Impact of the Gamification-Enriched Hybrid Information Literacy Education on Student Achievement

Gamification is one of the innovative approaches and methods that foster the learning process to be more efficient and student-centered in reaching the course’s learning outcomes. This study aims to determine the impact of the gamified Information Literacy (IL) Program on the students' academic performance and to put forward their perception and motivation towards the gamification of the course. The gamified Information Literacy program was designed based on the current Information Literacy education and training programs, curricula, and games in the literature. The content of the Information Literacy program was prepared in seven different modules. Within this scope, ŞARLOT Kütüphanede İşbaşında (ŞARLOT in the Library) game was designed and animation videos were designed. In addition to the gamified IL program, a traditional IL program was also designed. The program was implemented for 13 weeks with second grade students in the Department of Management Information Systems at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. A total of 43 students, including 21 students in the experimental group and 22 students in the control group, participated in the study. While gamification-enriched hybrid methods were implemented in the experimental group, traditional training methods were implemented in the control group. In order to find out the impact of the program on performance, pre-tests and post-tests were performed on the students in the pre and post-training periods. The pre-test and post-test results indicated that the experimental group who participated in gamification-enriched hybrid education had a high level of success in the test.