The development of instructional model in the next normal era based on self-directed learning and gamification to promote student engagement of graduate students

Abstract

This study aimed (1) to develop an instructional model for the Next Normal era based on self-directed learning and gamification to enhance undergraduate students’ learning engagement, and (2) to examine students’ learning engagement before and after the implementation of the developed instructional model. The participants were 26 undergraduate students majoring in Social Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Phetchaburi Rajabhat University. They were selected through purposive sampling from one classroom based on the following criteria: (1) they were enrolled in the course offered in the second semester of the 2022 academic year, and (2) the course was taught by the researcher. The research employed a one-group pretest–posttest design. The findings revealed that the developed instructional model consisted of four instructional stages: Reduction, Exchange, Distribution, and Bonus. Regarding learning engagement, the pretest results indicated that the mean scores of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement were 3.86 (SD = 0.75), 3.85 (SD = 0.72), and 3.81 (SD = 0.62), respectively, with an overall mean of 3.84 (SD = 0.70). After implementing the instructional model, the posttest results showed significant improvement, with mean scores of 4.66 (SD = 0.54) for cognitive engagement, 4.65 (SD = 0.53) for emotional engagement, and 4.67 (SD = 0.53) for behavioral engagement, yielding an overall mean of 4.66 (SD = 0.53).