Alejandro Sal-de-Rellán
Álvaro Hernández-Suárez
Ariadna Hernaiz-Sánchez
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- Department of Education and Educational Innovation, Faculty of Law, Education and Humanities, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Introduction: Physical Education plays a crucial role in adolescent health, but motivation remains a challenge as participation declines during this stage. Gamification, which integrates game elements into learning, has gained attention as a methodology to enhance it. However, its effectiveness in Physical Education requires further exploration.
Methods: This systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines. A search was conducted in Dialnet, PubMed, ERIC, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published between 2015 and January 2025. Research focusing on gamification and motivation in secondary and high school Physical Education was selected based on predefined criteria. The methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale.
Results: A total of 19 studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings indicate that gamification enhances motivation in Physical Education, whether applied independently or combined with other methodologies. Additional benefits include improved autonomy, social skills, and classroom atmosphere. However, its impact on academic performance and motor skill development remains inconclusive. One study reported potential drawbacks when gamification neglects affective-motivational skills.
Discussion: Gamification appears to be an effective tool for increasing motivation in Physical Education. However, methodological inconsistencies limit the generalizability of results. Future research should include control groups, clearer methodologies, and long-term evaluations to assess its sustained impact.
1 Introduction
Physical and sports activities have a positive influence on an individual’s health (Martins et al., 2018). For this reason, Physical Education plays a fundamental role in adolescence, as a large proportion of adolescents only come into contact with Physical Education through this subject (Hernaiz-Sánchez and Bäder-Gilabert, 2023).
During adolescence, a number of changes take place in the body, physically, emotionally and socially (Ortega et al., 2007), making this stage a challenge for all teachers in general and for Physical Education teachers in particular, as this is the stage in which a large proportion of pupils drop out of physical and sporting activities (Aznar-Ballesta and Vernetta, 2023). This subject is not only intended to value health but also seeks the well-being of students by promoting improvements at social, emotional and cognitive levels (Bailey, 2006). In this sense, Physical Education helps to develop motor skills, coordination, flexibility and endurance, contributing to an active and healthy lifestyle (Strong et al., 2005). It also promotes body awareness and self-esteem, allowing teenagers to explore and understand their physical capabilities (Trudeau and Shephard, 2008). Physical Education lessons also provide opportunities for teamwork, as well as social and physical interaction with peers (Bailey, 2006). This helps them understand the importance of respecting the limitations of others, while fostering empathy and inclusion in and out of the classroom (Bailey, 2006). In addition, some authors point out that physical activity during school hours contributes to combating stress and helps concentration, simultaneously improving focus and health (Strong et al., 2005). For these reasons, it plays an essential role in the holistic development of adolescents and contributes to their transformation into well-balanced and healthy individuals (Ortega et al., 2007). Furthermore, some sources suggest that the improvement of students’ mood contributes to adherence to physical and sporting activity both inside and outside the classroom (Trudeau and Shephard, 2008).
Commitment to the practice of physical and sports activities is one of the great challenges of Physical Education. In this respect, several studies point to the fact that greater motivation and enjoyment of the subject will improve students’ engagement and extracurricular practice (Biddle et al., 2004; Haerens et al., 2010; Comte et al., 2015; Aznar-Ballesta and Vernetta, 2023). For this reason, motivation towards the subject plays a crucial role in promoting long-term healthy lifestyles (Calogiuri, 2016). On this matter, studies have shown that more entertaining Physical Education sessions will lead to a better attitude towards them (Gómez Mármol et al., 2015) and, consequently, a better adherence to healthy lifestyles.
Given the importance of Physical Education for the integral development of students, various learning methods have been developed to improve their motivation towards the subject, so that learning is as meaningful as possible and influences their extracurricular habits. Said motivation may be generated through the enjoyment of the subject itself, through the achievement of small and long-term objectives or even through the very methodology presented by the teacher (Vasconcellos et al., 2020). In order for student motivation to be constant over time, it is important to generate engaging and meaningful environments that develop students’ intrinsic motivation towards the subject not only for the rewards obtained (Ryan and Deci, 2020). To achieve positive motivational environments there is a variety of techniques, activities, proposals and pedagogical models (Standage et al., 2003). Gamification is one of the proposals that is being carried out in classrooms to increase motivation (El-Tanahi et al., 2023; Ferriz-Valero et al., 2023; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2023, 2024). According to Marín (2018), gamification arises from the observation of the success of video games and is proposed as the application of a methodology that establishes an educational strategy based, on a technique of rewards and incentives and, in addition, on an integration of the principles of video games trying to create attractive and effective learning experiences that are engaging and motivating for the students (Dichev and Dicheva, 2017; Fernandez-Rio et al., 2020). Moreover, some studies suggest that devoting time and focus to achieving such rewards and rewards improves concentration as well as physical and mental effort (Zichermann and Cunningham, 2011). This approach not only makes sessions more fun and engaging but it can also offer small incentives that maintain student interest and engagement (Pourabbasi et al., 2020).
Given the positive reception by students and the influence on increasing motivation, it seems that gamification may be an effective tool to promote healthy habits and combat physical inactivity (Landers and Landers, 2015). For this reason, it seems that it not only improves academic performance, but also promotes a balanced and healthy lifestyle, reinforcing positive behaviours that can extend beyond the classroom (Monguillot Hernando et al., 2015; Fernandez-Rio et al., 2021). Based on the positive results derived from its use, an increasing number of teachers and researchers are including gamification in their teaching practices and research studies (Rodríguez-Escaravajal and Martín-Acosta, 2019).
Among the main positive outcomes that gamification brings to Physical Education, the increase of students’ motivation in Physical Education classes must be emphasised, which makes participation more active and sustained. It is clear that achievements and rewards can positively influence engagement (Real-Pérez et al., 2021; Serrano-Durá et al., 2021; Hernández-Rubio et al., 2023). In addition to increased motivation, other authors highlight the development of motor skills, examining how games can enhance their learning and practice in physical activities, and testing the development of specific skills such as coordination, balance and basic skills (Sevilla-Sanchez et al., 2023).
In relation to other aspects associated with integral education, there are authors who point out improvements and benefits related to collaboration and teamwork. They further analyse how gamification can improve these aspects in educational environments by boosting cooperation among students and regenerating social skills (Melero et al., 2022).
From a more global point of view, other authors state that gamification is presented as an effective methodology to improve the external regulation and the general performance of students in the subject (Rouissi et al., 2020). According to authors such as Quintero González et al. (2018), gamification is a tool for improving student motivation by creating a playful and pleasant environment.
As a whole, the good use of gamification seems to be able to improve learning outcomes under different conditions and to influence the betterment of more autonomous study, increasing motivation and promoting more meaningful assessment practices for students (Godoy, 2019). Although it seems that the benefits of gamification have been observed in different populations, several studies point to a need for further research in this field in order to draw more methodologically rigorous conclusions (Geelan et al., 2015; Ferriz-Valero et al., 2023; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2024). Moreover, currently, no systematic reviews have been found that focus solely on the adolescent population. For this reason, the main objective of this study was to analyse the benefits of gamification proposals in Physical Education in relation to motivation and meaningful learning in adolescents.
2 Methods
2.1 Study design
In conducting this systematic review, the authors followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Page et al., 2021).
2.2 Search strategy
A systematic search of five databases (Dialnet, Pubmed, Eric, Scopus and Web of Science) was conducted to identify articles published prior to 23 January 2025. Following the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) design provided by PRISMA (Table 1), the following search strategy was used to look for relevant articles, where the authors were not blinded to journal names or manuscripts’ authors: Gamification AND (“Physical education”) AND Motivation. Additionally, the reference lists of the studies retrieved were manually inspected to identify potentially eligible studies not captured by electronic means.
Table 1
Table 1. Overview of PICO.
2.3 Screening strategy and study selection
When the referred authors had completed the search (A.S-d-R., AL.H.S. and AR.H.S.), they compared their results to ensure that the same articles were identified. Then, one of the authors (A.S-d-R.) downloaded and copied the main data from the articles (title, authors, date, and database) onto an Excel spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel, Microsoft, Redmond, USA). Then, two authors (A.S-d-R. and AL.H.S.) removed duplicates. The remaining articles were screened and checked by two authors independently (A.S-d-R. and AR.H.S.) following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Moreover, relevant articles not previously identified were also screened in an identical manner and further studies that complied with the inclusion–exclusion criteria were included and labelled as ‘included from external sources’.
2.4 Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Studies were included in the systematic review if they met the following criteria:
Inclusion Criteria 1: published in a peer-reviewed journal between 2015 and 2025. The last 10 years were selected in order to find the most recent gamified proposals.
Inclusion Criteria 2: focusing on secondary and high school students.
Inclusion Criteria 3: focusing on student motivation though Gamification or hybridization of models with Gamification.
Inclusion Criteria 4: written in English or Spanish.
Studies were excluded if:
Exclusion Criteria 1: they were not published in a peer-reviewed journal or were published outside the specified date range.
Exclusion Criteria 2: they were not an empirical research, i.e., research other than quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies.
Exclusion Criteria 3: they focused on kindergarten, primary or elementary school, or University.
Exclusion Criteria 4: they were not written in English or Spanish.
2.5 Assessment of study methodology
The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to assess the methodological quality of pre-test and post-test studies with randomly selected experimental (EXP) and control (CON) groups. The scale scored the internal study validity in a range from zero (low methodological quality) to 10 (high methodological quality). The score that each section received ranged from zero (“no”) to one (“yes”), depending on the quality obtained by each point. Ten items were measured in the scale. Studies that scored from 9 to 10 on the PEDro scale were considered to be of excellent methodological quality. Studies with a score between six and eight have good methodological quality; between four and five, fair quality; and below four points, poor methodological quality (Maher et al., 2003).
3 Results
3.1 Study slection
A total of 248 (i.e., Dialnet: 55; Pubmed: 18; Eric: 13; Scopus: 77; and Web of Science: 85) original articles were initially retrieved from the mentioned databases, of which 94 were duplicates. Thus, a total of 153 original articles were found. After this, a total of 127 articles checked by title and abstract were excluded as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining 26 articles were checked in full, leading to the exclusion of one according to criterion n° 1, three according to criterion n° 2, and four according to criterion n° 3. A total of 19 articles met all the inclusion criteria and were finally considered in the qualitative synthesis. All the steps followed for the selection of the articles is available in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow diagram of the study.
3.2 Quality assessment
To understand these results, it should be taken into consideration that many of the studies analyzed do not follow a methodology with a control group and an experimental group. For this reason, the scores could be low. The overall methodological quality of the cross-sectional studies can be found in Table 2.
Table 2
Table 2. Methodological assessment of the included studies.
Out of the 19 included articles, none scored excellent methodological quality. Sixteen studies obtained a good methodological quality score (Monguillot Hernando et al., 2015; Martín-Moya et al., 2018; Carrasco-Ramírez et al., 2019; Segura-Robles et al., 2020; Valero-Valenzuela et al., 2020; Fernandez-Rio et al., 2021; Real-Pérez et al., 2021; López-Urán et al., 2022; Navalón Almedros et al., 2022; Soriano-Pascual et al., 2022; Flores-Aguilar et al., 2023; Jiménez-Parra et al., 2023; Roure and Pasco, 2023; Tenelema-Martínez and Loaiza-Dávila, 2023; Fernández-Vázquez et al., 2024; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2024). Finally, two studies with fair methodological quality (Ortega and Chacón-Borrego, 2021; Lamoneda et al., 2022) and one with poor methodological quality were included (Quintero González et al., 2018).
3.3 Individual results
The characteristics of the studies were extracted and are shown in Table 3.
Table 3
Table 3. Effects of gamification on motivation in Physical Education lessons.
Finally, Table 4 shows the benefits of Gamification and the limitations of each of the studies analyzed.
Table 4
Table 4. Gamification benefits and study limitations.
4 Discussion
The main objective of this systematic review was to analyse the benefits of Gamification proposals in Physical Education in relation to motivation and meaningful learning for adolescents. To this end, a total of 19 original articles that carried out the implementation of Gamification from 2015 to 23 January 2025 were analysed.
Firstly, it could be observed that this methodology was implemented through different strategies. Some authors chose to do so without considering any other methodology (Monguillot Hernando et al., 2015; Martín-Moya et al., 2018; Ortega and Chacón-Borrego, 2021; Lamoneda et al., 2022; Tenelema-Martínez and Loaiza-Dávila, 2023). Other authors compared the effects of Gamification with a traditional teaching methodology (Carrasco-Ramírez et al., 2019; Fernandez-Rio et al., 2021; Real-Pérez et al., 2021; Navalón Almedros et al., 2022; Soriano-Pascual et al., 2022; Flores-Aguilar et al., 2023; Roure and Pasco, 2023; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2024), or with the Attitudinal Style (López-Urán et al., 2022). However, others used the hybridisation of models, combining the use of Gamification and Virtual Reality with a hands-on teaching style (Fernández-Vázquez et al., 2024), Gamification with Collaborative Learning (Quintero González et al., 2018; Jiménez-Parra et al., 2023) and Gamification with the Pedagogical Model of Personal and Social Responsibility (Valero-Valenzuela et al., 2020). Of the authors who applied hybridisation, only one compared it to traditional teaching. (i.e., Gamificación con Aprendizaje Colaborativo vs. Enseñanza Tradicional) (Segura-Robles et al., 2020).
Based on the results of the studies, it can be seen that in practically all of them there is an increase in motivation regardless of whether they have used gamification or the hybridisation of models. The only one that does not seem to show an increase in motivation is the one conducted by Carrasco-Ramírez et al. (2019), in which they pointed out that motivation did not show differences and where the effectiveness of the variation in the learning methodology was the main measure for increasing motivation. Regarding motivation, the study by Navalón Almedros et al. (2022) points to an increase in motivation only among female students. Apart from indentifying the increase in motivation, Real-Pérez et al. (2021) suggested the importance of continuing research on gamification and its effects on student motivation.
Among the most outstanding benefits, aside from motivation, some studies show benefits related to attitudes towards learning, such as autonomy (Quintero González et al., 2018; Segura-Robles et al., 2020; Valero-Valenzuela et al., 2020), the acquisition of values (Lamoneda et al., 2022) or a greater commitment to one’s own learning (Lamoneda et al., 2022; Tenelema-Martínez and Loaiza-Dávila, 2023). Others point to an increase in perceived competence (Martín-Moya et al., 2018; Roure and Pasco, 2023) and the development of healthy habits in students (Monguillot Hernando et al., 2015). Regarding the improvement of social aspects, some research highlights improvements in classroom atmosphere and a decrease in disruptive behaviour (Lamoneda et al., 2022; Soriano-Pascual et al., 2022; Jiménez-Parra et al., 2023). Finally, some show the increase and improvement of psychological needs, in some cases related to the intention to be physically active (Monguillot Hernando et al., 2015; Fernandez-Rio et al., 2021), and in others to improvements at a global level (Soriano-Pascual et al., 2022; Jiménez-Parra et al., 2023; Sotos-Martínez et al., 2024).
In terms of academic performance, there does not seem to be as homogeneous a consensus as with regard to motivation, since there are some authors who indicate an increase in overall academic performance (Carrasco-Ramírez et al., 2019; Ortega and Chacón-Borrego, 2021; Flores-Aguilar et al., 2023), whereas other studies such as Segura-Robles et al. (2020) specify that the increases in performance are not significant. Regarding the increase in specific aspects related to academic performance, Soriano-Pascual et al. (2022) suggest a higher level of task orientation and Fernández-Vázquez et al. (2024) an improvement in motor skills.
Of the studies analysed, only one shows contraindications to gamification, namely the study by López-Urán et al. (2022), which indicates that it can be counterproductive, especially when the didactic method of assigning tasks is used, because it does not allow students to work on such skills as affective-motivational ones, essential for developing the social dimension proposed by the SDGs.
Although among the studies included in this review there seems to be a consensus on the idea that gamification improves several aspects of Physical Education, it would appear that motivation is the only area where all studies indicate a betterment. Regarding other areas, there does not seem to be any agreement on which or to what an extent gamification improves aspects such as academic performance, motor skills or meaningful student learning.
Despite the findings on the relationship between the use of gamification and student motivation in physical education lessons, these should be taken with caution due to the methodological differences among the studies. Therefore, this study is not without limitations. Firstly, most of the included studies focus exclusively on the effects of gamification on student motivation without a control group using such methods as traditional or emerging ones. Therefore, very few studies make comparisons between groups. Future research should include comparative studies to better understand the differential impact of gamification on physical education. Secondly, many authors do not follow a clear methodology or do not explain it correctly in their methods section, thus there are some gaps in their explanations, making it difficult to replicate them. Finally, most are short term, which prevents the observation of the long-term effects of this methodology on physical education lessons. This temporal limitation means that the motivation, participation and physical performance of students may be temporary or vary over time and may not be contrasted with the duration of other, more long-term research.
As a main practical application, it seems that gamification is a useful tool to improve student motivation. However, there is no consensus among the different authors on improvements in other areas. It is important to interpret these results with caution due to the small sample sizes as well as the application of gamification to specific didactic units and very specific socio-demographic contexts.
In conclusion, this systematic review shows that gamification in Physical Education has a positive impact on student motivation, regardless of the way it is implemented. In addition, other benefits have been identified, such as increased autonomy, acquisition of values, improved classroom atmosphere and psychological well-being. However, there is no clear consensus on its effect on academic performance or motor skills development. These results call for further research to better understand the long-term consequences of gamification, its impact on different groups of learners and possible limitations, in order to maximise its potential for meaningful learning. Future research should focus on comparing groups (control-experimental) and monitoring whether motivation is maintained after gamification has ended. It would also be interesting to have larger sample sizes, larger contexts and longer interventions. In addition, it would be necessary to be able to measure variables related to physical activity levels and motor skills.
Based on these conclusions, gamification appears to be an effective tool for improving student motivation. However, improvements in other areas do not seem to be clearly established. In this respect, Physical Education teachers who decide to use this methodology in their sessions should bear in mind that although there is an improvement in student motivation, it may not lead to improvements in other areas such as the development of basic motor skills.
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Author contributions
AS-d-R: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. ÁH-Su: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. AH-Sa: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that this research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.
Generative AI statement
The authors declare that no Gen AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
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Keywords: motivation, gamification, physical education, adolescents, engagement, learning outcomes, pedagogical innovation
Citation: Sal-de-Rellán A, Hernández-Suárez Á and Hernaiz-Sánchez A (2025) Gamification and motivation in adolescents. Systematic review from Physical Education. Front. Psychol. 16:1575104. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1575104
Edited by:
Luis Manuel Martínez-Aranda, Pablo de Olavide University, SpainReviewed by:
Leonte Nicoleta, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, RomaniaAdrián Neubauer, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid, Spain
Natalia Abalde-Amoedo, International University of La Rioja, Spain
Copyright © 2025 Sal-de-Rellán, Hernández-Suárez and Hernaiz-Sánchez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Alejandro Sal-de-Rellán, c2FsZGVyZWxsYW5ndWVycmFAZ21haWwuY29t