Investigation of Middle School Students' Opinions on Educational DigitalGames- Scale Development and Implementation Study

The purpose of the research is to examine the opinions of secondary school students about educational digital games. The research was conducted using a mixed research method. In the quantitative part of the study, a scale was developed with 300 middle school students, and the developed scale was re-applied with the participation of 186 students. Scale development and scale application phases were carried out in online portals by the survey method. In the qualitative part of the study, a case study was conducted. In this context, an online semi-structured interview form was conducted with 35 participants out of 186 students to whom the scale was applied. The quantitative data collection tool of the study is the "Use of Educational Digital Games Scale", which was developed by the researchers and consists of 20 items. The scale, developed in a four-point Likert type, includes 14 positive and 6 negative items and consists of 2 factors. In the analysis of the data, frequencies and response percentages were determined for each of the 20 items in the scale, and their average scores were calculated. The qualitative data source of the study is the interview form. The data obtained from the interview form was subjected to qualitative analysis. According to the results obtained, students stated that educational digital games enriched their learning experiences, made lessons exciting and enjoyable, were useful in reinforcing what was learned, offered interesting and creative ways to learning experiences, supported socialization, and developed their imagination. The results of the study were compared with the results of similar studies in the literature, discussed, and suggestions were presented.