Peculiarities of developing deaf and hard-of-hearing students’ study skills in the digital learning environment based on gamification

Introduction. The article focuses on the problem of designing educational procedures aimed at developing skills of information searching on the Internet for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) technical university students. The purpose of the research is to reveal the peculiarities of developing deaf and hard-of-hearing students’ study skills in the digital learning environment based on gamification. Materials and Methods. The authors used theoretical (analysis, comparison) and empirical methods including observation; V. K. Gerbachevsky’s survey to evaluate the level of aspiration after the game; a questionnaire designed for this study. Experimental study was conducted with the use of the original game. The Wilcoxon test was chosen as a statistical criterion for verifying the reliability of data matches and differences. Results. The results showed positive dynamics in the target skills, and the feedback received from the students was positive. The analysis of the personality motivational structure that arose during the game allowed the authors to identify factors that positively influenced the use of gamification for teaching DHH students. Observation identified challenges in conducting a group game for this category of students. Conclusions. The obtained results proved gamification to be effective to develop DHH students’ information search skills in a digital environment.