Gamification in e-Learning Graduate Education: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Its Impact on Academic Performance and Student Satisfaction

Graduate programs, known for their rigor and high academic demands, can generate significant levels of stress and demotivation among students. Therefore, it is important to implement active strategies that capture their attention, motivate them, and improve their academic performance. This study aims to investigate whether the implementation of a gamified learning approach can be related to academic performance, a topic with limited research at this level. To this end, a mixed methodology was used that collected data on students' final grades, as well as a Likert-scale satisfaction survey. Additionally, their perceptions and opinions about the strategy applied in class were gathered through an open-ended question questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using a Spearman correlation, while qualitative data were worked through content analysis. The results indicated that, in the context of graduate studies, gamification is linked to improvements in both formative and summative assessments, with an average of 9.78/10. Moreover, a strong positive correlation (r= 0.673) was found between students' satisfaction with the gamification strategy and the grades they obtained throughout the course, with this result being statistically significant (<tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$p &lt; 0.05$</tex>). Consequently, this strategy can enhance the educational experience in these programs, increasing both satisfaction with the learning process and students' academic performance.