Gamification in education: A scientometric, content and co-occurrence analysis of systematic review and meta-analysis articles

This study seeks scientometric, content and co-occurrence analysis of systematic review and Meta-analysis articles in the field of gamification in education. In terms of purpose, this is an applied study and regarding type, it is a scientometric and co-occurrence analysis. The researchers conducted a search in WoS, Scopus and PubMed databases. The abstract and full text of 25 out of 71 articles were selected to be included in the study. Then, the citation and altmetrics indicators were investigated. In addition, VOSviewer software was utilized to analyze and visualize keywords and map of articles. Finally, the full texts of all articles were analyzed to be provided more information about the types of analyses in these articles. The findings showed that 25 articles were published between 2016 and 2021. Co-occurrence map of articles showed that the three variables of motivation, learning, and engagement have been considered in gamified education studies and most studies have examined gamification in the e-learning environment. Finally, the content analysis of the articles showed that 344 articles were included and analyzed in these 25 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The types of analyzes performed on these 344 articles categorized them in 7 categories including Country/Territory, Duration of intervention, Lessons/content and the level of gamified educational course, the number of learners, platforms, the game elements and the theories. The results of the study illustrate that different dimensions of the gamification in articles in the field of Education have been considered by the researchers.

Automated summary

This study conducts a scientometric, content, and co-occurrence analysis of systematic review and Meta-analysis articles on gamification in education. The findings reveal that the variables of motivation, learning, and engagement are commonly considered in these articles, with a focus on gamification in the e-learning environment. Content analysis of the articles shows that they are categorized into seven types of analysis, including country/territory, duration of intervention, lessons/content and level of gamified educational course, number of learners, platforms, game elements, and theories.