Gamification in Education and Its Impact on Student Academic Performance: A Conceptual Model Based on Systematic Literature Review and PLS-SEM Analysis

Ahmad Almufarreh

doi:10.3390/a19020143

journal article Open Access Feb 10, 2026

Gamification in Education and Its Impact on Student Academic Performance: A Conceptual Model Based on Systematic Literature Review and PLS-SEM Analysis

Ahmad Almufarreh

Algorithms Vol. 19 No. 2 pp. 143 · MDPI AG

View at Publisher Save 10.3390/a19020143

Abstract

Enhancing student academic performance remains a critical challenge for educators and administrators. Among various interventions, gamification has gained increasing attention as a promising approach to improving learning outcomes. However, existing research on the role of gamification in education remains fragmented due to its multidisciplinary nature. This study aims to synthesize current knowledge through a systematic review in order to develop and validate a conceptual framework linking gamification to student academic performance. By following the PRISMA framework, 62 relevant studies were reviewed, highlighting several recurring themes, including game design and development, student performance outcomes, and critical aspects of gamification such as cognitive development, motivation, and empowerment. Key mechanisms identified include active learning, personalized and adaptive learning, and collaborative interaction. Reported outcomes of gamification interventions include higher test scores, reduced anxiety and stress, and increased engagement and positive attitudes toward learning. Building on these findings, the resulting conceptual framework was validated through empirical research. Data were collected from 289 students from Saudi Arabia using a structured survey instrument, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for analysis. The results provide empirical support for the proposed framework, confirming gamification as a significant driver of improved student academic performance. The findings provide practical implications for educators and policymakers seeking to leverage gamification as a strategic tool for enhancing student learning outcomes.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

127

[1]

Society 5.0: A Japanese Concept for a Superintelligent Society

Carolina Narvaez Rojas, Gustavo Adolfo Alomia Peñafiel, Diego Fernando Loaiza Buitrago et al.

Sustainability 10.3390/su13126567

[2]

Ball, S.J. (2021). The Education Debate, Policy Press. 10.56687/9781447360148

[3]

Haleem "Understanding the role of digital technologies in education: A review" Sustain. Oper. Comput. (2022)

[4]

Stentiford "What are inclusive pedagogies in higher education? A systematic scoping review" Stud. High. Educ. (2021) 10.1080/03075079.2020.1716322

[5]

Jawabreh "Content analysis of curriculum development related studies during: 2000–2019" Near East Univ. Online J. Educ. (2021) 10.32955/neuje.v4i2.429

[6]

Sahito "A literature review on teachers’ job satisfaction in developing countries: Recommendations and solutions for the enhancement of the job" Rev. Educ. (2020) 10.1002/rev3.3159

[7]

Penuel "Principles of collaborative education research with stakeholders: Toward requirements for a new research and development infrastructure" Rev. Educ. Res. (2020) 10.3102/0034654320938126

[8]

Wentzel "Academic and social motivational influences on students’ academic performance" Educ. Psychol. Rev. (1998) 10.1023/a:1022137619834

[9]

Duncan "Mental health associations with academic performance and education behaviors in Canadian secondary school students" Can. J. Sch. Psychol. (2021) 10.1177/0829573521997311

[10]

Ramirez "Student achievement and national economic growth" Am. J. Educ. (2006) 10.1086/506492

[11]

Shaw "The relationship between student health and academic performance: Implications for school psychologists" Sch. Psychol. Int. (2015) 10.1177/0143034314565425

[12]

LaForge "NCAA academic performance metrics: Implications for institutional policy and practice" J. High. Educ. (2011) 10.1080/00221546.2011.11779092

[13]

"Strategies to Improve the Academic Performance of College Students through Personalized Tutoring Programs" Migr. Lett. (2023)

[14]

Zimbardi "Are they using my feedback? The extent of students’ feedback use has a large impact on subsequent academic performance" Assess. Eval. High. Educ. (2017) 10.1080/02602938.2016.1174187

[15]

Dix "Implementation quality of whole-school mental health promotion and students’ academic performance" Child Adolesc. Ment. Health (2012) 10.1111/j.1475-3588.2011.00608.x

[16]

Bølling, M., Mygind, L., Elsborg, P., Melby, P.S., Barfod, K.S., Brønd, J.C., Klinker, C.D., Nielsen, G., and Bentsen, P. (2023). Efficacy and mechanisms of an education outside the classroom intervention on pupils’ health and education: The MOVEOUT study protocol. BMC Public Health, 23. 10.1186/s12889-023-16618-3

[17]

Xu "Psychological interventions of virtual gamification within academic intrinsic motivation: A systematic review" J. Affect. Disord. (2021) 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.070

[18]

Ritchie "The craft of intervention: A personal practical theory for a teacher’s within-group interactions" Sci. Educ. (1999)

[19]

Stipek "The value (and convergence) of practices suggested by motivation research and promoted by mathematics education reformers" J. Res. Math. Educ. (1998) 10.2307/749862

[20]

Reeve "Autonomy-supportive teachers: How they teach and motivate students" J. Educ. Psychol. (1999) 10.1037/0022-0663.91.3.537

[21]

Manspeaker "Student knowledge, attitudes, and use of evidence-based concepts following an educational intervention" Athl. Train. Educ. J. (2011) 10.4085/1947-380x-6.2.88

[22]

Jones "Reading instruction in tier 1: Bridging the gaps by nesting evidence-based interventions within differentiated instruction" Psychol. Sch. (2012) 10.1002/pits.21591

[23]

Formative assessment and feedback for learning in higher education: A systematic review

Rebecca Morris, Thomas Perry, Lindsey Wardle

Review of Education 2021 10.1002/rev3.3292

[24]

Hubbell "Using technology with classroom instruction that works" Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. (2012)

[25]

Kirk "A systematic review of teaching games for understanding intervention studies from a practice-referenced perspective" Res. Q. Exerc. Sport (2022) 10.1080/02701367.2021.1897066

[26]

Caponetto, I., Earp, J., and Ott, M. (2014, January 9–10). Gamification and education: A literature review. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning, Berlin, Germany.

[27]

Tailored gamification in education: A literature review and future agenda

Wilk Oliveira, Juho Hamari, Lei Shi et al.

Education and Information Technologies 2023 10.1007/s10639-022-11122-4

[28]

Augmented Reality and Gamification in Education: A Systematic Literature Review of Research, Applications, and Empirical Studies

Georgios Lampropoulos, Euclid Keramopoulos, Konstantinos Diamantaras et al.

Applied Sciences 10.3390/app12136809

[29]

Saleem "Gamification applications in E-learning: A literature review" Technol. Knowl. Learn. (2022) 10.1007/s10758-020-09487-x

[30]

Manzano-León, A., Camacho-Lazarraga, P., Guerrero, M.A., Guerrero-Puerta, L., Aguilar-Parra, J.M., Trigueros, R., and Alias, A. (2021). Between level up and game over: A systematic literature review of gamification in education. Sustainability, 13. 10.3390/su13042247

[31]

Yu "The effect of educational games on learning outcomes, student motivation, engagement and satisfaction" J. Educ. Comput. Res. (2021) 10.1177/0735633120969214

[32]

Ali "Factors contributing to the students academic performance: A case study of Islamia University Sub-Campus" Am. J. Educ. Res. (2013) 10.12691/education-1-8-3

[33]

Mushtaq "Factors affecting students’ academic performance" Glob. J. Manag. Bus. Res. (2012)

[34]

Fenollar "University students’ academic performance: An integrative conceptual framework and empirical analysis" Br. J. Educ. Psychol. (2007) 10.1348/000709907x189118

[35]

Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence‐Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review

David Tranfield, David Denyer, Palminder Smart

British Journal of Management 2003 10.1111/1467-8551.00375

[36]

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement

David Moher, Alessandro Liberati, Jennifer Tetzlaff et al.

International Journal of Surgery 2010 10.1016/j.ijsu.2010.02.007

[37]

Scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR‐4‐SLR)

Justin Paul, Weng Marc Lim, Aron O’Cass et al.

International Journal of Consumer Studies 2021 10.1111/ijcs.12695

[38]

The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews

Matthew J Page, Joanne E McKenzie, Patrick M Bossuyt et al.

BMJ 2021 10.1136/bmj.n71

[39]

Immersive Virtual Reality for Foreign Language Education: A PRISMA Systematic Review

Bruno Peixoto, Rafael Pinto, Miguel Melo et al.

IEEE Access 2021 10.1109/access.2021.3068858

[40]

Blackwell "A PRISMA review of research on feedback in music education and music psychology" Psychol. Music (2023) 10.1177/03057356221109328

[41]

Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of Bibliographic Information in Today’s Academic World

Raminta Pranckutė

Publications 10.3390/publications9010012

[42]

Aguaded "Transformation and digital literacy: Systematic literature mapping" Educ. Inf. Technol. (2022) 10.1007/s10639-021-10624-x

[43]

A New Paradigm for Systematic Literature Reviews in Supply Chain Management

Christian F. Durach, Joakim Kembro, Andreas Wieland

Journal of Supply Chain Management 2017 10.1111/jscm.12145

[44]

The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research

Sascha Kraus, Matthias Breier, Sonia Dasí-Rodríguez

International Entrepreneurship and Management Jour... 2020 10.1007/s11365-020-00635-4

[45]

Sauer "How to conduct systematic literature reviews in management research: A guide in 6 steps and 14 decisions" Rev. Manag. Sci. (2023)

[46]

Ratchford "Development and validation of the technology adoption propensity (TAP) index" J. Bus. Res. (2012) 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.001

[47]

Ustun "Development of UTAUT-based augmented reality acceptance scale: A validity and reliability study" Educ. Inf. Technol. (2024) 10.1007/s10639-023-12321-3

[48]

Liu "Investigating the effect of an adaptive learning intervention on students’ learning" Educ. Technol. Res. Dev. (2017) 10.1007/s11423-017-9542-1

[49]

Tuo, P., Bicakci, M., Ziegler, A., and Zhang, B. (2025). Measuring Personalized Learning in the Smart Classroom Learning Environment: Development and Validation of an Instrument. Educ. Sci., 15. 10.3390/educsci15050620

[50]

Colli "Assessing alliance ruptures and resolutions: Reliability and validity of the Collaborative Interactions Scale-revised version" Psychother. Res. (2019) 10.1080/10503307.2017.1414331

Showing 50 of 127 references

Metrics

2

Citations

127

References

Details

Published: Feb 10, 2026
Vol/Issue: 19(2)
Pages: 143
License: View

Authors

A

Ahmad Almufarreh

Deanship of Human Recourses and Technology, Jazan University, Jazan 82812, Saudi Arabia

Funding

the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia Award: RG24-S0215

Cite This Article

Ahmad Almufarreh (2026). Gamification in Education and Its Impact on Student Academic Performance: A Conceptual Model Based on Systematic Literature Review and PLS-SEM Analysis. Algorithms, 19(2), 143. https://doi.org/10.3390/a19020143

Gamification in Education and Its Impact on Student Academic Performance: A Conceptual Model Based on Systematic Literature Review and PLS-SEM Analysis

You May Also Like