Improving Students' Learning Outcomes Through Wayground-Integrated Formative Assessment in Economics Education
TL;DR
The findings reveal that Wayground substantially enhanced both instructional quality and students' academic achievement, and suggests that integrating gamified digital formative assessment with iterative instructional improvement provides an effective strategy for enhancing Economics learning in vocational secondary education.
Abstract
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of Wayground as a gamified digital learning platform in improving Economics learning outcomes among tenth-grade vocational students. Previous studies have predominantly emphasized learning motivation and general gamification practices, whereas empirical evidence regarding Wayground implementation in Economics instruction within Islamic boarding school-based vocational education remains limited. This study contributes by proposing the integration of classroom action research with gamified formative assessment as a pedagogical approach to strengthen conceptual understanding. Preliminary observations indicated that only 34.38% of students achieved the Minimum Mastery Criterion (KKM), highlighting the need for instructional improvement. This study employed Classroom Action Research (CAR) based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model, comprising planning, action, observation, and reflection across two instructional cycles. The research involved one Economics teacher and 32 tenth-grade students at SMK Raudlatul Ulum Ledokombo, Indonesia. Data were collected through learning achievement tests, classroom observations, reflective field notes, and documentation, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and interactive qualitative analysis to evaluate instructional effectiveness across the action cycles. The findings reveal that Wayground substantially enhanced both instructional quality and students' academic achievement. Learning mastery increased from 34.38% in the pre-cycle to 68.75% in Cycle I and 90.63% in Cycle II, while the mean score improved from 67.84 to 86.53. Beyond improving achievement, Wayground promoted active participation, formative feedback, conceptual understanding, and student engagement through reflective and interactive learning. These findings suggest that integrating gamified digital formative assessment with iterative instructional improvement provides an effective strategy for enhancing Economics learning in vocational secondary education