Evidence under fire
What studies of gamification in Ukrainian higher education can and cannot show — a systematic review (2015–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.6788Keywords:
meta-research, Ukraine, war, reporting quality, publication bias, academic achievementAbstract
This systematic review examines what research on gamification in Ukrainian higher education shows about students' academic achievement, and what its designs and reporting allow a reader to conclude. Following PRISMA 2020, eight databases were searched for studies published in English or Ukrainian in 2015–2025; after peer review, excluded records were re-screened and citation searching was added. Effects were synthesised by vote counting of effect directions, and risk of bias was appraised with an adapted Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Forty-eight studies met the criteria; although the search covered 2015–2025, the earliest was published in 2017, and 42 appeared from 2020 onward, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale war. None was randomised and none was at low risk of bias. Of 30 studies measuring achievement, 29 reported a positive direction of effect and one a mixed result. Only 12 reported a significance test, and a standardised between-group effect could be computed for five; the four unconfounded estimates ranged from g = 0.50 to 0.77. Eleven of the 12 tests were significant, against about seven expected at the effect size reported by international meta-analyses, and the one non-significant result was reported alongside a conclusion that the intervention worked. Sensitivity analyses showed that the scarcity of null results was not produced by the review's selection rules. The direction of the evidence is favourable; its certainty is very low. Three descriptive measures — the share of studies from which an effect can be computed, the strongest design present and the share of null results — summarise what the corpus can support; their values were similar before and after February 2022. For comparative and international education, the review shows how such measures can inform decisions to draw on evidence from partner systems or to build research capacity with them.
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References
References marked with an asterisk (*) are the 49 reports of the 48 included studies.
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