Strengthening civic skills through gamification in upper elementary social studies
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The article analyzes the evidence on the use of gamification to strengthen civic competencies in the area of Social Studies in Upper Secondary Education, given the gap between curricular objectives and practices focused on memorization. A literature review was conducted of empirical studies published between 2010 and 2025 in specialized databases, with students aged 12 to 15 and gamified experiences in Social Studies, History, or Citizenship Education, applying inclusion criteria, thematic analysis, and methodological quality assessment. The findings show small to moderate effects of gamification on learning, procedural civic engagement, critical thinking, and cooperation, especially when the mechanics are aligned with observable civic outcomes, incorporate collaborative missions, narratives with dilemmas, clear goals, and formative feedback, and are sustained over time. It is concluded that gamification, conceived as a didactic architecture and not just as a motivational incentive, can support citizenship education if it is designed with pedagogical intent, authentic assessment, and attention to the Latin American school context, although gaps in measurement and heterogeneity of designs persist, limiting generalization.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Ayala-Chavez, N. E., Ordoñez-Loor, I. I., Marquez-Pazán, M. E., Yucailla-Verdesoto, M. M., & Marquez-Ruiz, S. D. C. (2025). Competencias digitales docentes y su relación con el aprendizaje autónomo en bachillerato. Revista Científica Ciencia Y Método, 3(2), 74-87. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v3/n2/56 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v3/n2/56
Burbano-Buñay, E. S. (2025). Prácticas de innovación educativa para la enseñanza de la historia y ciencias sociales en educación superior. Journal of Economic and Social Science Research, 5(1), 188–200. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/jessr/v5/n1/169 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/jessr/v5/n1/169
Cacao-Baque, K. D., Morales-Castro, I. J., Morales-Castro, A. G., Alvarado-Rodríguez, M. A., & Florez-Rodriguez, I. D. C. (2025). El juego como mediador del desarrollo de habilidades socioemocionales en la lectura de textos literarios en estudiantes de secundaria. Revista Científica Zambos, 4(3), 138-150. https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/137 DOI: https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/137
Casanova-Villalba, C. I., Herrera-Sánchez, M. J., Bravo-Bravo, I. F., & Barba-Mosquera, A. E. (2024). Transformación de universidades incubadoras a creadoras directas de empresas Spin-Off. Revista De Ciencias Sociales, 30(2), 305-319. https://doi.org/10.31876/rcs.v30i2.41911 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31876/rcs.v30i2.41911
Concha-Ramirez, J. A., Saavedra-Calberto, I. M., Ordoñez-Loor, I. I., & Alcivar-Córdova, D. M. (2023). Impacto de la gamificación en la motivación y el compromiso estudiantil en educación primaria. Revista Científica Ciencia Y Método, 1(4), 44-55. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v1/n4/22 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v1/n4/22
Córdova-Alvarado, J. J., Giron-Sotomayor, J. C., Bastidas-Andradez, M. J., Imba-Chango, A. L., & Conejo-Muenala, F. G. (2025). El rol del juego estructurado en el fortalecimiento de la autorregulación emocional en niños de educación inicial. Revista Científica Zambos, 4(3), 122-137. https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/136 DOI: https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/136
Council of Europe. (2016). Competences for democratic culture: Living together as equals in culturally diverse democratic societies (Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, Vols. 1–3). Council of Europe Publishing.
Dai, W.-A., Xu, W., & Xing, Q.-W. (2025). Gamified learning impact: A meta-analysis of game element combinations on students’ learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research and Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-025-10493-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-025-10493-y
Dichev, C., & Dicheva, D. (2017). Gamification in education: Where are we in 2015? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5
Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work?—A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), 3025–3034. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2014.377 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2014.377
Hanus, M. D., & Fox, J. (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance. Computers & Education, 80, 152–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.019
Hassan, L., & Hamari, J. (2020). Gameful civic engagement: A review of the literature on gamification of e-participation. Government Information Quarterly, 37(3), 101461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101461 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101461
Huang, R., Ritzhaupt, A. D., Sommer, M., Zhu, J., Stephen, A., Valle, N., Hampton, J., & Li, J. (2020). The impact of gamification in educational settings on student learning outcomes: A meta-analysis. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(6), 1875–1901. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09807-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09807-z
Hwang, G.-J., & Chen, P.-Y. (2023). Effects of gamified learning on students’ learning performance, motivation, and engagement: A meta-analysis. Interactive Learning Environments, 31(6), 3870–3890.
Manzano-León, A., Camacho-Lazarraga, P., Guerrero, M. A., Guerrero-Puerta, L., & Domínguez-Lara, S. (2021). Between level up and game over: A systematic literature review of gamification in education. Sustainability, 13(4), 2247. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042247
Mao, W., Cui, Y., Chiu, M. M., & Lei, H. (2021). Effects of game-based learning on students’ critical thinking: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59(8), 1682–1708. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331211007098 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331211007098
Mekler, E. D., Brühlmann, F., Tuch, A. N., & Opwis, K. (2017). Towards understanding the effects of individual gamification elements on intrinsic motivation and performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 525–534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.048
Mendoza-Armijos, H. E., Rivadeneira-Moreira, J. C., Carvajal-Jumbo, A. V., & Saavedra-Calberto, I. M. (2023). Análisis de la relación entre el uso de dispositivos digitales y el rendimiento académico en matemáticas. Revista Científica Ciencia Y Método, 1(2), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v1/n2/14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v1/n2/14
Ritzhaupt, A. D., Huang, R., Sommer, M., Zhu, J., Stephen, A., Valle, N., Hampton, J., & Li, J. (2021). A meta-analysis on the influence of gamification in formal educational settings on affective and behavioral outcomes. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69(5), 2493–2522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10036-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10036-1
Saavedra-Calberto, I. M., Esmeraldas-Espinoza, A. A., Ayala-Chavez, N. E., Reina-Bravo, E. G., & Ordoñez-Loor, I. I. (2025). Factores determinantes del rendimiento académico en estudiantes de bachillerato en instituciones públicas. Revista Científica Ciencia Y Método, 3(1), 72-83. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v3/n1/54 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v3/n1/54
Sailer, M., & Homner, L. (2019). The gamification of learning: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32, 77–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09498-w DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09498-w
Sornoza-Delgado, Y. M. (2025). Estrategias para aplicar la pedagogía culturalmente receptiva en el aula. Journal of Economic and Social Science Research, 5(1), 201–213. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/jessr/v5/n1/170 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/jessr/v5/n1/170
Treiblmaier, H., & Putz, L.-M. (2020). Gamification of cooperation: A framework, literature review and future research agenda. Information & Management, 59(6), 103663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2022.103663 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2022.103663
Vinueza-Martínez, C. N., Ponce-Rivera, O.-S., Díaz-Vásquez, S. M., Muñoz-Navarro, M. P., & Herrera-Mediavilla, M. S. (2025). El valor de la dignidad humana frente a la tecnociencia. Revista Científica Zambos, 4(3), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/135 DOI: https://doi.org/10.69484/rcz/v4/n3/135