# Digital Gamification to Foster Attitudes Toward Science in Early Childhood Teacher Education
## 3 Results
### Quantitative Analysis
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Pretest**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Posttest**} & \\ \cline{2-7}
**Item Number and Statement** & **M** & **IQR** & **M** & **IQR** & **W** & \(p\) & \(\delta\) \\ \hline
1—In science class, I got answers to questions that intrigued me & 4 & (1) & 4 & (1) & 188.5 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.32 \\ \hline
2—In science class, I could express my own ideas & 4 & (1) & 4 & (1) & 51 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.55 \\ \hline
3—I could get good grades in science without the help of the teacher & 4 & (1) & 3 & (1) & 519.5 & 0.617 & — \\ \hline
4—Science classes fascinated me & 3 & (1) & 4 & (1) & 371 & 0.003 \({}^{*}\) & 0.27 \\ \hline
5—Science lessons were easy to study & 3 & (2) & 4 & (1) & 260 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.46 \\ \hline
6—I had fun learning science & 4 & (1) & 4 & (1) & 162 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.38 \\ \hline
7—Science allowed me to understand everyday phenomena & 4 & (1) & 4 & (1) & 406.5 & 0.736 & — \\ \hline
8—For me, it was difficult to learn science & 3 & (2) & 2 & (1) & 230.0 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & \textless{}0.39 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: M = median, IQR = interquartile range, W = Wilcoxon signed-rank test statistic, \(p\) = \(p\)-value, \(\delta\) = Cliff’s delta. Asterisks (\(\gamma\)) indicate statistical significance at the 5% level; \(\delta\) is reported only for items with statistically significant differences.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Changes in attitudes and motivation towards science before and after a gamified course: past dimension. to learn about science through media (Item 11, M = 4) and found science interesting (Item 12, M = 4). They also expressed interest in explanations of scientific phenomena (Item 13, M = 4), and agreed that science makes life healthier, easier, and more comfortable (Item 14, M = 4). The students believed that the benefits of science outweigh potential adverse effects (Item 15, M = 4), and that science can solve environmental problems (Item 16, M = 4). After the gamified course, there were no statistically significant changes in the present dimension (Table 2). Medians for all items remained the same, indicating stable attitudes. The median for liking to learn about science through media (Item 11) decreased slightly from 4 to 3, but this change was not significant (\(p\) = 0.141). The consistent medians and IQRs suggest that the students' current positive attitudes toward science were already well-established and remained unaffected by the intervention. The lack of significant changes (\(p\)-values ranging from 0.069 to 0.736) implies that the gamified course did not significantly influence the students' present perceptions or engagement with science. This issue is addressed further in the discussion section, where qualitative insights help interpret the stability observed in this dimension. However, it is possible--based on the observed patterns--that this dimension, focused on current perceptions, is less sensitive to short-term change than retrospective or prospective dimensions. In any case, the data suggest that the intervention neither reinforced nor diminished students' existing engagement with science in their daily lives. In the future dimension, exploring the participants' perceptions about teaching science in their future careers (Table 3), significant improvements were observed, particularly in self-efficacy and perceived knowledge. Initially (pretest), the students exhibited a strong belief in the importance of teaching science in early childhood education. They strongly disagreed with the notion that science should not be taught in early childhood education (Item 17, M = 1) and that teaching science to young children must be boring (Item 19, M = 1). They agreed that more time should be devoted to teaching science in early childhood education (Item 18, M = 4).