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Conference Program

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

A.11. School Evaluation For Improvement, Equity, Inclusion And Well being (1/2)
Location: Edificio ex Tumminelli (C007): Aula 13

Convenor(s): Cristina Stringher (Invalsi, Italy); Michela Freddano (Invalsi, Italy)

Presentation 2

Gamification Inclusive Teaching Methods And Participatory Democracy

Giovanna Scala¹, Davide Di Palma¹, Gianluca Gravino¹, Fabiola Palmiero¹, Giovanni Tafuri²

1: Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy; 2: Università degli studi di Napoli Parthenope, Italy

This study investigates the potential of gamification in civic education as an inclusive pedagogy aimed at promoting democratic participation in lower secondary schools, with a particular focus on students with physical disabilities and neurodiversities (dyslexia). Within the framework of inclusive pedagogy and participatory democracy, the research adopts a mixed qualitative-quantitative design with an experimental group and a control group. The sample, consisting of approximately 80 Year 7 students (aged 11–12), was involved in a six-week intervention: the experimental group followed a gamified programme designed according to the principles of Universal Design for Learning, while the control group followed the traditional curriculum.
Quantitative data, collected using the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), show significant increases in engagement and perceived self-efficacy levels in the experimental group, with particularly marked effects among students with special educational needs. Qualitative analysis, based on semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, highlights a strengthening of the sense of belonging, self-esteem and agency, as well as an expansion of opportunities for participation and representation in the classroom.
The results suggest that gamification, if intentionally designed to be inclusive and cooperative, can be configured not as a simple motivational strategy, but as a pedagogical device capable of making civic education a concrete experience of democratic, equitable and participatory citizenship.