Impact of Gamification on Reading Skills Development in Elementary Education Students

Abstract

Reading comprehension constitutes a fundamental cross-cutting competence for academic success; however, elementary education students in Latin America present significant deficiencies in this area. This study aimed to determine the impact of a gamification-based strategy on the development of reading skills (comprehension, fluency, and motivation) in elementary school students. A quasi-experimental design with control and experimental groups was employed, applying pre-test and post-test to a sample of 64 students from the María Teresa Dávila de Rosania Elementary School in Quito, Ecuador. The gamified intervention was implemented over 10 weeks, incorporating elements such as points, badges, levels, and immediate feedback through interactive digital platforms. Instruments included a standardized reading comprehension test and a reading motivation questionnaire with Likert scale, validated by expert judgment (α = 0.89 and α = 0.92, respectively). Results showed statistically significant differences between groups (p < .001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 0.87) for reading comprehension and moderate-high for motivation (d = 0.72). The experimental group showed improvements of 34.2% in literal comprehension, 28.7% in inferential comprehension, and 41.3% in intrinsic motivation. It is concluded that gamification constitutes an effective pedagogical strategy for improving reading skills, particularly when grounded in self-determination theory principles and implemented with elements that promote autonomy, competence, and social relatedness.