Using gamification to combat student distraction (experience of studying a physics course in 8th grade)

The growing problems of distraction, unwillingness to learn and lack of motivation of students have become major issues in educational research in recent years. There is an increasingly common opinion in the literature that early fascination with mobile games and social networks is a key factor in reducing students’ interest in educational content. Mobile games are designed to capture attention and maintain long-term engagement through carefully crafted motivational stimuli, leading to a cycle resembling ad- diction caused by neurochemical reactions, in particular spikes in dopamine. Such hyperstimulation often leads to a chronic decrease in attention, which makes traditional educational materials less able to induce similar cognitive engagement. This study examines the application of adapted gamification in the 8th grade physics course using en- gagement strategies used in popular mobile games. Four basic principles were implemented: (1) constant engagement, when students had to solve daily tasks for 24 hours to earn points and maintain the continuity of the “streak” (continuous sequence of days of engagement), since students with the longest “streak” at the end of the quarter received rewards; (2) short cycles achievements, when successful completion of tasks gave points in the form of “stars”, while additional stars could be obtained for solving more complex tasks. The accumulation of stars opened access to achievements visible to other students, which contri- buted to the development of competition and motivation; (3) joint problem solving, when weekly difficult tasks had several possible solutions, and the overall performance of the class determined the distribution of points, encouraging teamwork and interaction with peers; (4) Self-study, where students could access any educational content at their own pace, rather than following a fixed schedule set by the teacher. The experimental study was conducted for one quarter and compared two 8th grade physics classes. The results showed that the experimental group learned the material 14% faster, completed 47% more elective and advanced tasks, and overall learned 58% more educational content compared to the control group. The results suggest that gamification strategies inspired by mobile games can significantly increase motivation, engagement and learning effectiveness in educational institutions. The study suggests that further research into integrating gamification into curricula may help address the growing problems of lack of interest, engagement, and motivation among students.