come from	66.6	33.3	–	100	–	–
(f) Percentage fish affected by plastic	83.3	–	16.6	57.1	35.7	7.10
Total	61.0	33.3	5.50	79.7	9.50	10.7

Figure 1. Ocean Literacy application (Leitão, Maguire, and Turner 2019a).

Table 3. Ocean literacy answers obtained for Badges as a game element. Legend as in Table 2.

	U K = 6 (%)			P T = 13 (%)
Question	Right	Wrong	Don’t know	Right	Wrong	Don’t know
(a) What is eutrophication	33.3	66.6	–	84.6	7.60	7.60
(b) Nutrient origins	50.0	50.0	–	61.5	30.7	7.60
(c) Causes of sea-level rise	100	–	–	84.6	7.60	7.60
(d) Sources of greenhouse gas emissions	16.6	50.0	33.3	61.5	23.0	15.3
(e) Where the plastic come from	83.3	16.6	–	100	–	–
(f) Percentage fish affected by plastic	83.3	–	16.6	92.3	–	7.60
Total	61.1	30.5	8.3	80.7	11.5	7.60

Figure 2. Ocean literacy application screens.

Table 4. Ocean literacy answers for Leaderboard. Legend as in Table 2.

	U K = 6 (%)			P T = 14 (%)
Question	Right	Wrong	Don’t know	Right	Wrong	Don’t know
(a) What is eutrophication	50.0	33.3	16.6	78.5	7.10	14.2
(b) Nutrient origins	16.6	83.3	–	50.0	35.7	14.2
(c) Causes of sea-level rise	50.0	50.0	–	85.7	14.2	–
(d) Sources of greenhouse gas emissions	33.3	50.0	16.6	50.0	42.8	7.10
(e) Where the plastic come from	16.6	83.3	–	78.5	14.2	7.10
(f) Percentage fish affected by plastic	83.3	16.6	–	100	–	–
Total	41.6	52.7	5.50	73.8	19.0	7.10

Table 5. Ocean literacy answers for the PBL triad. Legend as in Table 2.

	U K = 6 (%)			P T = 14 (%)
Question	Right	Wrong	Don’t know	Right	Wrong	Don’t know
(a) What is eutrophication	33.3	66.6	–	100	–	–
(b) Nutrient origins	16.6	83.3	–	64.2	35.7	–
(c) Causes of sea-level rise	50.0	16.6	33.3	100	–	–
(d) Sources of greenhouse gas emissions	50.0	16.6	33.3	64.2	35.7	–
(e) Where the plastic come from	33.3	66.6	–	92.8	7.10	–
(f) Percentage fish affected by plastic	83.3	–	16.6	92.8	7.10	–
Total	44.4	41.6	13.8	85.7	14.2	–

Table 6. Ocean literacy answers given after the oral explanations. Legend as in Table 2.

	U K = 5 (%)			P T = 14 (%)
Question	Right	Wrong	Don’t know	Right	Wrong	Don’t know
(a) What is eutrophication	60.0	40.0	–	100	–	–
(b) Nutrient origins	20.0	40.0	40.0	50.0	42.8	7.10
(c) Causes of sea-level rise	40.0	60.0	–	100	–	–
(d) Sources of greenhouse gas emissions	–	60.0	40.0	57.1	7,10	35.7
(e) Where the plastic come from	–	60.0	40.0	50.0	50.0	–
(f) Percentage fish affected by plastic	40.0	40.0	20.0	71.4	7.10	21.4
Total	26.6	50.0	23.3	71.4	17.8	10.7

Figure 3. Scores obtained by the 98 pupils in the assessment questionnaire passed after the five testing sessions. Scores are presented according to the results of the model I factorial ANOVA carried out to investigated possible knowledge differences elicited by the game elements, i.e. by significant main factor: country (left) and test session (right). For the test session, the classical teaching session was taken as the control category against which the scores in each game element category (Points, Badges, Leaderboard and the PBL triad) were compared. ** indicates significant differences at p < 0.001; * indicates significant differences at p < 0.05 relative to the control, according to the results of the post-hoc Dunnett test.

Table 7. Results of the model I factorial (orthogonal) ANOVA carried out to investigate differences in the pupils’ learning scores obtained in the knowledge test (dependent variable) elicited by the various game elements tested in relation to the country of origin.

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	p
Country	3.12	1	3.12	44.4	<0.001
Game element	0.900	4	0.225	3.28	0.015
Country x Game element	0.291	4	0.073	1.06	0.382
Residuals	6.04	88	0.069

Leitão, R., M. Maguire, and S. Turner. 2019a. Ocean Literacy App (6.5). https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rvleitao.oceanliteracy

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